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Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick

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Who’s the Highest Person in Europe?

I suppose there are people higher than me right now in Europe, but nobody who is just stepping out of a lift is higher than me. Joined by local guide Amadé Perrig, I’m in a whiteout on top of the Little Matterhorn, looking at where the big Matterhorn would be on a nice day. We’re 12,740 feet above sea level, high above Zermatt — and higher than the lifts above Chamonix and the Jungfraujoch.

Amadé, who’s climbed the Matterhorn many times, spent his career promoting tourism in Zermatt, perhaps the ultimate Alpine resort. Even in a whiteout, he couldn’t help himself and broke out into a yodel. Of course, it’s a touristy show, but it’s also real. Amadé worked in a village farm with cows and goats, carrying milk down from the high Alps. He yodeled when his Alpine spirit was doing flip-flops then, and 60 years later, he still does.

I generally try to do my guidebook research when things are hopping and in season — but my timing is a bit off this visit, and I’m here in the downtime between skiing and hiking seasons. The high trails are snowed in, and lots of places (restaurants and activities) are closed. I’m scouting for a new episode about the best of the Swiss Alps, and I’m getting some great ideas for the crew — at the wrong time of year. I’ll be back in August, and maybe then I’ll actually see the Matterhorn. Stay tuned…

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Discovering a Great Tool for Wine Lovers: The Coravin

I was dropping by the various wine bars in Bellagio (as one does when working) — and at Aperitivo Et Al, Andrea demonstrated a clever tool that pulls wine from a bottle with the ease of a nurse pulling blood from an arm. With the Coravin, he can serve fancy wine by the glass without worrying about finishing the bottle before the wine goes bad.

Maybe I don’t get out much. (When I got back to my hotel and Googled the Coravin, I learned that it was invented in 2011 in Massachusetts.) Is this old news?

Here’s how I wrote up Andrea’s wine bar in the Rick Steves Italy guidebook:

[$$] Aperitivo Et Al, slick and jazzy, is a trendier wine bar; it offers mixed salumi and formaggi plates and light lunches, paired with the right wine. Andrea serves a great selection of wines by the glass (daily 11:30-24:00, Salita Serbelloni 34, tel. 031-951-523).

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Milan’s Risorgimento Museum: Now Free…and Still Empty

I’m a sucker for Risorgimento history — the thrilling story of how the small countries of the Italian peninsula united, against the wishes of the established European powers, to create modern Italy in the 19th century. And the only real museum dedicated to that story is in Milano.

I spend four months of every year in Europe, notebook in hand, researching the new editions of our guidebooks and keeping all our listings up to date. This museum is a good example of how things change: Last year, it cost €5 and had no English descriptions. This year, it’s free and has fine English descriptions.

Follow me as I nervously sneak a quick, forbidden video, with guards chasing me as I film…rushing, whispering, going faster and faster…let’s all get excited about 1870 and Italian unity!

 

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Rick Steves’ Europe Announces Our “Climate Smart Commitment”

When we travelers fly, we contribute a lot to climate change. And as a promoter of travel and a tour organizer, I’ve long been aware that my business is a part of the problem. I’m excited and proud to announce that Rick Steves’ Europe is taking action to make our tours climate smart.

As travelers, we often see and experience climate change: floodgates installed to protect medieval lanes in the south of England from rising seas; no more summer skiing in Switzerland; massive storm surge barriers built to protect Rotterdam; retreating glaciers in Norway; and Italians crowding into Sweden each August to escape their record-breaking summer heat. And in the poor world, I’ve seen it too: Guatemalan families whose “hunger season” traditionally started in May now begins in March; Ethiopians adapting with new drought-resistant seeds; life-sustaining topsoil across the Global South threatened by rain that now comes in violent torrents.

Climate change is real. It hurts poor people in poor countries the hardest. And as travelers, we need to be honest: We’re contributing to it. One roundtrip flight to Europe emits as much carbon, per person, as six months of driving. (Fortunately, mitigating our impact is not a huge deal. Anyone who can afford to travel can afford to travel climate-smart.)

My colleagues and I have decided it’s time to take responsibility. So, starting this year, Rick Steves’ Europe will invest $1 million a year in a portfolio of nonprofits that fight climate change and help the people it’s hitting the hardest develop in a climate-smart way.

That’s right — we’re taking one million dollars out of our profits, every year from now on.  Scientists and development experts figure it takes about $30 of careful investment in environmental initiatives in the developing world to mitigate the carbon emissions created by one tourist traveling from the United States to Europe and back. We take about 30,000 travelers on Rick Steves tours each year…but we’ll round it up and “owe” $1 million annually to be a climate-smart tour company.

Now, Rick Steves travelers have the peace of mind that they’re supporting a climate-smart tour company. And together, we can help the next generation enjoy the same happy travels we have.

I believe it’s time we take responsibility — both personally and politically — to fight climate change. And for our business, this is a big step in the right direction. Read more about our innovative Climate Smart Commitment — and our thinking behind it — at www.ricksteves.com/climate.