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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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Heart of Portugal in 12 Days: Fátima in the Rain

Staring into the candle-wax firestorm that rages daily here in Fátima, Portugal’s most holy spot, it struck me that cultures all over the world have the same passion for getting close to God.

I’m here on a Rick Steves Heart of Portugal tour — and I’m glad that our guides are able to give us context and lead us into the holy fray in places like this, so we can feel and respect the religious culture of wherever we may be traveling. The faithful here believe that the Virgin Mary appeared in Fátima in 1917, on the 13th day of six successive months. On the sixth appearance, 70,000 locals gathered and were awestruck by the apparition. And last year, on the centennial of the first apparition, half a million pilgrims gathered on this esplanade to attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

The traveler’s challenge is not to judge, but to feel. Where have you been impressed by a powerful religious scene that is not yours?

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Heart of Portugal in 12 Days: Óbidos

I take a Rick Steves tour every year (it’s so much more fun than leading them) — and I know I’ll be staying in hotels that are warm, welcoming, ideally located, and often family-run. Here in Óbidos, Portugal, I opened my window each morning and marveled at our setting — peace and beauty you just can’t park a tour bus in front of. Our tour members understand that you earn that magic. They pack light and are ready to walk a couple of blocks to our awaiting bus.

The tour guide inside me loves departure mornings — I find myself singing the Rawhide theme as our tour groups load up and ride away. Head ‘em up…move ‘em on!

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Heart of Portugal in 12 Days: The Alcobaça Market

Every year, I sign up for a Rick Steves tour under a pseudonym. (It’s fun — I get letters from myself.) And then, I surprise the group at our welcome meeting on the first day. This year, I signed up for a Heart of Portugal in 12 Days Tour — and I’m so glad that I did. We’re about halfway through the tour now, and for six days our guide, Fatima, has been filling us with Portuguese experiences, lessons, and memories — from the highest culture to the grittiest market scenes.

Here in Alcobaça, the market is entirely local. With our “Whisper System,” we have Fatima’s voice in our ears. And with her intimate narration of each little market kiss, ritual, and tradition, our visit is filled with meaning and insights. I love how a good guide can turn an impromptu stroll through a market into a fascinating peek into the local culture and an unforgettable travel memory. Thanks, Fatima!

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Enjoying the Open Road in Europe: Tips for Drivers

rick steves in a car

For a part of each of my trips, I generally pick up a rental car through my favorite consolidator, Auto Europe, and enjoy the freedom of having my own wheels.

I don’t use a car in big cities if I can avoid it. (You’d never drive your own car to sightsee in a European city—and it’s an expensive waste to pay for the rental and the parking.) But a rental car empowers you when exploring the small towns and countryside. On this trip, I picked a car up as I left Granada and dropped it upon arrival in Lisbon. While there is occasionally a small extra fee to pick a car up at the airport rather than downtown, I like the ease of taking the cheap public transit to and from the airport and avoiding inner-city driving.

This spring, my great little car put me in the driver’s seat for exploring the white-washed hill towns of Andalucía and the remote beach towns and beaches of the Algarve — both areas where having your own car is a real help. I was stung with a pretty steep drop-off fee to leave the car in a different country — something that I’d work to avoid if traveling on a tight budget. For me, the efficiency was worth the fee.

 

a street sign written in spanish not allowing cars into the city

Driving in foreign lands can come with a little language barrier and a stint on the learning curve. For example, signs in Granada make it really clear that anyone who drives into restricted zones during high-traffic times without authorization will be ticketed. (Ignore that and a bill for $100 will be awaiting you when you get home.) If you’re staying at a hotel within one of these zones, you’re legal…but only if your hotel files your license plate with the local police.

 

toll booth machine

I connected the bigger dots on my spring trip with excellent freeways in both Spain and Portugal. I always feel toll freeways are a good value (in terms of time saved, mileage improved, and relative safety enjoyed) compared to using toll-free national highways. In Spain, you just pay at each booth. In Portugal, the system was very slick. At the border, I popped my credit card into the machine, and it printed out a receipt explaining that periodically, as I drove through the country on the freeways, sensors would click on me and my card would be charged for that stretch of super freeway. The freeways cost me a little but getting around took hours less than it had on earlier trips.

 

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Let’s Do This! I’m Increasing My Matching Gift to $100k

 

Good news! Last week, I invited our traveling community to join me in supporting Bread for the World, an advocacy organization that’s devoted to giving hungry people a voice in Washington, DC. I offered to send a copy of “Travel as a Political Act” to those who gave $50 or more — and I pledged to match all contributions (up to $50,000) with my own gift to Bread. More than 1,200 of you donated on Bread’s website, contributing more than $80,000. Thank you!

I realize that for some, it feels better to simply support a food bank or some other good charity. But the impact of money raised for advocacy is literally hundreds of times more helpful for hungry people. In Congress, guns have a voice, coal has a voice, and truckers have a voice. Even travel agents have a voice. Thanks to Bread for the World, the hungry have a voice, too. And when the cause is one that a Congressperson knows is good and just, that voice is a blessing…and it’s heard.

I’m so energized by this response and the good we can do together to empower Bread’s work, that I’ve decided to increase my match to $100,000! That means that, so far, because of your $80,000, I’m donating $80,000 and, together, we’ve raised $160,000. Let’s hit $200,000. Please join in now.

As our nation is struggling to establish a course true to our values, our gifts and our actions have never been more important. Thanks so much for joining me in this exciting initiative.