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Posted by
4527 posts

.....care to share the topic? Some people are link shy.

Posted by
195 posts

It's called "Rick Steves’ European Travel Tips and Tricks" and it's one hour and eight minutes.

Posted by
14812 posts

I had to laugh when he claimed Vernazza was a "back door". Last year, in May, it was wall to wall people.

Posted by
12172 posts

Many of Rick's former "back doors" get more business than they deserve simply because he lists them. When you go there, it's a crowd of people carrying his blue books. Vernazza is nice, but I wouldn't consider it a top destination.

I enjoyed the video. Some of his information could be updated.

One area is his use of ATM's. Once upon a time, all banks charged big fees and you could save money by taking fewer, larger withdrawals. Now it's easy to find a bank that charges one percent so there's no advantage to carrying a lot of extra cash (money belt or otherwise). He demonstrates taking 50 euro notes. You're going to get frowned at handing a 50 to someone for a small purchase. I'd rather find an ATM that allows you to choose denominations and take no larger than 20's (tens would be even better).

Another is packing light. I know he's preaching to an American travel aidience who are used to packing much heavier. I groan, however, imagining packing as heavy as he recommends. I pack considerably less than half that and still feel I pack more than I need.

Posted by
195 posts

This particular video is pretty much a re-make of other information he has stated in previous videos, but I still watched it. There wasn't much new info, though. It's good to know this about the ATMs. ("it's easy to find a bank that charges one percent so there's no advantage to carrying a lot of extra cash"). I really feel that he still isn't thinking about travelers who are unlike him, though. I will be travelling with two teenage daughters, so I have to be prepared with a lot of pads and tampons, which take up space. As a nurse, I am familiar with things that people live with now, like home CPAP machines, oodles of medications, small volume nebulizers, etc. Rick is blessed to be healthy, and so he seems to present information in a biased way because of his life experiences. I really like him (I think he's a cutie patootie), but it seems like he sometimes forgets that others are very different. Case in point - in this video, he encouraged everyone to at least try one snail. I understand his point, which is to try new things, but he temporarily forgot that vegetarians would definitely not want to eat a snail.

Posted by
1936 posts

Some things are good but I'm afraid I can't agree with him when he says to fly rather than go by train if it's cheaper. While flying may be cheaper, getting to and from the airport into the city, going through security, waiting for a flight and sitting in a tin can for an hour or so can tip the cost/benefit ratio to train travel. For me I'd rather pay a bit more and have the fun of riding a high speed train and being able to get up and walk around. Not to mention the air pollution from all the planes.

Unfortunately, I think Rick is at another point in his life where I'm not, with regards to cruising, etc. I still love the forum-even the political talk. Hopefully, there's another young travel guru on the horizon for the next generation.

Posted by
53 posts

Love these talks! And it’s just smart to keep them on my watchlist for when I need them.

Posted by
4527 posts

Heather, as his son is/was running GAP year tours, maybe he is training to fill dad's shoes. I remember when Pauline Frommer joined the pack and liked her budget travel books over the traditional Frommers. She seems to have been absorbed into the mainstream, however.

Posted by
3039 posts

Yes the "back doors" are now the "front doors". Apparently, there is a video of a small boy eyeing the hordes all with the RS guidebooks, and turning to his dad, he says "This man must BE STOPPED".

On our first trip to Europe with our kids in 2011, we titled our travel blog "In Rick Steves we trust". I still do!

Posted by
3985 posts

Thanks for the link. PBS is airing it as part of their bimonthly beg-a-thons so seeing it on Youtube is much appreciated. :-)

Posted by
739 posts

While obviously a single book or even a reasonable sized series of books can’t be all things to all people the RS videos/books have a VERY set style of travel that they are aimed at and only give a hit of any other way.
Note this is not anything against RS it is what it is and he does what he enjoys and believes in. But as I grow older and start having minor health issues and as my father ages and has more issues I am unfortunately getting less out of RS books. As his travel methods and observations are not necessarily what I need now.

Like most things in life as we age we change. Out interests tastes time and abilities evolve as we age. As you folks we usually have lots of energy and not so much money and this often changes. We gain in money and lose in energy. And things that we were interested in before may not be high priority now.

So what we are looking for in a travel guide needs to evolve with us.

I need tips on how much of a climb someplace is or how many stairs it has or the length of the walk from the parking lot. That kind of thing and with Ricks tendencies to walk walk walk and his health allowing for it this information is not readily available in his guides (or truthful in any guide I have found)
So I think that their is room for another Travel Guide that has different emphasis.

The issue is as much as I like RS and his guides and have used them (and still do) they are not as useful to us as they once were,
When my dad did his trip to Germany in the last 90s he was in his 60s and extremely healthy and active. And his RS guide was very useful to him.
When we did France a few years ago he was in his early 80s and still pretty active (extremely so for his age) and we walked about 50 miles a week (in 6 days actually). But now we are planing a trip and he is in his late 80s (he will be 88 when we travel) and can’t walk like he did so our beloved RS guides are not what they used to be as far as the info we need is concerned, The problem is the success of RS has caused other travel guides to either follow suit or to shrivel up. So he has in effect become the dominant view and as happens in business other see someone doing well and jump in the band wagon.

Once again this is now thing against RS. His information is very useful, but he definitely has a “style” and tends to downplay or ignore things that fall outside that area.
Perhaps as Rick ages he will change emphasis, of course if you spend 4 months in Europe you can rest between activities and take rest days that a person on a typical 2 week vacation can’t so I suspect that Rick will continue to be Rick for years to come. And as the baby boomers age they will have to find new sources of information.

Anyone want to start a travel guide for the aging and less physically able? I think a market is opening in this area.