Using Travel Videos to decide where to go next.

Thank you!
Those videos look great. For those of you who speak ( or understand) Spanish ( probably not many here, right? Ups ), there is this Mexican guy who make very good quality videos about traveling to several parts of the world .
You can find him under the name “Alan por el mundo” in his YouTube channel.

When in pandemic I watched several of his videos . It was because of him I started to feel interest about Poland and wow! So glad I went ( helped by a lot of you, Rick Steves’ forum users )

So, how about contributions of those that the RS crowd have found useful, accurate and well done.

I watch YouTube quite a bit for a variety of hobbies/interests. Some overlap pretty well. Cycling with travel is full of beautiful places to visit and RVing with travel often shows (for the US) where to stay and what to do there. But for mostly/solely travel, I have started adding some to my YT subscriptions and while not all are useful or always what I am interested in, here are a couple I like:

Away Together and The Tour Guy <- general Europe

Emma Cruises and Tips for Travelers <-mostly cruising specific but with port tours, etc..

Spain Revealed and Patrick Guide Barcelona <- Spain specific

I probably have more in my list to cull through, but a LOT are bike-specific so not as good at "details" vs "cool scenery" or "epic ride". :D

I am a fan of https://www.youtube.com/@woltersworld and https://www.youtube.com/@HONESTGUIDE

I love the Memory Seekers! Their travel guides focus mainly on the UK, but there are some on European cities as well. They are well researched, informative and such a pleasure to see and hear. The quality is similar to something you might see on BBC or PBS, in my opinion.

Like CJ I've enjoyed Wolters World and Honest Guide as well as Real Prauge Guide.

I don't select places to visit from what I've watched in videos but once I've determined where I want to visit I do seek out and watch videos about those locations put out by both locals and travelers. I often enjoy the less polished and often amateur videos.

We have been watching the Somewhere on Earth series on YouTube. These videos give interesting insight into the lives of people around the world. These are not pretty travelogues but a deeper dive into different world cultures.

The various series are great, and i love the suggestions, but is there one video on one city that made a profound impact or reminded you of a good trip?

https://youtu.be/1nd5AtZIrTk?si=9g75FjQgCzzyqzsk

Joyous Travel
Retirement Travelers
Brian and Carrie

Watchtower of Turkey is an oldie but a goodie with brilliant editing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7yqtW4Isec

The creator of the video has made other videos of other countries, but his Turkey video is a classic.

Another channel I enjoy is "Jago Hazzard". A channel described as "loosely focused on London, trains & history".

I get my travel inspirations from movies.

I get (some of) my travel information from youtube.

I get my final travel preparation with street-view in google maps.

I've been making my way through these videos. The content is mostly Hungary/Budapest, but a few other locations too.

https://www.youtube.com/@StuffedCabbageAdventures

For Mexico, I recommend https://www.youtube.com/@TangerineTravels.

Slovakia
Banská Bystrica https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Yr-xWBduu_A
Banská Štiavnica https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=6jvlAkr9g60

Albania
Gjirokastra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNGU7k2Hx_I

Romania:
Sighisoara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByrGZ4o6dk8 I was first here before the renovations. It has come a long way. Prince Charles keeps a home here.
Timisoara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIstkqusezA
Cluj-Napoca https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWKlOf0bhQs
Sibiu https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWyyVJPDR7Y
Brasov https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCg_wV5geFI
Maramures area https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-0R5wOCcCw

Bulgaria:
Plovdiv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR-2fa1ACsw This is hands down one of the most interesting cities I’ve ever visited. Bulgaria in general is pretty amazing.
Veliko Trnovo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G24mZ5yN7oY guarantee you wont forget your trip here.
Nessebar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJFx7R4IgLY

Kosovo
Prizren https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRS57-wXZpA

Ukraine:
Lviv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyTDjn3reVo Yes, the principal Ukrainian tourist city. Unlike the East of Ukraine this city more Western; having been owned by the Polish and Hapsburgs over the centuries. Looks more like a small Hungarian or Austrian or Polish baroque city than Ukrainian.
Odesa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_nPuNMkMKk My summer escape for culture and the beach and street parties.
Kyiv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN5VOkFNATQ Besides being beautiful and full of energy for those that travel for history, why not travel in the middle of history being made.

Serbia
Beograd (Belgrade) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkcHlmPWznA I a going to be honest. Informative, interesting but didn’t light my fire. But I understand a great party town for younger travelers.
Novi Sad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ftOkylwUw Now Novi Sad did light my fire. I have friends that live there and make excuses to visit.

Montenegro
Herceg-Novi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOqLXoeE_o4
Cetinje https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RwWDPe9M8
Perast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6ErEHPHmg
Uncinj https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaPcThRQdi4
Fly Fishing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpnDIoqvfbo

Poland:
Płock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87oGLBUfXRs
Torun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVw-0WyQ8SI
Bydgoszcz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yQIwSp0O_0
Tarnow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNvmudqg7rE

I've been using travel videos for awhile now to choose some of the smaller destinations, and they are a great resource. One of my favorite sources is DW Travel (an offshoot of Deutsche Welle), which has travel videos for not just Germany but all over. Most of them are in the 10-15 minute range, but are rich and complex enough to give you a real taste of a place. https://www.youtube.com/@DWTravel/videos

They also have an "Instagram vs. Reality" check of some cities, so you can see if they're really worth the hype. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKAE6fcmV8PzW15sSvMRAQQoF6vaHrtTX

They also have an "Instagram vs. Reality" check of some cities, so you
can see if they're really worth the hype.

And the three I watched (thank you for the link) were worth the hype according to the video. Unless you can tell me that there was anything negative in the other videos I am going to say that they are very well done travel videos (and the three I watched were very well done) that were given a name that would enocourage people to open them to find what wasnt there .... a different point of view. But still, like I said, very well done and really worth watching if any of the locations are interesting to you.

I haven't found one in there that I did not like, Mr. E, and I think they really give a good visual of the cities and towns. I first started using them when I went to Germany and couldn't decided between Regensburg, Wurzburg and Bamberg.

And thanks for the Romania links. That is high on my radar right now and I'm going to watch all of those!

I liked them. Some of the better actually. I just chuckled at how they were marketed. So much better than 90% of what's out there.

Mardee, those bite sized Insta vs. Reality videos are great. Thanks for sharing.

Another shout out for DW Travel. I also like the Deutsche Welle documentaries-which are very well made.

DW documentaries are fantastic.

After watching the Wolters World Frankfurt video, never bothered to watch any more of them, it was so awful.

Hey thanks Mr E, Have added both DW Travel (thanks Mardee, especially instagram versus reality!) and your fav 'Mood For Life', loved Vienna. Thanks for sharing.

DW Travel and Memory Seekers as noted are good.

Dear ol' Wolter has created quite a cottage industry for himself, his videos usually have some bits of good info but his style and presentation are lacking.

Don't forget the old standbys of Rudy Maxa, Samantha Brown and Burt Wolf. These were actual TV shows, although now a bit dated. Rudy is like Rick's older richer brother, he travels a few notches about RS.