Hi from Rick: Europe Never Gets Old
One day, you're strolling along a glassy canal as it reflects the boastful gables of the Dutch Golden Age…Next, you're rambling the ramparts of Germany's best-preserved walled medieval town, all alone at twilight.
Then you're motoring past gilded palazzos down the Grand Canal in a Venetian rush hour…licking gelato through a Roman passeggiata — and more in a car-free Italian Riviera village — realizing ice cream will never be the same…gaining respect for Swiss engineering while riding a cable car to the thin-air-thrills of an alpine panorama of cut-glass peaks…and fully utilizing your bonjours, s'il vous plaîts, and mercis with the merchants in a French market, assembling the perfect picnic before dining fine in a park in the City of Light, waiting for the Eiffel Tower to sparkle.
This truly is the Best of Europe…and it never gets old!
Way back when I first started traveling, I sketched out the perfect European itinerary: a three-week romp from Amsterdam to Paris, the long way around, with stops in Germany's Romantic Road, Austria, Venice, Florence, Rome, the Italian Riviera, the Swiss Alps, and Burgundy…before a grand Parisian finale.
The best three weeks Europe has to offer — my very own "Greatest Hits" album — became the nucleus for my fledgling tour program and guidebooks (I personally drove small groups in a minivan along this route, and published Europe in 22 Days in 1985 for DIY travelers who wanted to enjoy my tour without me). And as my company grew, that "Best of Europe" trip remained a cornerstone: The book spawned a series of guidebooks covering all of Europe, and the tour is still the flagship itinerary of a program that now takes 35,000 Americans to Europe annually, traveling the Rick Steves way. For many years, anyone who worked with me was required to go on this foundational tour…and many of them still guide it.
Of course, things have changed a lot; we now offer 40 itineraries, covering Europe from Turkey to Portugal and Sweden to Sicily. And yet, anytime someone (especially a first-timer) asks, "Which trip is best?" the answer is right there in the name: "The Best of Europe."
Meanwhile, American vacations have gotten shorter and shorter. That's why, in addition to the three-week classic route, we also offer a two-week version: Our Best of Europe in 14 Days tour (which still has plenty of seats available in 2025) hits two-thirds of the destinations — taking our travelers from Rome to Paris through the best of Italy, Germany's Bavaria, the Swiss Alps, and small-town France. So, for many, the big question is: two weeks or three?
In this month's Tour News, you can hop aboard the two-week Best of Europe itinerary with a colorful, day-by-day slideshow; get to know one of our Best of Europe tour guides, Tim Tendick; learn what recent tour members like best about our Best of Europe tours; and join me on a jaw-dropping trip to the top of the Swiss Alps.
Speaking of foundational travels, I'm also excited for the release of my latest book, On the Hippie Trail, distilled from my original hand-scrawled journal about traveling overland from Istanbul to Kathmandu in 1978. This journey, captured in an almost too-intimate account of my coming-of-age trip, cemented my lifelong love of travel. You can preorder the book now.
Your Kathmandu can be in Europe: Imagine your pulse spiking as you walk down the nave of Florence's Accademia Gallery, approaching a towering David whose confident pose just screams "Humanism, baby"…and waking up high in the Alps to the muted clanging of Swiss cowbells…and realizing you may just be eating the best chocolate pralines in the world outside your favorite chocolaterie on Paris' Rue Cler. It's all part of "The Best of Europe."
Keep on travelin'!
Rick