Rick Steves' Europe Video

In Nazare, locals renting spare rooms clamor for business. Women camp out at the bus station and the road into town waving signs advertising rooms for rent in five languages hoping to snare arriving tourists. From quartos to barnacles, Rick discovers what makes this Portuguese fishing town so alluring and a definite Back Door destination. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series —...

While Bulgaria welcomes westernization, traditional ways persist. From time-warped villages and donkey carts, to the formidable fortress and spiritual sanctuary of Rila monastery, locals are quick to share a smile as Rick travels the countryside in search of Bulgaria's back doors. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating sta...

The beauty of the highlands is powerfully felt in Scotland's vast Rannoch Moor. In this windy expanse, bagpiping feels right at home. Along the road to Glencoe, pipers play for tips — and sometimes give impromptu lessons to adventurous travelers. See how Rick handles the pipes for the first time, on camera. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions,...

After 16 years and more than 100 travel shows, Rick takes you behind the scenes to show just how they produce this series. Join the crew as they scamper through Milan, and follow the creative process as the challenges and surprises that come with travel are shaped into a finished show. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participatin...

Salzburg is a world-class destination for live music, with over 2,000 performances bringing life to its churches and palaces year-round. Join us in the opulent Mirabell Palace for Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, performed with gusto by a string quartet visiting from Russia. Then, we'll take a train and boat to the lovely lakeside town of Hallstatt. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series...

When Italy erupted in chaos after the fall of Rome, people moved to the high ground to escape the marauding barbarians of that dark age. Over time, hill towns such as Siena, Assisi, Volterra and San Marino were fortified and functioned as independent city states. Weakened by plague centuries later, Italy's hill towns became backwaters, stuck in the middle ages — which makes them fascinating for tr...

When travel dreams take people to Italy, Tuscany is often their first stop. There's something almost seductively charming about this region and its rustic good living. We'll experience two classic examples of "la dolce vita" (the sweet life): joining an early-morning truffle hunt through an oak forest, and tasting the bounty of a small-town artichoke festival. For more information on the Rick Stev...

While it's overlooked by many travelers to Italy, Milan has lots to see, and is a joy to visit. After you've taken in the city's renaissance art treasures, people-watch in Milan's high-fashion shopping zone to see Italy's 21st century prosperity on parade. An hour away by train is Lake Como, Rick's favorite of Italy's northern lakes, with the best mix of accessibility, scenery, offbeat-ness — and...

Just south of Naples you'll find one of Italy's most beautiful slices of scenery: the Amalfi coastline. To take it all in, you'll want to follow the coast road…and let someone else do the driving. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating stations, travel information on destinations and more — visit www.ricksteves.com.

Naples is Italy in the extreme, If you enjoy Italy as far south as Rome, go further south — it gets even better. A tangled mess of a city, Naples still manages to breathe, laugh, and sing, with a captivating Italian accent. We'll wander through the city's colorful, narrow streets, then climb up to the steamy crater of nearby Mt. Vesuvius. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series —...

Wales must have more castles per square mile than any other place in Europe. However, the lion's share were not built by the Welsh, but by English invaders. In the fortified castle town of Conwy, we learn from a local expert how these castles were carefully engineered to discourage and withstand Welsh rebellions. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descrip...

Most travelers visit the West of Turkey. But the rural East offers friendly glimpses into lifestyles and traditions that go back centuries. Harvested hay is still piled atop roofs for the winter, cow pies are stacked for fuel, donkeys pull buckboard wagons, and ducks seem to wander everywhere. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, part...

England's South Downs Way offers a classic hike along cliff tops, over meadows, and through charming villages. Considered a birthright by local hiking enthusiasts, the public right of way is reinforced every year by a "mass trespass" across privately held lands. Small, friendly pubs along the way keep walkers properly hydrated and up-to-speed on the local lore. For more information on the Rick Ste...

Wherever you travel in Europe, a local guide, like Kinsale's Don Herlihy, can bring the region's history to life. In 1601, Irish patriots, chafing under English rule, conspired with the Spanish fleet to drive the English out. In a dramatic battle around the port of Kinsale, the Irish and Spanish were routed, and Ireland would be denied its independence for three centuries. For more information on...

Rick stays at a farmhouse B and B in Tuscany's hilly Crete Senese country, where generations of the same family have celebrated "the sweet life" with locally-produced pecorino cheese, prosciutto ham, and Chianti wine. For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating stations, travel information on destinations and more — visit www.r...

Meandering 300 miles from its source in France to where it merges with the Rhine in Germany, the relaxing Mosel treats travelers to quaint villages, hill-hugging vineyards and towering castles. The town of Cochem makes a good home-base for day-tripping along the river and over the hill to magnificent Burg Eltz castle. Decorated and furnished as it was 500 years ago, this is Rick's favorite castle...

A trip to the downtown post office in Dublin offers travelers a chance to step into a dramatic chapter in Ireland's history. As a set of murals inside vividly explains, it was here that the Proclamation of Irish Independence was first read in 1916, leading to the failed Easter Rising, and the martyrdom of its leaders. Nearby, at the former prison and execution yard of Kilmainham Gaol, today's guid...

Old Edinburgh's Royal Mile — a dense tangle of historic buildings, quaint shops and fun museums — winds its way downhill from the medieval castle to Holyrood Palace. During the city's 17th century boom times, ten-storey skyscrapers blotted out the sun while workers toiled in darkness. Today, Edinburgh's striking new parliament building celebrates Scotland's independence from London, and its progre...

In the town of Bath, we'll visit the social center of that community 2,000 years ago — its elegant Roman bath. Then, after a relaxing break in a local park, we'll drift along an old canal, complete with still-functioning self-service locks. Built for commerce in the early 1800s, today these canals are popular for pleasure boaters,and the canal-side paths invite bikers, dog-walkers and sightseers....