Rick Steves Best of Europe

by Rick Steves

Overview

You can count on Rick Steves to tell you what you really need to know when planning a Grand Tour of Europe. In this guide, Rick covers the best of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.

You’ll find a healthy mix of big cities, small towns, and exciting regions, including:

London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Barcelona
Rothenberg, Bruges, Haarlem, Hallstatt, and Gimmelwald
Provence, the French Riviera, Germany's Romantic Road, Switzerland's Berner Oberland, and Italy's Cinque Terre

Rick’s candid, humorous advice will guide you to good-value hotels and restaurants. You’ll learn how to find the right bus in Rome, an inexpensive crêpe in Paris, and which museums and sights are worth your time and money. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves guidebook is a tour guide in your pocket.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631211775
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Series:	Rick Steves' Travel Guides Series
Edition description:	Twentieth Edition
Pages:	1020
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about four months a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves' Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy, daughter Jackie, and his grandson...baby Atlas. Find out more about Rick at www.ricksteves.com and on Facebook.

Connect with Rick:
facebook.com/RickSteves
twitter: @RickSteves
instagram: ricksteveseurope

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

Travel Smart 14

England 20

London 23

France 122

Paris 125

Near Paris: Versailles 208

Provence 219

Aries 224

Avignon 246

Near Aries and Avignon: Pont du Gard, Les Baux, Vaison-la-Romaine, Côtes du Rhone Wine Rôad 257

The French Riviera 273

Nice 276

Near Nice: Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cap Ferrat, Monaco 301

Spain 312

Barcelona 315

Italy 398

Rome 401

Florence 483

The Cinque Terre 539

Monterosso al Mare 546

Vernazza 557

Corniglia 5^8

Manarola 571

Riomaggiore 575

Venice 583

Switzerland 646

The Berner Oberland 649

Interlaken 655

Lauterbrunnen 661

Gimmelwald 665

Müirren 671

Scenic Lifts & Trains 677

Hiking 682

Germany 690

Munich 693

Near Munich: Dachau Memorial 758

Rothenburg and the Romantic Road 763

Rothenburg ob der Tauber 765

Near Rothenburg: The Romantic Road 790

Rhine Valley 795

Rhine Blitz Tour 798

Bacharach 808

St. Goar 819

Marksburg Castle in Braubach 826

Neat the Rhine Valley: Burg Eltz 830

Berlin 835

The Netherlands 896

Amsterdam 899

Near Amsterdam: Haarlem 956

Practicalities 964

Help! 964

Money 965

Sightseeing 967

Sleeping 967

Eating 969

Staying Connected 970

Transportation 971

Conversions 976

Packing Checklist 977

Survival Phrases 979

Index 989

Map Index 1008

Editorial Reviews

"The country's foremost expert in European travel for Americans."—Forbes

"Steves is an absolute master at unlocking the hidden gems of the world's greatest cities, towns, and monuments."—USA Today

“Every country-specific travel guidebook from the Rick Steves publishing empire can be counted upon for clear organization, specificity and timeliness."—Society of American Travel Writers

"Pick the best accommodations and restaurants from Rick Steves…and a traveler searching for good values will seldom go wrong or be blindsided."—NBC News

"His guidebooks are approachable, silly, and even subtly provocative in their insistence that Americans show respect for the people and places they are visiting and not the other way around."—The New Yorker

"Travel, to Steves, is not some frivolous luxury—it is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. Given that millions of people have encountered the work of Steves over the last 40 years, on TV or online or in his guidebooks, and that they have carried those lessons to untold other millions of people, it is fair to say that his life’s work has had a real effect on the collective life of our planet."—The New York Times Magazine

"[Rick Steves] laces his guides with short and vivid histories and a scholar's appreciation for Renaissance art yet knows the best place to start an early tapas crawl in Madrid if you have kids. His clear, hand-drawn maps are Pentagon-worthy; his hints about how to go directly to the best stuff at the Uffizi, avoid the crowds at Versailles and save money everywhere are guilt-free."—TIME Magazine

"Steves is a walking, talking European encyclopedia who yearns to inspire Americans to venture 'beyond Orlando.'"—Forbes

“…he’s become the unofficial guide for entire generations of North American travelers, beloved for his earnest attitude and dad jeans."—Outside Magazine

"His books offer the equivalent of a bus tour without the bus, with boiled-down itineraries and step-by-step instructions on where to go and how to get there, but adding a dash of humor and an element of choice that his travelers find empowering."—The New York Times

"His penchant for creating meaningful experiences for travelers to Europe is as passionate as his inclination for making ethical choices his guiding light."—Forbes

"[Rick Steves'] neighborhood walks are always fun and informative. His museum guides, complete with commentary about historic sculpture and storied artworks are wonderful and add another dimension to sometimes stodgy, hard-to-comprehend museums."—NBC News

From the Publisher