Voice of Travel

This seminar was a lot of fun.  Rick Steves showed us a slideshow while he talked about different places in Europe, and kept things really funny.  What was his biggest piece of advice?  Stay away from the “normal” tourist destinations, and you’ll have a lot more fun, get a more authentic view of the destination, and you’ll be able to stay away from crowds!  Basically, he’s saying if you go to the Eiffel Tower, you’ll be standing in long lines with everyone else.  But if you get a car and go a few towns away from Paris, you’ll have a more authentic French vacation, and it won’t be as crowded.  He showed some amazing pictures of out of the way places he has visited, and how much fun they were. 

Since he does realize that we all want to see the major tourist attractions, his suggestion was this.  Most tour groups get into a destination mid-morning, and stay until right before dinnertime, before they leave to move on to the next destination.  So to be around fewer crowds, you should get to the destination around dinnertime, have a great dinner, and then walk around the city.  In the early morning you can see all of the tourist destinations before they get crowded, and while you’re leaving the city, you will see all the tour busses coming in.

His ideas make perfect sense…since what fun is it to go to an amazing destination and have to stand in line for hours before you are able to get inside.

It was a really great seminar though, and I’m glad I got to hear him speak!
Here are some of the Rick Steves books that we enjoy:

Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door 2007
Rick Steves’ Italy 2007
Rick Steves’ Paris 2007