Best of Europe

Best ways to improve this book:

The book really feeds the belief that a day or two is enough to visit most places. I guess I just don't like to breeze through, but prefer to really get a feel for a place.

Heather Cameron in Coldstream, BC Canada 06/13/2008

With the introduction of each new country, mention the typical customs for tips/gratuity. I know it differs from country to country so a brief rundown would help things run more smoothly.

Kris in R, NJ USA 05/22/2008

This book is great - we used it for our first trip to Europe in 2007 and are planning our next for this May. However, I noticed that in Best of Europe 2008 there are no "Survival Phrases" in the appendix as there were in the 2007 edition. These provided 2 pages of phrases in each of 4 different languages and came in so handy, especially as we were trying to immerse ourselves in the culture of the places we visited. Luckily I still have the torn out appendix from the 2007 edition to take with us this year, but please bring this incrediby useful resource back to future editions!

Lauren in Stamford, CT USA 03/09/2008

Just keep making them - for anyone travelling in Europe they are worth a fortune!! Thank you!

Wendy Fox in Saanichton, BC Canada 02/28/2008

add Greece

cindy in fox Island, wa USA 01/29/2008

I can't say anything to criticize, I think you are doing the readers a great service and I always carry your books with me, even to familiar places since there is always something new to discover.

Linda D. Chaffee in San Bernardino, CA USA 12/20/2007

- Advise people travelling to Paris that stores are closed Sunday - If the book could indicate if hairdryer is available at the recommended hotels

Karen Canada 10/29/2007

The chapter on the Lauterbrunnen valley needs better organization. I was on a Rick Steves tour and everyone read the chapter over and over trying to make sense of it and plan their day. The map showing lifts is useful (although incorrect; they replaced the rail line between Lauterbrunnen and Grutschalp with a gondola last year with a gondola).

What I suggest is providing a sample itinerary with add ons, perhaps presented in a table or as a list of options. For example one line would be how to spend 2 hours on the Murren side riding lifts. The next line would say if you want to add a hike then remove 1 ride and walk it. For a more challenging hike add in the Allmendhubel lift and hike down. And so on. Then someone could decide based on their energy level and the weather what they want to do.

Mike Thompson in Los Angeles, CA USA 10/08/2007

I'm a Rick Steves fan. The books are wonderful, the PBS shows are great too! This was my third vacation to Europe and I wouldn't travel any other way. When going to locations outside of Europe I use Lonely Planet but would love it if there were Rick Steves style guides for Asia etc.. as well.

Jess Williams in Honolulu, HI USA 09/17/2007

As another reader suggested, having a binder (lightweight!) or even a folder to take sections of the book with you out on day trips. (Carrying the entire book each day was too heavy.) The main book could have easy tearout pages with holes or even a clip to keep them together. We ended up tearing our "Best of Europe" book apart country by country and city by city as we traveled. Then the pages would come loose as we looked things up. It worked, but it was messy.

Laurie Arora in Grosse Pointe Park, MI USA 08/17/2007

Your book was super! I am sure it saved my daughter and me lots of both time and money!! Your helpful hints, like get to the Tower of London early (we were alone with the Crown Jewels!) and buy various Metro/Museum passes, were invaluable. I am recommending this book to everyone I talk to about our European trip. Thank you very much.

Brenda Paull in Mercer Island, WA USA 07/08/2007

Stay at the Hotel Kranenturm, get a room in the tower, and take a shower between 7-9am in the morning - then see if you would recommend it again!

Christy in Auburn Hills, MI USA 06/27/2007

Please add Greece to best of Europe

Vinay Malur in Queensbury, NY USA 06/18/2007

Please address tipping better in Greece and what to expect. We were charged cover charges sometimes, service charges other times and were not sure how to tip when we incurred these other charges. One time we received three small tickets stapled together for our total meal. No wonder I watched others leave a bit confused. Lonely planet which you recommend did not address this either. Otherwise, Athens, Greece is under-rated. They have really cleaned up the heart of the city, have an easy to use marvelous metro and friendly people. We hated to leave!

Leslie Kelly in Clayton, GA USA 05/19/2007

Include major airport cities like Frankfurt even in "best of" just so there is information available

Cindy Van in Beaumont Alberta, USA 05/09/2007

This is a suggestion for this section of the site. Some comments (lots) make no reference to the town or city. Organizing the comments by country or city would be helpful. Reading all the comments to get what you are looking for is very time consuming. Thanks!

HarLyn Mlynek in Colorado Springs, Co USA 05/06/2007

As mentioned above, the book should provide better details on reserving trains. Also, there could be better information on how to travel the Romantic Road and travel the Best of the Rhine. The book interested us in these activities, but we were confused about how to actually do them. It was very time-consuming to do this by train (and we didn't really see much of the Romantic Road by rail), so I would also suggest that the book make it clear that these activities are better done by car. We traveled for over 5 hours on 5 trains to get to Bacharach (from Rothenburg), so the hour-long river cruise was a disappointment given the extraordinary effort required to get there.

Melissa in Honolulu, HI USA 04/24/2007

-Love your "at-a-glance" tables, but it would be really helpful if you could add page numbers and prices.

-Could you have a separate chapter about scams? We fell victim to a scam that we read about LATER when traveling to a different city. It would be nice to have them all listed in one section, then, in each chapter on a particular city/area you could mention some popular scams to watch out for, but then refer the reader to the summary section in the book and/or website for a complete list.

-I'd like more guidance on phone cards. I took your advice and got a "Go Bananas" card in Germany but it was a ripoff. For about 5 Euros I only got to speak for a few minutes. Another card I bought in Greece seemed to last forever. I got about an hour and several calls to the US. I think there are many things to know--like how much the pay phone operator may be charging from a pay phone, and what about the destination, etc. It's very bewildering, and yet we need to know how best to handle making calls abroad.

-It would be nice if you'd mention the best of certain categories, which you sometimes do. For example, when reading about Berlin you said that if we were going to Amsterdam we should wait for the A'dam sex museum as it was better. It would've been nice to have that info when reading about the Carlsberg Brewery--we could've spent our time better and just waited for the Heineken experience, which was much better.

-If you do add info for road trippers, we found Park-n-Ride lots outside Amsterdam that we used. We parked all day and got credits for using the train into the City (trainstop was right there). It was fast, convenient, and felt safe since there was an attendant.

Cindy in Hall, CA USA 03/27/2007

Put detailed color maps (like the one's in the front of the book), at the start of the chapter for each major city. A good map at the front of the chapter really helps me get a grip on the city.

Jared in Tacoma, WA USA 03/22/2007

We use all your books for European travel. Please publish an update to "Mona Winks" our old one is all but worn out. When visiting museums listed in the book we have people asking about it. Also we see many people carrying it.

[Editor's Note: While we have no plans to reissue "Mona Winks," you can find the same museum tours (greatly updated) in each of our city guides: Paris, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Venice, Florence, Prague, and Istanbul. You can also read an updated museum tour for Madrid's Prado on our website at http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/spain/prado.htm]

Richard Stanish in Tulsa, OK USA 01/13/2007

I've been using this guidebook for trip planning and the beginning map pages are starting to fall out and I haven't even traveled with it! The glue/binding needs to be better.

Deborah Herndon in Walnut Creek, CA USA 11/07/2006

I agree that it would be better to publish a three ring binder version that people could take out or rearrange pages.

Cameron in Salem, OH USA 10/27/2006

The only thing that doesn't work for me with your travel books - is that they are not available outside the states. I can think of about 3 solid reasons why you would not want to distribute them to far beyond the states borders, however hope you consider it, I think it would appeal to both Australians and British. I find your guide books allow me to crack through the tourist carnage and see the essence of a place. Many thanks.

[Editor's Note: Actually, Rick's books are available in a few places overseas. In London, ask for them at Stanfords Travel Bookstore near Covent Garden (www.stanfords.co.uk).]

Shaun RIchardson in London, UK 10/22/2006

Many of the places that are listed as having internet service, don't anymore. A few hostels have contracts with laundry mats and internet places near by. EI. Rome hostel Casa Olmata.

Tom in Roseville, CA USA 10/11/2006

actually, rick's book is tops. my cousin and a friend who went with us said they will get one for their next trip.

Olive FL USA 10/06/2006

VERY disappointed that the Mosel Valley and Hill Towns of Central Italy were deleted from the Best of Europe 2007, yet the book continues to get thicker and more difficult to carry. I thought Burg Eltz was Rick's favorite castle? I'll keep using my 2005 edition since it covers these destinations, and is much thinner to boot.

Paul Craig in Houston, TX USA 09/25/2006

Give me a free copy every year....hehehehehe

Glenn Budgell in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL Canada 09/15/2006

Trying to find more information about taking a train from Vienna to either Copenhagen or Stockholm. Any suggestions? Thanks!

DA in Berkeley, CA USA 09/02/2006

Heavy on the lodging recommendations. I find without your book, I don't know where to start to find decent and reasonably priced rooms. The TI's aren't working for traveler's anymore so their advice is suspect.

Light on the food recommendations. I know some people really like them. I find the best way to find food is to ask a local. Recommendations might keep people from asking locals and getting great food and a cultural experience. I also find the best possible establishments go downhill after being listed so please don't spoil the good places. Have just a few recommendations for people who really want them and have the number one recommendation be to ask a local (a bobby, store clerk, someone sitting in a park with their dog, etc.)

Brad Benson in Spokane, WA USA 08/27/2006

Keep the quirky comical comments coming!

Jordan Linscombe in Colorado Springs, CO USA 08/07/2006

Yes is would be great if we could download your books and customize the contents to our iteneraries, and even update them when corrections are made.

Lloyd Hanebury in Kiev, Ukraine 07/25/2006

More information on Greece! I'd love to hear more about the rest of the mainland and the islands. The television shows are helpful, but I'd love to have additional written information. I hate travelling without Rick!

Kellye in Dallas, TX USA 07/18/2006

In all of your books it would be nice to know which hotels/inns etc.. are pet friendly. Many military families stationed in Europe use your travel books and we take our pets with us. It would be very helpful. Many thanks.

Lisa Valle in Sycamore, IL USA 07/17/2006

Don´t bash Bush!!

Andrew Freck in Sheridan, Wy USA 07/15/2006

We "did" a few European cities on our way back from Kazakhstan, where we visited our son who is in the Peace Corps. Before we left, we ripped out the pages of the cities we would be visiting, along with the map to save space and weight. The pages were thoroughly helpful and we were pleasantly surprized about how "right on" everything was, except for a few expected price increases, but I wondered could there be a sort of loose leaf binding that would would make ripping up a book not so traumatic?

Freda Briggs in El Dorado, KS USA 06/29/2006

I was looking into the Romantic Road bus tour from Rothenburg to Fussen, Germany that you recommend in your Europe 2006 book. I wanted more details on some other sites in Germany so I picked up your Germany 2006 book. To my surprise, I found a whole paragraph NOT recommending that bus tour b/c of new owners (pg.90. also 109, 173). I definitely think that paragraph should be included in next year's Europe book but for those of us traveling this year who only have the Europe 2006 book, you should post that paragraph on your website under updates asap!!

E. House in Louisville, CO USA 06/06/2006

Salzburg: The directions from the train station to Pension Adlerhof are somewhat confusing. Kaiserschutzenstrasse was not labeled on street signs and many locals did not know where it was. However, they were able to lead us to Elisabethstrasse.

Amy in Memphis, TN USA 06/03/2006

A few Czech survival phrases would be very useful.

John & Lynn Stenabaugh in Aurora, On Canada 06/03/2006

Exclude Casa Olmata from the book.

J in Newark, NJ USA 04/27/2006

Everything is just fine. I just wanted to thank Rick. My family and I have had the most wonderful time in Europe for more than 10 years because we have followed your itineries. Before we got to know Rick's book, we had wasted our precious time by going to places that looked nice by looking at some pictures but later find out by going there that they were not so nice as we expected. I really love Rick's book because it only list the most wonderful places. I can not thank you enough. Please take care of youself, so that you could keep on making other people happy.

Michiko Ogawa in Michiko, CA USA 04/26/2006

I've sent another email about the quality of the book - the finish as opposed to the content.

Andrew Dunn in Adelaide, SA Australia 04/25/2006

I ditto what "Bill Canada 10/15/2005" mentioned. I have become a huge RS fan but by the time I'm ready to take a trip I have 5 or 6 RS books! I would really like to see an option where a person can order smaller versions of RS books catered to their trips. I don't like tearing books apart and recreating them.

Beth in Encinitas, CA USA 04/24/2006

Hard to improve on Rick Steeves, but consider smaller paper back versions, such as one for Sicily and Sardinia, another for Rome, and a separate booklet for Umbria/Tuscany. Smaller books are easier to pack.

Sherm Brown in San Francisco, CA USA 04/07/2006