Best of Europe 2012 Book
Best and worst sights, experiences and destinations:
Best: Rome
Why: Ancient history. Gives you a feel for what may be in store for the rest of the Mediterranean region.
Worst: Omitting cities in Switzerland
Why: Not everyone only goes to the Alps areas.
Marilyn in Metuchen, NJ USA 11/13/2011
Best: The bus tour in Paris
Why: The 3 interlocking routes allow you to see the main parts of the whole city We signed on for 2 days. You need at least 2 days to cover it all
p bax in Vancouver, BC Canada 10/30/2011
Best: Charles Bridge in Prague
Why: It was fun seeing the art, being on the river and bridge, and watching the people. Truly amazing.
Worst: Visiting St. Marks Square
Why: My wife had no problem with the Vatican, but at St. Mark's square they wouldn't let her in because her arms were showing. It was a modest dress that would not be a problem in most churches in Europe or the US.
Tom in Elm Grove, Wi USA 07/10/2011
Best: Borgese Gallery in Roma
Why: My 15 year old daughter actually enjoyed this place. All other museums/galleries she was bored. But, she now understands what a "master" is. Thank you Bernini and Rick.
Worst: San Gigminino
Why: I had been there on my RS Best of Europe tour in 2006, but thought it has become even more toursity. My daughter hated it, except for the torture museum, which frightened her, but she liked it.
Dawnya Brown in Saint George, Ut USA 04/02/2011
Best: Celia B&B in Levanto, Italy
Why: pleasant surroundings, wonderful helpful people and clean and close to everything. Even drove us to the train station. Best place to stay in Cinque Terre
Worst: Arles B&B in Arles France
Why: it is listed as cusine provenceal and is also a cooking school run by Eric..no real name..it is filty!! and unsantiary. I was afraid to eat the small stale bread serve or the coffee in dirty cups, etc.. not one of us staying there all using Rick's book felt comfortable..we were all agahst at the filth. Eric did not speak one word of english..take it off the list
Jeanette in Cincinnati, Oh USA 10/16/2010
Best: Private guide - Lisa Zeiler (Vienna)
Why: Gave a great tour. Really knew her stuff.
Fulton Ervin in Florence, SC USA 09/26/2010
Best: Night Watchman's Tour in Rothenburg, Germany
Why: Great fun!
Worst: Pedal Power bike tour of Vienna, Austria (outside the Ring)
Why: Horrible tour guide (Alex) who treated 3 Israeli customers on our tour with no respect. Rode far ahead of most of the group, resulting in losing one Israeli woman at a crosswalk. His solution: let her find her own way back. Major mutiny by most of tour group... ugly scene. Longest 3 hours of our vacation.
Kathy Hoffman in Alpharetta, GA USA 08/15/2010
Best: The Rhine tour on the K-D boat
Why: I used the book as my guide to the castles on that we saw on the river. My father and brother could not believe the detail in the book was better than the narration they played on the boat.
Worst: Brussels
Why: I think the city simply was not what we expected and just wasn't our cup of tea. Not a downfall of the book however.
Joe Hansen in Cape Coral, FL USA 07/05/2010
Best: La rue Cler
Why: Eat like a French king for cheap--quintessential Paris!
Worst: Vienna
Why: It was a total snore. Maybe I hit the town at the wrong time, but it's way, way down on my list of places to re-visit.
Josh Smith in Waterloo, ON Canada 05/07/2010
Best: Granada, Alhambra, wandering
Why: Beautiful (even in winter), interesting history, fabulous tapas!
Mary in NY, NY USA 02/21/2010
Best: Chagall Museum, Nice, France; Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame
Why: Chagall has such meaningful artwork. I could look for hours and still see new ideas within his murals of the Old Testament everytime I walked by. The Eiffel was inspiring and the artwork and stained glass in Notre Dame were beautiful, but getting lost on Paris streets wasn't fun.
Worst: train reservations, Hotel la Belle Meuniere
Why: In Spain, France, and Italy we paid hundreds of dollars(15 and up Euros at a time) extra for train reservations with our saver pass to be able to hop on a train. Sometimes we weren't allowed on and had to take alternate routes (on one we met a wonderful off duty train conductor from France who was a great help in getting us to our destination the same day). Also when we had a sleeper, we ended up with men in our sleeper car "because they are open to all". Hotel la Belle in Nice, France would not even talk to us after we arrived on the train (without reservations because we never knew when we would get in to a town), and recommended a real dump for our first night. The next morning, I found Hotel D'Orsay within the same block as la Belle which was a beautiful place to stay.
Jane in Oregon City, OR USA 02/11/2010
Best: Original Berlin Walks "Discover Berlin"
Why: This tour gave a tremendous overview of Berlin's major and some minor sites, and weaved everything together with Berlin's fascinating history. This is a must for anyone visiting Berlin.
Kristen in Gail, TX USA 08/22/2009
Best: Gardens at Versailles
Why: Beautiful setting and we were there during the weekend fountains show with classical music.
Worst: Overnight Train Venice to Paris
Why: We still can't believe this happened, but someone gained access to our sleeping compartment, while we were sleeping, and managed to take all of our cash and our camera. We locked the sliding metal door to our compartment before going to bed but noticed the door off its track the next morning. Got no help from Rail Europe train staff. We had read about all the pickpockets but never imagined that they could get through a locked door on the train.
Cary Jung in Sacramento, CA USA 05/18/2009
Best: Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore
Why: One of the most picturesque spots in the world!! Very accurately depicted in the Best of Europe (2008)book. Part of the walking trail had been closed due to landslides, so we took the boat from Riomaggiore back to Monterosso and we loved the views from the water!
Bart Brady Ciampa in Vancouver, WA USA 05/11/2009
Best: Barcelona
Why: The suggested tours of Gaudi's many architectural contributions were fantastic. His architecture seems to have affected the entire mood of the city; it is vibrant and lots of fun. We will visit again to see more.
Bob Kuning in Albuquerque, NM USA 04/08/2009
Best: Bruges
Why: So much to see, but very laid back. Gorgeous.
Michele Smith in Burlington, MA USA 04/06/2009
Best: Cinque Terra
Why: The views were amazing and we never would have known to go there had we not read the book!
Annie in Bel Air, MD USA 03/15/2009
Best: The live commentary hop-on-hop-off bus tours and city river cruise and the Tate Modern.
Why: This was our fourth visit to London and we avoided these tours every other time, so we decided to try them this time. The narration was interesting, informative, and entertaining. The live narration was better than the recording.
It was an excellent tip to visit the Tate Modern late in the evening on Saturday when it is open until 10:00 p.m.
CW in The Hague, Netherlands 02/02/2009