Production News
Behind the Camera
Here's a look at making the series:
New Rick Steves' Europe Series IV launches October 2006
Rick Steves' latest series of travel shows debuts this fall with ten all-new shows and a special "making of" episode that lets us follow along with Rick and his crew as they create America's most popular travel series.
In this new season, Rick takes us to great cities: dodging Vespas in Naples, feeling the thriving pulse of chic Milan, donning a kilt in bonnie Edinburgh, and waltzing through Vienna.
The new series, two years in the making, transports us into the villages and countryside as never before. It's as if we're right there — scaling steaming Mount Vesuvius, lapping up la dolce vita in Tuscany, and communing with nature in Austria's Salzkammergut alpine lake district. Teaming up with Rick, we join a shepherd and his dog rustling sheep in the pristine mountains of northern Wales, and follow frisky hounds through an Umbrian oak forest as they sniff out precious truffles.
Connecting with people who've found their niche in life adds carbonation to any experience. In every show, we meet people who dish up travel fun with a contagious joie de vivre that inspires us to live life to its fullest. Traveling with Rick, we'll sip limoncello in an Amalfi orchard, track down Beatle memories in Liverpool, savor scotch right out of the keg in Scotland, cook strudel in Hapsburg splendor, cruise in a classic convertible under the cyprus trees of Tuscany, and sloppily stretch the mozzarella on pizza in its Neapolitan birthplace.
Rick's series makes history feel real — from stowing away on Her Majesty's yacht Britannica to strolling along the ancient alleys of unlucky Pompeii. Pondering a magical unicorn tusk in the Habsburg crown jewels, romping the ruined ramparts of once-mighty English castles built to squelch the Welsh, spending some alone time with Leonardo's Last Supper, and resurrecting the rubble of Pompeii, the new season of Rick Steves' Europe makes history both fun and meaningful.
After 15 years and more than a hundred episodes, Rick and his crew finish this new series with a special behind-the-scenes look at how they create the shows. With an extra camera following them through the shooting of an entire episode, you'll understand the challenges, surprises, and travel fun that result as we follow our favorite tour guide through the wonders of Europe.
Rick Goes High-Definition January 2006
Since 2002, we've been shooting in HD but only broadcasting in standard definition. That's about to change. In January 2006, APT will release 19 Rick Steves' Europe shows in exquisite HD. You'll see the fingers on frets, the spines on cactus fruit, and you'll even know if the water is "sin gas" or "con gas." Those cut-glass peaks in the Alps will glisten like never before. HD episodes include six from series II (Rhine, Munich, Best of the Alps, and three on Ireland) and all 13 from series III (Madrid, Castile, Normandy, North Ireland, London, Paris, Belgium, Provence, French Riviera, Poland, Budapest, Lisbon, and Sevilla). From now on, our programs will be broadcast in both standard and high definition and, more than ever, your viewers will consider your station their next best thing to a plane ticket.
Rick Steves' Europe on the Lineup of APT's "Create" Channel
APT's new lifestyle channel debuts January 2006 with programming 24/7. One of the many series included will be Rick Steves' Europe.
Vive la France — Pledge Special for March 2006
Keeping with our two-per-year schedule of producing pledge specials for public television, OPB and Rick Steves are offering an exciting and tasty two-hour, three-show virtual pledge event for March, featuring Rick's newest France episodes: Normandy, Provence, and the French Riviera. Premiums will include both general Europe and France-specific options. Rick will host the breaks, with opt-outs for localization. This will be fed by APT on March 1.
Travels in Europe with Rick Steves is Dead…Long Live Rick Steves' Europe
In October 2005, the 52 Travels in Europe with Rick Steves shows (produced by Small World Productions with Rick in the 1990s) were retired. Sixteen of the latest of these were saved and reworked to match the Rick Steves' Europe episodes and released this September as Rick Steves' Europe Classics. To the viewer, they blend with the current series, creating a thoughtfully integrated family of 59 episodes. All programs are accurate and up-to-date, and the redundancy and confusion of two different Rick Steves travel series is now history.
Rick Steves' Europe TV Show: Series I-IV
View the Complete Catalog Listing of Rick's Travel Episodes.