Well I know who is is now. I saw all this stuff about Rick Steves on this site, but I had never heard of him (ie I'm not from the US). I looked at his website and I must say I'm a bit schocked. Granted, I haven't read his books but what I saw on the site was very simple and mainstream. Why is he so popular? With tips like "wash your hands regularly" - I really don't understand the attraction.

By the way, there is another thread about Rick Steves ruining restaurants - last night I was at the le Clos des Gourmets in Paris and I had not been there in some time and their was a big American group there and they were planning to "do" chez eux tonight. Beware

"Simple and mainstream" is why he is popular. He gives the traveller the essential information that they need in an easy to digest form. This makes the whole scary thing of travel to Europe seem less scary and more doable. Naturally his books are opinionated and simplified compared to other guide books. That is both their strength and weakness. He actually suggests using other books in addition to his own.

Oh no......there are so many threads on Rick S. He has been done to death so to speak......

I think he is popular with first timers who would like to go on their own (rather than an escorted tour) but haven't traveled much and don't know where to start. That's why his information is basic, that is his audience.

Wasn't this same topic posted a month or so ago?

I think the strong point of his PBS series was that he convinced many people to get up and go, and that he made it clear that you needn't wait until you could afford the luxury route. Only flipped through one of his books, which struck me as superficial.

Read somewhere in that book that his favorite destination was India -- though so far he hasn't sent anyone there.

I give him credit for making a (very good) living at what he loves.

lawchick, you might just be too young to know about him and his travels. Millions of Americans watched him on TV and read his travel books as he traveled through Europe on a budget and experience the real thing.

Jorr -

I am a great fan of Rick Steves and avidly promote him to friends and family. I hate to admit it, but I actually own his DVDs (and several guidebooks.) But one thing that bothers me about Rick is that he promotes budget travel and then runs tours that are exorbitantly priced. Why the contradiction, I wonder?

Sorry to have directed that to you, Jorr. I also meant to mention, however, that Rick Steves is now generally well known among young travelers, particularly those venturing abroad during their college years. His budget travel tips and hostel recommendations are particularly relevant.

I think Rick is a personable guy who got rich writing about cheap travel. He does have a catchy way with words. I find him rather shallow, but that is all many, many people want. His guide to Paris has quite a few good ideas, and he actually has a workable strategy for visiting the Louvre if your objective is to check it off your museum list and not embarrass yourself once you get home by sounding dumb about what you saw.

Ditto Versailles.

There are some excellent guides to Paris. I have several other than RS's book: Let's Go Paris, Fodors, Michelin Green Guide, and the Rough Guide.
Each one has something the others do not have, so they are all useful.

Yes, he's a bit simplistic -- on my second trip this fall, I found I needed more in-depth information. But he was very helpful (and his tours are great for first-timers), and his travel skills video is a must-see for those who've never been to Europe.

I figure anybody who gets Americans out of their suburbanite isolationist routine and gets them to Europe is a hero in my book, and that includes Rick Steves, since that's exactly his motivation and inspiration.

I have an aunt who I got to go to Paris this fall, and I know it's changed her entire perspective on Europeans as well as Americans, and that's what it's all about -- reaching more understanding instead of staying on this side of the ocean and never venturing to find out what the "others" are like.

Peace. Love. Cafe au laits for everybody.

Jules

Well, I'd never heard of Mr Steves pre-Fodors, but I can see that he might just fill a need, and like any good little capitalist he's found a market.

And it's not just Americans who need a Steves. One of my neighbours confessed somewhat shiftily that they'd taken a bus tour of England because "the missus was worried about getting lost" (I suspected "the missus" was being used as a scapegoat, but anyway.) England, of all places, I thought? A bus tour of bloody ENGLAND? You'd have to live under a rock (or be a victim of the last few decades' education system) not to have a reasonable grasp of English geography and manners, they speak the same language, they we share slang terms and sense of humour, they even drive on the same side of the road, for God's sake! You'd think that you'd have to be incapacitated to want to take a tour, wouldn't you?

But then, if you've never been outside your own country, you're getting on in years, sometimes (like my neighbour) not too bright, and the business of booking hotels and cars and negotiating unfamiliar terrain on the other side of the world seems just all too much, letting someone else take charge of your experience can be very tempting. Or, there may just be someone who can tempt you to take that ultimately satisfying leap.

Rick Steves's books are terrific - they give you all the basic information you need when visiting a place on a quick trip. Not only does he give you the run-down of a place, but he lets you know what you can probably avoid and what you should go out of your way to see. Most other guide books give you the information without an opinion about it

I've used his books on most of my trips overseas and will continue to do so. I've used his hotel recommendations only once and found the hotel (in Bayeux, Normandy) to be right on. I don't agree with all of his advice - for example, I always buy a day/multi-day pass when using public transit in a European city instead of fooling with individual tickets as Steves sometimes suggests - but at least his advice is blunt enough that I can judge whether to follow it or ignore it.

Andrew

I agree with Bob, every book has a different focus. My husband has been interested in our trip from the start, but it was the Steves videos that pulled him into the planning process. Now he's reading the Pope's Ceiling.

What causes the confusion is that Rick Steves is a purely American phenomenon. He simply doesn’t exist outside America – we don’t see his programmes, his books aren’t published here and if it wasn’t for forums like this us non-Americans would never have heard of the geezer.

There is no real British equivalent – maybe a cross between Alan Whicker and Magenta Devine (and there’s a thought!) is closest?

Wow - this is well-made demonstration of cultural dissonance. I'm not surprised you haven't heard of Rick Steves - but who the heck is Magenta Devine?

I've heard that he sometimes makes ridiculous deliberate mistakes in the hope that somebody will notice.
I remember two examples on this forum but I'm sure that there are more.
He said that Lord Nelson had one leg and that Sir Francis Drake "circumcised" the globe.

Hmm, I just had a look at the British bit of his website and saw this gem about the Cotswolds. It makes you see them in a different light.

"The area is provincial. Chatty locals, while ever so polite, commonly rescue themselves from a gossipy tangent by saying, "It's all very...ummm...yyya." Rich people open their gardens to support their favorite charities, while the less couth enjoy "badger baiting" (a gambling cousin of cockfighting where a badger, with its teeth and claws taken out, is mangled by dogs)"

I like the thought of Alan Whicker travelling on the cheap: though I think he wouldn't object to it if Magenta came along as well....

Where's who they are, for Worktowander:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...io/4135261.stm

http://www.speak.ltd.uk/managed/mage...printable.html

I've just had a look at his website. Blimey he's pricey - 15 days in Britain for $3000 PLUS air fare, and seven days in London for $1500 again PLUS air fare. Is this what you're used to paying over there?

For $3,000 aithout airfare you could go anywhere in the world with a british company.

BTW Alan Whicker was a bloke who presented travel programmes in the 60s and 70s on British TV. He wore a safari suit and had a very debonair laid back style.

Magenta Devine presented the Rough Guide series on the telly - the TV version of the books. She is somewhat different in appearance and style from dear old Alan to say the least.