I think you and Challicewell are versions of someone else trying to stir up trouble. Or, maybe, a deliberate attempt to liven up the board.

Dukey: Yes; if Rick Steves had posted/written/said something in the past that had caused such ill will, I would not purchase his guidebook. I'm currently checking out every guidebook my library has to offer, deciding which to purchase and take with me. Haven't gotten to his.

Scarlett: I spent lunch reading that ENTIRE thread you linked, and it seems my habit of not reading threads after they turn nasty has led me astray... because certainly you and others are right, posting this topic does stir up a certain sort of poster. My habits did not AT ALL give me the complete picture!

A cursory check of my posting history tells you what sort of forum poster I am. I guess I woke up on the defensive side of the bed, allowing some silliness to get to me. At least I learned to read ALL of the threads that Scarlett recommends. ;)

<<...because it veered into a childish, mudflinging catfight, and that level of negativity before lunch is not something I really need.>>

That said, you could have guessed where this thread would be headed. I'm not sure why you'd expect to get different replies from all the other times this question has been asked.

ACK! I need an edit key!

I have not gotten to his FLORENCE guidebook. I have read his broader European ones from 2005, which is where I formed my opinion on his style.

I agree with the above. I don't think that he necessarily tells you not to learn any of the language; he just lets those new to European travel know that they can, in fact, get by without being fluent in the language. I honestly think that the "language barrier" is what keeps many from traveling to Europe.

As far as telling his audience that "don't worry, everyone speaks English", I do agree that its somewhat foolish I see people on here post the same thing from time to time.

Tracy

My stats on Gimelwald came from being there only a few weeks ago. Those #'s came from a tourist brochure I picked up at the Interlaken tourist bureau. And yes I did check to make sure it wasn't a reference to the more populous Grimelwald.

If it's wrong, it might be that they are including hotels in the surrounding area as well as Gimelwald itself.

Sorry for the confusion.

Hearing a long time ago about his theory on 'stock piling food from the breakfast buffet for nourishment throughout the day' was enough to make me never want to buy one of his books.
:o

I hope I didn't sound as if I "hate" Rick Steves, I certainly don't. I think his programs are very interesting and entertaining, he makes everyplace he visits look so inviting. He has encouraged a lot of people to travel on their own, who may not have had the courage to do so without his insistance that it would be easy and didn't have to cost a fortune.

What I don't always like are his somewhat nasty comments about other American tourists, and yes like it or not we are all tourists.

My point was that his choice of destinations is very limited and that is frustrating to me, I've rarely been able to use his books because they don't cover the areas I will be visiting. Then again, we do bring a new definition to "Off the beaten path". ;)

There are VERY few people on this forum who actively hate Rick Steves. And one of them seems to hate plenty of other things as well, so his spleen isn't vented at RS alone.

I don't like or share his approach to travel, but in fact, he's hardly ever on my mental radar except when these posts come up. I supposed I'm actually relieved that he seems to know almost nothing about my favorite parts of Paris and absolutely nothing about our favorite parts of Germany and Austria. Hope it stays that way! Because some of his "off the beaten path" suggestions have evolved into some of the MOST beaten paths in Europe. But you can probably say something similar about any top selling guidebook.

He basically took the Let's Go and similar guides for budget travel and repackaged that kind of stuff for older, non-student audiences. A clever idea and he definitely found and filled an overlooked niche market. Good for him.

The only time I "roll my eyes" is when even the slightest criticism of RS is labeled as jealousy. RS is a clever businessman, but not the most perfect traveler ever to trod the earth. And I really do roll my eyes when someone says you can't criticize anything about him or his books unless you've written a best-selling travel guide yourself. What rubbish. You can criticize movies without having directed or starred in a blockbuster; you can criticize politicians without having served in office; so you can certainly criticize a book without having written one yourself.

The criticism about Rick Steves' appearance, however, does strike me as irrelevant. I don't see why anyone--except Mrs. Steves--should care in the least about his haircut or travel wardrobe.

I keep hearing references to Mr. Steve's recommendation to take food from the breakfast buffet---a definite no-no. But I've seen many of his videos and read many books, and have never seen him say that. Can someone please point to the exact spot? Or is everyone simply repeating hearsay? (Sorry, Tiff).

As for TuscanTweety and her purpose here, let's try a little kindness. It seem to me that she really is a first-time traveller to Europe looking at guidebooks, and wondering which to choose. Her question as to why Mr. S is so controversial is simply legitimate curiousity---she wonders if she should use his books or not. The other threads to which everyone points give lots of opinions, but it's hard to glean any real information on the subject from the catfight.

Why the hate? Because he is a pompous ass who presumes to lecture us on any and every subject in which he has any interest.

I think you need to give the guy a break. After all, like Pausanias posted previously he did build an empire and has made travel much more accessible to the average "Joe."

We (myself, husband and two teen boys) have been on 5 European vacations in the last 5 years (just returned from one week in Provence and 2 weeks in Italy) and his books have always been our number 1 choice to bring with us, along with the small DK Top Ten books. You can't pack them all and we find the big D.K. books fine for home use but just too heavy to bring along.

We have found his tips for drivers such as where to park invaluable. His self-guided tours have been extremely helpful as he picks out the important stuff you want to see. We spent 3 hot hours at Pompeii using his book and saw the important stuff and that was good enough for us.

We have used many of his listed accommodations (always get private bathrooms) and have found them perfectly comfortable. We enjoy the smaller places vs. staying in big 4-5 star hotels. On our summer 2005 trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Venice, we stayed in a small place from R.S. book (near Plitvice National Park in Croatia) that had a huge patio. One of our most memorable evenings was spent on the patio visiting with guests from various countries in Europe. That would never have happened if we were staying at a big place.

Regardless if you agree or disagree with Rick's world views, etc. you can not dispute that his information is very helpful and up-to-date. We certainly have noticed that the number of R.S. guidebooks seen overseas far outnumber any other--so much that our waiter in Siena asked to look at our book several years back because he was seeing so many of them! You go Rick!

Hi Nora ~ It was over a year ago while researching our second trip to Italy that I first read here on Fodors about his breakfast buffet stash and dash. I should have said "read" and not "heard" in my above post.

And you are right, I read it hear and did not actually see it spoke from his mouth on TV nor did I read it in one of his guide books, so it is indeed hearsay. However I do recall reading it in numerous posts, if that matters at all.

So often I do take the wise words typed by Fodorites as gold. (But why wouldn't I????)
:S-

ahhh, that should be "here" not hear.
:)

I found this quote by Steves on a May 2005 CBS News interview with said individual:
"We learned from the school of hard knocks," says Steves. "And for the first couple of days, we were sneaking into hotels and we were stealing lunch from breakfast and were pathetic street urchins in Europe. And then we got our act together and we got it down, and by the end of the trip, we were good travelers."

Thank, Tiff.

I'm just wondering if this is one of those things that everyone has "heard" (or read) here, and it keeps getting passed around, but is only a rumour with no truth behind it. So I'm still asking for someone to point out where and when he said this.

I'm thinking what he might had done is advise people to fill up their stomachs (not their pockets) at breakfast, to save on lunch expense later on. To my mind, that would be OK---and totally different from what he has been accused of saying.

Rick Steves just has too many books now and nobody can be an expert on that many places after all. I know he has other exerts helping him but there is an inconsistency from book to book.

His Italy book is fantastic, maybe his best book. We used it, and had other guidebooks as well. In 2004 his Italy guidebook was the best.

Now, I just used his Ireland guidebook (along with a whole shelfful of Ireland guidebooks) and found it to be entirely innacurate in many places. Also it doesn't compare with his Italy guidebook as it lacks details about the hotels and restaurants he is "recommending". If you have his Ireland guidebook already, rip out the Dingle sectiona and take it with you. Then toss the rest of the book out the window!

But use his Italy book as your travel bible!

As for not learning the language...I've heard him several times on his show and on videos try to encourage folks to have the guts to use the phone to make reservations, confirm opening times, etc. He at least advises to be able to ask things like that in the local language. (Of course, my problem with doing that is when the person on the other end ANSWERS in the local language!)

Wombat7---but isn't that interview statement very different from advising people to take food from breakfast? Especially if he clearly admitted it was stealing? I think he was just pointing out how naive they were at the start---and how wrong it was.

If this is the source of the rumour (thanks for coming up with it), you can see that it didn't come from his travel guides.

Hat's off to Rick Steves - he gets my courage award for being a member of the board of directors of NORML - National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws - this takes guts for a public figure to do so - only has to lose not gain from this, but obviously a matter of conscious. On his web site he has or had at least a copy of his speech to NORML convention and pro-pot legilization statements.
That any public figure could have such courage!

PalQ that's precisely what bothers me about him. Keep that stuff to yourself.

JoeTro: I must say i agree with you on that point - still his stance is courageous, if uncalled for in a travel site.

In the Spring to get in the mood for our vacation we bought the entire set of DVD's of all his shows including the original series.

I specifically remember him making the comment about taking food from the breakfast buttet for lunch later on in one of the episodes. I watched so many though, that I can't remember which episode in particular it was.

I remember commenting to my husband at the time, what a tacky thing to do, but Rick made it sound as if it was the "European" thing to do and was commmon practice.

So it it not a case of I think I heard someone say he said something like that once upon a time.

Nora - I think that is exactly what he seems to be saying.

I also found a March 2006 Seattle Times article stating that often "often steals lunch from breakfast, stuffing a couple of pieces of bread and some meat into his backpack.

It's not that he can't afford to buy a ham and cheese baguette — the 50-year-old public television star and best-selling author runs a $31 million dollar Europe Through the Back Door travel business based in Edmonds. He just likes to save time and money." Perhaps that is part of the rumor?

As to the issue of his stance on legalization of marijuana I agree with PalQ (this is getting to be a habit! that is takes courage for a public figure to do that. As to keeping "that stuff to yourself" - it is strange how we tend to say that when we disagree with the view but not when we agree with the view. Am still waiting for an out of the closet athiest to take high office

another doffed hat to Mr. Steves for
purchasing a 24 unit apartment building
in the Seattle area to house homeless
women and children. His wife is also
v. involved in this endeavour.

He seems to be a liberal Christian
(Lutheran) and as such does good
works w/o proselyting - as a non-
Christian I appreciate that stance.

I've just booked a month's worth of
hotels using all available information
sources - esp. Fodors and Trip Advisor.
Much to my amazement, every single hotel
I booked using these recommendations are
also listed in R.S. guides! Seems to
me everyone's on the same page in that
respect.

The idea of getting food from the breakfast table is not heresay. I saw that episode with my own eyes, and heard him say it. I'm sorry, I'm not in the habit of making a journal of what date and what time and what episode number I have just watched. I can tell you he was somewhere in southern Italy -- along the Amalfi coast? It was the same episode in which he was in a tiny B&B and was looking over the rooms and then had a broken conversation with the owner who didn't speak English about the price and managed to get him down on the price. I just thought that seemed tacky -- as if he was saying to the guy that his home wasn't worth that much but he'd pay this certain amount. About the breakfast thing -- let's not exaggerate. He was not talking about stockpiling food. He was shown in the breakfast room and he made mention of the idea that it is "perfectly acceptable to make a sandwhich and take a piece of fruit for your lunch" or words very much to that effect. OK?

Incidentally, that broken conversation I mention with the owner was another time when he was clearly showing that he had learned to speak a few phrases in Italian and how important that was, yet at the same time showing that it was possible to communicate with someone who didn't speak any English. I consider that a far cry from these accusations of him encouraging people NOT to speak another language. Where on earth does that idea come from?

If my responses make it sound like I'm wishy-washy about liking him or not -- well so be it. I just don't get in the habit of degrading someone for everything they do because of not liking him. I like at least as many things I've heard him say as there are things he's said I didn't like. All does not have to be black or white.

I bought some luggage from the Rick Steves web site and it is really great :) I also bought a bag that folds up into it's own outside pocket. Once I figured it out, that one is great too. Perfect for going to the beach or whatever.

I'd say he definitely fills a niche just as <b>this site</b>fills one and sometimes the &quot;attributes&quot; of both can be amazingly similar.

Wombat7: It's already happened, about out of closet aetheist taking high office - Thomas Jefferson, President! And i strongly agree with your point here that only God fearing Christians or those who profess to be are the only ones electable in US - sad, sad, sad.

I must admit I carry my Italy RS book with me as a security blanket. He finds a way to pack a lot of useful information in an easy to read package.

Rick Steve's first edition of &quot;Europe Through the Back Door&quot; was published in 1980. I found it very helpful in 1984 and am glad I visited Cinqueterre then, not now.

If his point of view doesn't match yours, read Fodor's.

OK---I see I'm wrong on this breakfast thing. Thanks to those who answered my question. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't just a rumour passed around without any basis. It does seem out of line with his other recommendations for travelling light, literally and figuratively.

PalQ - missed that one! Wonder if he would have taken the same approach in the days of CNN, Fox TV etc etc

PS PalQ - was not only referring to US - same applies in Canada (those unarmed americans with health care); UK (armed americans with healthcare?) and I am sure other countries

There are many guidebooks out there and not one is the do-all, be-all. I think Rick's books are interesting reading. For those on a budget, his advice is very worthwhile. I've moved up to moderate-expensive hotels, but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore his advice in other areas.

If it were not for Rick's TV shows on the Cinque Terre, I would not have gone there in 1997. I just returned from Lake Como where I stayed in Varenna on Rick's advice. Excellent advice, I must say. Not many guidebooks direct people to Civita di Bagnoriggio, but his does, and it is truly fascinating.

Rick has a new PBS series coming out next month and I'm anxious to see where I'm going next.

When we first started watching Rick Steves on PBS many years ago, it opened our eyes that yes, we too could travel throughout Europe comfortably even lacking the language skills. He truly opened up a whole world of adventure for us and we have now been to many countries. Like this website, travel has become our obsession and I sometimes think we would have been content to just sit around and not try Europe has we not watched his series. Tho we tend to travel by the seat of our pants nowadays, we still continue to watch him. His information isn't perfect but then whose is?

I very much respect that Rick Steves practices what he preaches. Of course, he is in a position to let it all hang loose as he is independently wealthy. PBS needs him more than he needs them, or so it might seem. As an old history major, he aggravates me with his pedestrian knowledge of the Middle Ages, or as he sometimes calls them, &quot;the Dark Ages.&quot; High schoolish. He also delights in needling Americans' &quot;prudish&quot; attitudes towards nudity as if all Europeans strut around in the buff while Americans dress as Cotton Mather or Pat Robertson would want us to. On the contrary, America has plenty of nude beaches and nude resorts. Millions of nubile American women are scantily clad in bikinis and thongs at the beaches and pools of America as I type.

All in all, Steves is a good guy, sells a good product, and has helpful advice for European tourists. I'm looking forward to his new season.

You know I have been reading some of the negative posts on Rick Steves and I feel it's time to tell you about our experience.

We are going to take our second tour with Rick Steves in September. (Best of Italy) We are doing this along with independent travel. Why?

1.The last tour we took was wonderful. (Provence) Yes the hotels and meals were not the very top, but we had plenty of days to eat on our own.I am sure if we had eaten in Michelin starred restaurants or very very good ones,and stayed in 4* hotels, the price of the tour would have been out of our reach for us. I do believe there are tours that do this.


2.Despite what you have heard, the other people on the tour we took were for the most part very well-traveled, and highly educated.
There were artists, music teachers, etc.

3. Most of the attractions we stopped at had superb local guides who added to whatever we were seeing.For example, in Nice at the Matisse and Chagall museums we really had expert guides.These were not optional extras..they were free.


4.Although we will always do some independent traveling, because of our age, we really need to have train and bus transportation, and this made it easier for us. Thankfully, the bus was not one of those huge ones you see all over Europe.

5. The guide on the tour often spent time telling us told us a lot about the culture of the people, and the country and altho I am fairly well-read, I still learned a lot. As a side point everything was so well organized.

I do not work for Rick Steves nor am I relative, but I just felt someone needed to put in a word for him (or his tours). As for his books, I love them but I use other sources too..DK,Green Michelin, etc.

Whew!..I've been wanting to say all this for a while.
I truly feel anyone who helps people to travel deserves some praise...oh yes, we were the oldest people on the tour.

I guess I missed the part where the OP supposedly said (or was that &quot;implied&quot;???)they were trying to decide whether or not to use an RS guidebook.

Silly me, I took the question &quot;what is it about the 'Rick Steves tourist' that makes some of you roll your eyes?&quot; as being the whole point.

Dukey---in her first post, she says it's her first time to Europe this fall. In her fourth (after being accused of trolling), she says &quot;I'm currently checking out every guidebook my library has to offer, deciding which to purchase and take with me. Haven't gotten to his.&quot;