Hi from Rick: It’s Trip-Planning Season
It's March, and I'm feeling giddy — because my travel year has already begun. As I write this, I'm in Rome leading our week-long guide-mentoring tour, training 20 of our newest tour guides. And later this spring, I'll spend 50 days updating our guidebooks in the Greek Isles, Florence, the Cinque Terre, southwest Germany, and the great Swiss cities. And my amazing support team of co-authors and researchers is now booked and ready to head out, too.
Spring is when trip-planning season reaches full bloom. If you're like me and Europe is on your 2026 agenda, chances are you're starting to sketch out itineraries, book flights, figure out where to stay, and weave together all those vivid experiences, long-dreamed-about sights, and mouthwatering meals into a trip that's both smart and smooth. In other words, turning your travel dreams into unforgettable reality.
But planning a trip can be overwhelming. There are so many superlatives to sort through and choices to make…and there's such a glut of information out there. You can spend days sifting through endless online opinions and scrolling through an infinite feed of style-over-substance content.
Or you can rely on a Rick Steves guidebook. We grapple with all the latest changes, learn from our experience sorting out the scams, and take careful notes so you can travel smarter. We hit and miss…and miss and hit. Then, we bring back the home runs so you can enjoy a better batting average wherever you go in Europe. That's why our books are the bestsellers for each destination we cover.
And books are just one piece of our travel pie. At Rick Steves' Europe, our website is jam-packed with free, practical travel advice to help you get more meaning and more joy out of what you see, eat, and do in Europe. And if you need any gear, we've got you covered with good-quality bags and accessories designed for packing smart and traveling light.
In this month's Travel News, we'll teach you how to turn your sightseeing wish list into a day-by-day itinerary, prep you for St. Paddy's Day with a visit to Ireland's top coastal towns, and give you a sneak peek at my newest TV special: an hour-long show on the best of Paris (it debuts April 1 on public television stations across the US). And Cameron Hewitt shares 10 things you need to know if you're traveling to Europe this year.
Over 40 years after writing my first guidebook, I'm still preaching the same travel gospel: Equip yourself with good information and good gear, expect yourself to travel smart, and you will. And wherever you're off to this year, we'd love to be a part of your journey.
Happy travels,
Rick