Hello from Rick: Italy’s Parade of Journey Thrills

Last month, I took a special sort of journey to Europe. I wasn’t updating my guidebooks, filming a public tv present, or hopping on a Rick Steves tour. Nope…I used to be really on trip — in Italy — having fun with the expertise via the eyes of somebody who’d by no means been there.

That somebody was my great girlfriend, Shelley. With a number of pals, we spent two weeks having fun with a parade of Italian journey thrills in serene Venice, the majestic Dolomites, the sun-soaked Italian Riviera, and dreamy Lake Como. And I’ve to say: While I like writing and filming, it was so good to simply take pleasure in being in these lovely locations, with an excellent journey accomplice…on trip.

In Venice, we hopped a vaporetto — one of many metropolis’s floating buses — and cruised down the Grand Canal, following an audio tour on my Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app. We wandered quiet again lanes, explored the town’s layered historical past on a strolling tour with an area information, and lingered late in glowing St. Mark’s Square…which, after the solar set and all of the vacationers went again to their cruise ships, was just about all ours.

In the Dolomites, we traded canals for top altitude Alpine thrills, climbing the Alta Via 1. Tiny lakes mirrored mini-Matterhorns…cows checked us out as farmers allow us to use their picnic tables whereas we sipped their elderberry tea…every day got here with king-o’-the-mountain views…and pasta and crimson wine by no means tasted so good as after an all-day hike within the Dolomites.

Then we traded thin-air thrills for the riviera: Italy’s Cinque Terre. I’ve been coming to those colourful Ligurian coastal villages frequently since I first found them as a scholar backpacker…however by no means correctly skilled the fabled Via dell’Amore — the trail between the cities of Riomaggiore and Manarola — till this go to. The path, which lately reopened after being closed for years as a consequence of erosion, is indicative of the various enhancements which have been made right here. What was as soon as, frankly, a poor and chaotic area (in a captivating manner) has develop into prosperous, environment friendly, and bursting with experiences. The trails connecting the cities have been spiffed up, the trains are each frequent and (imagine it or not) punctual, and the native white wine — as soon as desk wine served from bottles with out labels — is now proud and refined. Locals capitalize on the area’s recognition by catering artfully to the goals of their many guests, from boat rides to non-public coves, to pesto and focaccia cooking courses, to wine tastings excessive in vineyards overlooking the ocean.

As we headed dwelling and reviewed recollections by way of our images, it occurred to me that the journey I had organized for Shelley’s first go to to my favourite nation was basically a Rick Steves tour. That loving deal with expertise, studying, nice meals, and connecting with fascinating locals — it is what we curate on our itineraries. The pleasure I felt in designing and main Shelley’s expertise was the enjoyment my colleagues and guides really feel when designing and main our excursions. I prefer to take the enjoyable Shelley and I had, multiply it by the 35,000 vacationers who joined a Rick Steves tour this 12 months, and suppose…”Yep, that’s a lot of travel joy, thrills, tasty treats, and fun.”

Italy will not disappoint. There’s simply a lot to see, style, and study right here that we provide 9 completely different itineraries, greater than anyplace else in Europe. Browse our Italy itineraries, and you may see: Whatever you are hoping to get out of your subsequent Italian trip, we have a tour that is best for you.

In this month’s Tour News, we’ll showcase the very best of small-town Italy with a day-by-day slideshow of our Village Italy tour, share an interview with Village Italy tour information Tricia Brady, take a stroll via one in all Umbria’s finest hill cities with tour information David Tordi, and show you how to select which of our Italy excursions most closely fits your journey goals with an at-a-glance comparability.

Speaking of Italy: I’ve two thrilling updates. First, preserve a watch out for our new “Italy Highlights” episode in Season 13 of Rick Steves’ Europe. The season is already airing on public tv stations throughout the US (and streaming on Passport and ricksteves.com), and the Italy episode premieres the week of October 29. Second, I’m proud to announce our latest guidebook: Rick Steves Rome, Florence & Venice. It’s the right companion for any journey to those three magnificent cities…which we (unsurprisingly) have a tour for as properly.

Buon viaggio!

Rick

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