Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most travel books in the market are too dry to read and are somewhat lists of cities, hotels, restaurants, etc. Mr. Steves reflects his impressions about people and their countries a down to earth fashion without boring you. He takes you from country to country giving you points for a pleasurable vacation down to estimate of the time is required. Yes, he candidly compares our life style in U.S. with European society. That makes his book more likeable and him more respectable. Because he can look at himself at a mirror and analyzes what he sees. He finally produced a travel book that you can read without being bored.
If he sounds like being negative about certain places he has right to express his true feelings. He was there, lived with locals closer than any of us dare for. He made me feel the warmness of Irish people and cannot wait for my next trip to Ireland with his excellent book in my pocket.

Europe Through the Back Door is an invaluable book for travelers who want to experience the real Europe with real Europeans, instead of the sanitized versions offered by tour companies and big hotels.
Rick shows you how to enjoy your trip more by spending less money, by getting closer to the locals. You won't be disappointed. In my trips to Europe, Rick's advice led to life-changing experiences that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This book is also economically packed full of the kind of useful, practical advice honed through decades of editions. (Trust me, the guy knows his stuff).

Thanks, Rick, and keep up the good work!

Warning: this book is NOT a country-by-country travel guide for Europe, filled with specific information on prices, buses, trains, and local site recommendations like "Let's Go Europe" or "Lonely Planet's Western Europe."

It is a general guide to European travel with a explanations of what to take, how to pack, and single paragraph descriptions of what to see in each city to help you decide on an intinerary. While this might be useful for those who this is their first trip to Europe, this is not for those who are looking to update their pre-Euro copies of local guidebooks.

Rick Steves' individual country/reigional guides are wonderful for specific country information and quickly getting you oriented in a location and to the places of interest. However, unlike the books that you would find this next to on the shelf, this is not a handy general compliation of the more specific guides.

I first read Europe Through The Back Door about 12 years ago. I was trying to decide where to go for a school vacation, with about 2 weeks to spare before starting a job and a very limited budget. Should I go along with my friends to Cozumel, even though I sort of hated the idea of 'wasting' 2 weeks just partying and lying around in the sun? Or should do what I really wanted to do - I take the plunge and go off on my own to explore France? The main thing holding me back was a lack of confidence in my ability to travel on my own, especially outside of the U.S.

ETBD is the book that gave me the confidence and the grounding of basic independent travel skills to do the latter. As the cover says, this is a travel skills book, not a travel guide. It really does what it says.

Oh, and since that first (and wonderful) trip to France I made numerous trips on my own to Europe, including one 3-month adventure with a rail pass and backpack. I eventually ended up living in Europe! And it all started with EBTD.

One comment about the person who had a problem with the warnings against what is usually called ugly-Americanism: Rick Steves may exaggerate this point a bit, but you do see an amazing number of people who do act as such outside of their own country. (This isn't limited to Americans I might add: you see a lot of ugly-Brits, ugly-Germans and so on too.) I think he's just saying that when you are a visitor in another culture, be respectful towards your hosts. That shouldn't be too hard, no?

Being a big fan of Rick Steves' "Travels in Europe" series on PBS, I didn't pass up the oppotunity to purchase his latest "Europe Through the Back Door" travel guide. I was pleased to discover that his written work is just as accessible and helpful as his entertaining travel show on public television.

The book is divided into 2 parts -- the first covers a gamut of things to consider when planning a trip to Europe. The topics range from hitchhiking in Europe to handling money & understanding exchange rates. I found his info on the different types of rail passes and how to understand & plan rail travel very useful. Also, his treatment of eating & sleeping in Europe is full of useful gems that even the more experienced traveler would benefit from. Overall, his writing style is very informative & accessible and the book is organized well, i.e., you can use it as a quick reference to target specific areas of knowledge without having to trudge through information you already know.

The second half of the book highlights Rick's favorite attractions in various European locales. It can be used for tips on what to see & where to go when visiting Europe.

One last piece of advice: utilize the information in Rick's "Graffiti Wall" both in his book & on his website. The comments & recommendations of other travelers who've followed Rick's advice are an invaluable resource when planning your own trip.

I have most of Rick Steves' books and videos. He doesn't cover every place that I'm interested in visiting, but those places that he does cover are done in an interesting and useful way. His descriptions are accurate and the small, hand drawn maps are most useful.

Great book that makes you want to go to Europe the moment you buy it. I have trusted Rick Steves books with all my travel to Europe.

Invaluable information that I will use this September, to be more like a native and less like a tourist.

This book really covers everything you'd want to know before going to Europe. I'm using it to plan a trip for this fall, & I can't wait. I've never been to Europe, & this book is teaching me so much.

Basically common-sense suggestions for the traveler. Nothing likely to be news to anyone with much experience, but well written and entertaining. Perhaps a little superficial but that's to be expected when you try to cover an entire continent in one book.