Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2008: The Travel Skills Handbook

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
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Let me state upfront that I am European myself (from Belgium, actually), and that while I've lived in the US for many years, I have continued to spend a fair amount of time in Europe, including with my kids when they were younger. My youngest is now a HS senior, and she and several of her friends are planning to spend a month or so backpacking around Europe this coming summer, visiting my family along the way.

While looking around to get my daughter a planning guide, I stumbled upon this book and I immediately knew I had fallen on a gem. In "Europe Through the Back Door 2008" (690 pages), Rick Steves (of PBS fame) does not pretend to provide a full overview of Europe (there are other books on that), but instead focuses on some not so obvious places. When I turn to the section on Belgium (where I'm from) and the Netherlands (where I have family), I can instantly see that Steves actually knows what he is writing about, and it validates to me the other portions of the book, and I am fully confident that this book will help my daughter and her friends in their planning of the trip, and during the trip itself. Highly recommended!

Rick Steves has written many other travel books, and one other that I can easily recommend is "Europe 101: History & Art for the Traveler", which is an ideal book for anyone wanting to understand more about European culture and history, but written in a very user-friendly way. Also highly recommended!

My daughter will be graduating from high school in May 2008 and I wanted to explore a way to help her experience our larger world. I have never been outside of the USA (except a brief visit to Niagra Falls as a child), so I felt very anxious about how to plan a trip for two to Europe. I researched many tours and resources, from bare bones to pricey "deluxe" accomodations, yet I kept coming back to Rick Steves' books, website & resources. This specific book has been a wealth of information for a novice (plus I'm sure those who have traveled before will still get some great tips). Rick Steves' books, videos & other resources have given me the confidence to make reservations for that first trip to Europe. While I am choosing to utilize a tour group for our 1st European experience, Rick really gives anyone wanting to travel through Europe on their own, a concise, well researched (and well utilized) guide to how to do so on any budget. I highly recommend this guide!

These days travel budgets are sorely tested. You want to get the most out of your trip to Europe because let's face it, you're spending a lot on airfare, squirreled away money for hotels, rail passes and food while trying to leave a little something left over for...well, you'll know it when you see it.
Anyway, this is why EUROPE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR is a must before you take your trip. Pick it up a good month before you go and read it cover to cover. Bookmark and dog ear the pages and places that are relevant to you.
Some of what you'll read won't make any real sense until you arrive and then you'll begin to realize its value.
Back in the Stone Age of the 1970s I hitch-hiked across Europe, occasionally slept in old ruins, played blues guitar in train stations for donations, drank a lot of good wine and beer and picked up a few tips for better travel along the way, like, oh- I dunno- don't sleep in old ruins?
Later, when I lived and worked in Germany for a number of years I learned more and better ways to travel. Gone was the sleeping bag and heavy backpack. Gone went the train station food.
Repeated trips led to better discoveries and you know what? I learned a lot from Rick Steves books too, stuff I should have known at the time but didn't, little gems of discovery that helped make the travel better.
Because he frequently updates his books you also get timely references as well- a key element because things change and Steves adapts along with them and chronicles the times and changes. Europe on $5 a Day doesn't exist anymore but with the book(s) Steves will help you find some good deals in good locations and understand the mechanics of better travel.
Finally, don't let other smug travel 'experts' steer you away from Steves either because I guarantee that you will find at least one or two things in this book (and his others) that will help make your trip more comfortable, occasionally easier, safe, and more enjoyable.
Bon voyage...and oh yeah, and if you pass a guitar player in a train station or on a street corner singing slightly out of tune toss him a coin or two. Chances are he doesn't have a copy of Europe Through the Back Door.

This is an excellent reference book. We used it in preparation for our trip to UK, along with Rick's Great Britain 2008 guide. We also referred to it while on the trip. Wish I had more time to read it more thoroughly before we left, but the packing tips and money-exchange information were especially helpful. Good practical book to add to one's library.

I found this book very useful, it offered many practical time and money saving tips. The accommodation and transportation strategies were particularly good. However, as an Aussie I found this book very US centric! While some advice was EXTREMELY obvious, I appreciated the opinionated style of writing. Please note that a lot of information covered in this book is also located in Rick's website.

We have several of Rick Steve's books, but this one has practical and helpful information.

This book is a must for those travelling to Europe for the first time, or just needing a background review of the smart way to travel. It covers the basics from train and plane travel to how to book a hotel in Europe and what to expect. The second part of this book gives some suggestions of places to visit, but that is not where it shines (see Best of Europe book for that info) it is giving you the knowledge to feel comfortable and confident while traveling that this book makes it mark.

This book is a fabulous piece of travel literature! I recommend this to any Europe Traveler that wants to travel off the beaten path and experience how everyday Europeans live their daily lives. Rick Steves' personal tone in his writing makes it feel like you're taking another friend along with you on your journey through Europe.

everyone who travels or even just dreams of traveling to europe should read this book

1/2 a guide to traveling abroad--packing/transport/generalities. Rest is a brief overview of Europe.
Section "Scandinavia" is Norway and Denmark only, total 6 pgs. "France" is 18 pgs--11 pgs of Paris, Alsace/Colmar/Alps share 7 pgs.
For in-depth descriptions of countries/regions, see those individual guides.