Customer Reviews

Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2010: The Travel Skills Handbook

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First of all, congratulations: this book will fundamentally change how you travel. If you're new to the world of Rick Steves AND planning your first trip to Europe, a special congratulations to you: you will not regret picking up this book. In many ways, Europe Through the Back Door (ETBD) is the bible of traveling the Rick Steves way. It's more than just travel tips and advice--although there is much of that--it is an entire travel philosophy based on experiencing a culture like a local, resulting in more fun, greater understanding, and less money spent. Steves' philosophy focuses on thinking of travel in terms of experiences and not destinations, being a participant instead of an observer. Steves' blend of detail-oriented pragmatism and big-picture philosophy comes from decades of his own travel experiences as well as leading other travelers through Europe. The result is a travel philosophy--and wealth of guidebooks--that allow the independent traveler to maximize his or her time in Europe ... and keep him or her awake at night thinking of ways to go back!

ETBD starts with 400+ pages full of practical travel advice centering around planning, packing, sleeping, eating, getting around, etc. that is absolutely essential for beginning travelers, and is surprisingly useful even for more experienced travelers. Getting the details right is often the difference between a disappointing and a great vacation, and in many cases "less is more" when it comes to travel success. Steves packs a lot of information into this section, but his writing style is clear and conversational, making it a joy to read (especially if you're used to the usual dry presentation of "practical information" found at the start of most guide books).

After taking in this massive amount of valuable information, you will hopefully be itching to jump on the next plane to Europe. In the second half of the book, Steves introduces some of his favorite "back doors": places that are more often than not off the beaten path and give you a chance to experience the "real", non-touristy Europe. Unfortunately, in some cases Steves is a victim of his own success: some of these "back doors" have now become more mainstream thanks to the popularity of Steves' guides (and other guides' taking his recommendations). The Cinque Terre, which is perhaps the epitome of Steves' back doors is such a place. However, even these places retain their magic outside of the midday tour group rush, meaning that these are still must-visit places. Even still, I would say that these no-longer-true-back-doors ... "side doors", shall we say? ... are the exception rather than the norm. I think of my trip to Gimmelwald--another of Steves' favorite back doors--a few years ago and was amazed at how pristine, still, and non-touristy it was: the mountain calm was broken only by the occasional bleating of a goat or a far-off avalanche. This is not to discount the big city experience--one has not been to Europe without seeing London, Paris, or Rome--but to highlight the fact that there are a wealth of experiences off the beaten path. Many of my fondest European memories are from these "back door" locales.

What more can I say? I consider Steves' ETBD an essential--perhaps *the* essential--read before a trip to Europe. If you enjoy and agree with Steves' travel philosophy, and chances are you will, pick up his guides specific to the country or countries of interest to you. Most of all, as Rick would say, keep on traveling!

This book is chock full of critical information on planning and executing your European trip. Even if you are an experienced traveler, this is a goldmine of information and tips. This is geared toward the type of traveler that likes to design his/her own trip rather than hop on a bus with a guide and a bunch of fellow citizens. Rick's point is that individual travel gets you in closer contact with the people and cultures you are there to experience. It is also geared for the budget to moderate traveler, not as much for the rock-bottom 100 pennies a day group.

Candid and from author Rick Steves' experience is his EUROPE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR 2010, a handbook covering everything from how to pack and travel smoothly by public transport to avoiding crowds, tourist scams, and understanding cultural and local differences. A 'must' for any Europe-bound traveler.

Rick did a great job writing and updating this 2010 version on the ...Europe Through the Back Door series. I always love his books and his knowledge of Europe. I always trust that he knows what he writes about in all of his books and on his shows. The new information in this book is useful for the European traveler in you. I'm already planning for my European journey later next year with this book.

I bought this for my first trip to Europe and it literally holds your hand through the whole process of planning, making reservations, packing, what to see, what not to waste your time on. Invaluable whether it's your 1st or 21st trip. With this book and Rick Steve's planning maps, you're good to go!

Friend of mine turned me on to Rick's books several years ago, and I have used his Europe travel guide back in 2006.
It was a priceless traveling companion, and this year I am very seriously thinking about going back again. This was automatically the very first book and reference, that I have turned to...
As Rick says, one good travel guidebook will pay for itself the very first day you use it in the field. He also claims that one of his objectives is to make all the mistakes himself, so his readers don't have to, and WOW, does it ever come handy on so many occasions...

For anyone even just toying with an idea of taking a trip to Europe, I wholeheartedly recommend getting and thoroughly reading the book. Everything you will ever need to know is pretty much there, and will save you tons and tons of searching and checking elsewhere... not to mention will help you avoid potentially very costly mistakes, that are so easily made, if you are not aware of the latest information, local customs, etc...
and makes traveling so much more relaxed, fun and adventuresome...

True, you might want to get a back up book (guide) as an alternative, as pretty much EVERY American tourist I have met on my travels, had Rick Steve's book sticking out of pocket or a handbag, which might make it a bit difficult to get last minute lodging, and such.
But in this case, there is definitely 'truth in numbers', and there is a very good reason for so many people to rely on this information.
Highly, highly recommended!!

I was really torn between reading this book and Steves' "Best of Europe" as a first guide to help me plan my Europe trip. Let me say that I am extremely glad I chose Through the Back Door as a starting point.

This book isn't your typical tour guide - one that is mainly about which specific sites to see coupled with a meager amount of practical information. Rather, it is a tool that Steves uses to primarily teach his traveling philosophy, and secondly, to help suggest a few areas where one can practice said travel philosophy.

If you are just starting to plan your trip, by all means, read this book as soon as you can. Steves shares his perspective on traveling - not only does he load up the reader with innumerable practical tips, he also shows the reader how to engage the actual culture of Europe while minimizing its "tourist traps" and other traveling hazards. It will undoubtedly aid the rest of your planning while preparing you for the various cultures of Europe.

In essence, the overarching theme of this book entails getting the most authentic, engaging European experience while actually spending LESS money. Thinking about spending a good chunk of cash on a cookie-cutter hotel? Try going to a bed and breakfast instead - for less money one gets a lot more interaction with the culture and a hot meal to boot. The book is filled with heaps of similar advice - neatly organized and laid out to help the traveler ultimately decide what options are best for their trip.

Like I mentioned before, read this book as early as possible as it should be useful in planning the rest of your trip. If you are extremely close to your trip or have already made firm plans the book will be less useful, although some of the tips and information in it could really save you from disaster.

I must admit that although I love Rick Steves, his guidebooks, his travel gear, and especially his shows, I found this book to be a bore. It is, however, my own mistake when I believed this book to be something other than what it is--a really on-the-surface glance of all the countries in Western Europe. His tips and advice seems aimed more towards middle-aged people, not someone who knows most of this stuff already based on what I've heard from friends who've gone to Europe and on a simple search on the Internet. This book is more like putting your big toe in the waters than anything else, a very small taste of what you're about to experience in Western Europe. There's no actual detailed itinerary (that's to be found in another guidebook of his), just a bunch of advice and a gloss over the countries, amongst other things. It's a really good preparation book for people who are traveling to Europe for the first time or haven't been since 1970 or something like that, when Europe was different. So, if you're someone who hasn't been up-to-date on Europe or a first-time traveler, this book is for you. If you're a hip, 20-something, know-all-about-it-from-Google, a lot of the information isn't new or relevant to you. It's a good bedtime read to be sure, but I wouldn't recommend it to friends my age, more like my parents.

This book has been very helpful with planning for our up coming trip. We are backpacking though Europe over 4 weeks. There is a lot of great information that I hadn't even thought of. It's a most read if you are planning a backpack trip.

This is a great book for learning travel skills. We are traveling in April to Italy by ourselves and have utilized many of Rick Steve's tips on planning the trip on our own.