Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2000 (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: graffiti wall, travel photography, planning your itinerary, Back Doors, Eastern Europe, Great Britain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"The more money you spend, the bigger the wall you build between yourself and the culture you traveled so far to visit. Stay in the small inns, eat in family-style restaurants, visit out-of-the-way places, rub elbows with the locals. You'll spend less money and have a great time in the process."

This is Rick Steves's "back door" travel philosophy. For more than 25 years, he has traveled and led tours around Europe, finding and sharing the joy of simplicity and openness.

Along with tried-and-true tips on packing, transport, sleeping and eating well on a budget, and meeting the locals, Steves reveals more than 30 "back doors" found throughout Europe, from a tiny lake town in Austria to the narrowest gorge in the world, which winds through Crete. If Europe is your destination, this book is more important than your luggage. --Kathryn True --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Most guidebooks tell where to travel. This one teaches readers how to travel so they have a far more interesting vacation, instead of just another standard tour. Steves' Back Door travel philosophy, gained from more than 25 years as a traveler and tour guide, leads away from typical tourist traps and shows how to plan a trip using family- owned restaurants, local lodgings, and the sights visitors want to see.

This new edition includes three new Back Door locations, so you can experience what the author means when he describes the "real Europe." He offers practical tips on planning an itinerary; packing light; traveling by car and train; sleeping and eating well; outsmarting stress, illness, and thieves; and choosing railpass options.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Avalon Travel Pub; 1st edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562614959
• ISBN-13: 978-1562614959
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,335,067 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Get More From Your Trip To Europe, and Spend Less, February 21, 2001

By	Mark A. Savage (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' 2001 Europe Through the Back Door (Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door) (Paperback)

I like this philosophy for traveling, not all, but a great part. If you want to have fun on your Europe trip, read this book, understand the points it makes, then go. No tour, no guide, all alone or with your "traveling partner". This is the way to travel, and to experience the people and the culture of where you are. Rick does a great job letting you in on some great ideas. He'll also open your eyes as to what to get from your travels, or lose from your travels.

If you go to Europe and say once "It's not the way I have it at home", then don't read this book unless you're ready to change your attitude. If you raise your voice louder and continue to speak English, then stay home and don't read this book. If you want the adventure of traveling to Europe and immersing yourself in the culture and people, way of life, and past, then read this book, buy your plane tickets, and get going. All the tools you'll want are in this book. You just add the adventure. Be brave.

This is the best story telling instruction book I've read in a long time. Rick gives you all you'll need to get off anywhere in Europe and be able to survive and enjoy. He'll encourage you to free your mind, talk in bad local language with a smile, change money, ride the train, order dinner at the local eatery, and how to just enjoy the life you're experiencing. Remember you go there because it's different from where you live.

There is so much information for the traveler here that it's hard to grab 1 or 2 ideas and discuss them. The one thing that stands out is that you'll approach your trip to Europe from a totally different angle after reading this book.

Rick, we go in 10 days, and thanks for the help.....

60 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Start - Could be Better!, March 13, 2000

By	"dodiemayne" (USA) - See all my reviews

I have read Rick Steves' books for years, and like the others, this one contains helpful information. His conversational style and middle income budget make this book perfect for average American, especially the first time traveler. The down side to this book and other Rick Steves books is as follows: 1) the maps are very poor- hand drawn and definitely low tech. Frommer does a better job in this area 2) costs are listed only in the foreign currency instead of following with the approximate cost in dollars in parenthesis. You must constantly dig out the calculator. 3) a lot of the material (whole pages at a time) is a direct copy from the previous edition, making for a repetitive read. That said, I would not take a trip to Europe without this book. I have never met anyone who went to Europe and used his tips and was sorry. However, I have met a lot of people who have used Lonely Planet and Let's Go who were disillusioned. I'm taking this book and Frommer's when I go this summer.

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Suggestion - Thanks Rick, December 10, 1999

By	Alina M Silvestre (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rick Steves' 1999 Europe Through the Back Door (Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door) (Paperback)

Traveling Europe last summer, my cousin and I were armed with every travel book that we could carry on a 2 1/2 month expedition throughout Europe. Europe Through the back door provided the most unique and awesome experiences that we had. Gazing onto the majestic scenery in Lake Como, Italy to the personal quarters in the scerene mountains of Switzerland. Rick Steves book was great and I suggest it to anyone who desires to experience Europe to it's fullest extent.