Travel With Rick Steves

What appears gross to one person, is sometimes a gourmet delicacy for another. Rick puts our appetites to the test as an entrée to understanding a culture while two guides who specialize in gourmet travels from their home base in Tuscany describe the comfort foods of Western Europe and travel writer David Farley tells us about his recent foodie trip to Saigon. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Listeners share memories of trips that made lasting impressions and opened up a world unknown to many Americans, including one man's summer road trip down the length of East Africa. And we'll see how easy it is to celebrate the New Year, waltzing in style at one of the season's elegant balls in Vienna. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Rick celebrates the holidays by exploring the distinctive ways people observe the Christmas season in Greece, Italy and Ireland and preparing to greet the New Year like locals in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Croatia, Wales and Scotland. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Friends from Madrid, Rome, Lisbon, and London tell us about their cities' holiday traditions, and we'll check in on Bulgaria, Switzerland and Austria, plus a listener report about the big Christmas market in Nuremburg, Germany. Get to know such characters as Baba Noël, Grandfather Frost, the Cristkind, Saint Nicholas, Krampus, Sammi Claus and Schwartzley, and expand your holidays with us on the next Travel with Rick Steves. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Join us for Part 1 of this year's European Christmas series as we discuss holiday traditions in Croatia, Sweden, Belgium, the Italian Riviera and the rural West of Ireland. and get tips on enjoying Paris in the winter from two locals. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Bill Bryson found the ultimate bargain travel destination, by staying home to get acquainted with the 19th century English parsonage he lives in. We'll glimpse into just how much the comforts of home have changed in only a few generations' time. We'll also make sense out of the rubble of antiquity with the help of guides from Greece and Egypt. Listeners offer their tips for saving money on a place to call home on your next vacation to Europe. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Gene Openshaw, co-author of Europe 101, joins Rick to discuss how art can change the way people view the world and certified guides from Rome and Florence share ideas for discovering new ways to look at masterpieces in Italy. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Kate Hopkins, "The Accidental Hedonist," shares what she learned about whiskey while visiting distilleries across Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Appalachia and Chris Rae investigates the slang that's familiar to Brits, but drives the rest of us bonkers. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Listeners share unforgettable taste treats from their travels while Jane and Michael Stern suggest even more classic American road food worth writing home about. And two Lisbon guides describe the highlights Portugal's capital, where there's always time to be friendly, and a great view around the corner. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Rick explores the various ways to see the countryside in Europe, from bike touring at your own pace, to taking the driver's seat on a tour bus, and hiking the English countryside on centuries-old trails. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Carl Hoffman describes his experiences traveling on the most notorious, over-crowded trains, planes, busses and ferries from India to the Andes and listeners share their own travel discoveries and suggestions for seeing the world. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Eric Weiner describes what he discovered during his year of researching how people in different countries define happiness and listeners share how they've learned to conquer fear of the unknown in overseas travels. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Rick explores the benefits of Britain's bed-and-breakfast system, gets a taste of seaside fun and classical culture along the west coast of Turkey and receives tips from a travel medicine epert on what precautions to take before venturing into the developing world. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Fred Plotkin, the author of the newly-updated "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler," explains how knowing what food is in season is important to the Italian way of life. And we'll check in with listeners who have stories of what they discovered while on vacation in Italy. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Parisian guides offer suggestions on the best ways to explore the city on foot — including how to avoid the crush of rush hour on the Metro — and a Paris-based New York Times journalist shares favorite hideaways among the many quiet, hidden gardens scattered around the city. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Columbus was just one in a long line of trans-Atlantic travelers. On this week's Travel with Rick Steves, travel writer Tony Horwitz retraces the North American routes of 16th century explorers, and how they changed America before the big waves of European settlers arrived. And sailing expert Anthony Sandberg reveals what we'll find in today's hot spot for discovery - Antarctica. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Ferenc Máté tells us what he's learned from 20 years in Tuscany, where he and his wife went to turn a 13th century building into their dream home. Camille Cusumano also joins Rick to explain how a passion for tango led her to live in Buenos Aires and re-awaken her spirit. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Lord Alderdice, one of the key political figures who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland, provides us with a look at the personal reasons that fuel political conflict and provoke terrorist acts. He shares his approach for addressing the tensions that face the United States and its allies today, with suggestions for overcoming terrorism and designing "road maps to peace." For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Join Rick for stories about how a whitewater river expedition in the western U.S. can be a life-altering experience -- even if you're over age 50. And for city adventures, we'll explore how to best take in the art and culture at Smithsonian's 17 museums in Washington D-C. Rick also checks in with listeners and shares tips for getting out into the world. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

The Rhine family of Salem, Oregon explains how they came closer together and what they learned while immersing themselves in a variety of cultures. Also, Rick checks in with a Lonely Planet author who has tips on finding the world, and family fun, in Southern California, and listeners send us their haiku about Seattle. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.