Mountain Trader

A New York Times' Magazine profile of Steves in 2005 said that his company grossed at that time $30 million a year. Let's go low-10% to the bottom line.

Make that a nerdy pothead who is quite well off.

SFflyer123

Rick Steves is great. I downloaded his podcasts and I've listened to his travel shows on my iphone. He's great.

iahphx

Steves' weakness is with his hotel listings -- like he should instruct folks how to use priceline, which often works in major European cities (smaller places, not so much). The problem is that a lot of the tricks Flyertalkers use to secure good hotel deals in Europe are somewhat cumbersome to rookie travellers. Like are you really going to explain the value of Starwood cash & points awards?

I would love there to be a Rick Steves-type book for, say, China. It would give me a head start on figuring out the logistics in a place where good information can be tricky to come by.

Yes, his books are more frequently updated and rewritten than the major guides like Frommers and Fodors.

Yeah, it's funny I respect Steves' work so much because I would probably disagree with 90% of his politics. He's the kind of guy who travels to Iran and believes that if we just got to know each other a bit better, our governments would be able to get along. That said, it seems like more liberals than conservatives travel abroad, so being MSNBC instead of Fox is good for travel writers! And Steves isn't that heavy-handed in pushing his politics in his guidebooks.

pittpanther

Rick Steves knows his audience, and knows that his target market will not stand for hotels below a certain level of quality.

Lonely Planet also has a target audience, who will stand for a lower level of quality in a hotel than Rick Steves' people would. Lonely Planet started as the low-budget guide, really a step above backpackers. It's not that way any more, but LP would not have any qualms with sending you to a dive hotel in Kings Court, London. Something Rick Steves would never do.

Keep that in mind, and use Lonely Planet at your own risk...

jackal

Maybe it's more a reflection on me than anything, but I've had no problems with LP.

I think the key is to know LP's audience and read the reviews in that light. A careful reading of the reviews and staying in places LP considers in the midrange category generally yields acceptable results.

On my three two-month trips to Yurp about ten years ago, I carried Let's Go, Lonely Planet, and Rick Steves. I liked Let's Go's style for the written introductions to each country/region/city, but I don't recall using their listings much. Lonely Planet provided lots of good info, but some the most memorable stays I had in Europe came out of Rick's books (I wonder if Sra. de Rodriguez and her little dog Titi are still hosting guests in Santiago de Compostela). Of course, that was a decade ago, and Rick hadn't hit it big with the TV series yet. I'm sure things are much more overrun these days.

I never found Fodor's or the other major guides useful--they catered to a much more upscale crowd than I was a part of. I'm not willing to spend $150-200 per night, especially when traveling for two months at a time.

I did use the Eyewitness guides but mostly as eye candy. The visual guides through museums were nice, but they made the Fodor's upscale crowd look like hostel seekers.

If I had to pick a single guide for Europe, it'd be a tough choice between LP and Steves. I think I might actually choose Steves, although LP is usually more comprehensive and offers some lower-cost alternatives Steves might miss. If I had to rely on one person's advice, there's a lot worse advice to be given than what Steves gives.

rxgeek

He's carbon neutral, now. https://www.ricksteves.com/about-us/climate-smart

zoicca

I happened to pump into Rick Steves at a local pub just north of Seattle. My wife had no clue who he was but of course I knew him. He seemed like he was on a date with a romatic female partner (maybe a wife or a girlfriend) but I did the tacky thing and interrupted them to ask for a picture. He obliged. The pics didn't turn out well due to no flash and the dim pub lighting. Still, it was cool to meet him. As a travel enthusiast, he's a huge celebrity and it was an honour to meet him. In fact, I can't think of a travel celeb more famous or infamous as Rick Steves.

Bill Gates is cool now too.

gungadin

RoxyMountain

That is a great website. The amount of info is amazing.

iahphx

That's rich, given that he makes his money encouraging folks to fly to Europe. But, hey, if he goes to church and lights a few candles, he's made the necessary religious sacrifice for Mother Earth.

The Man in Seat 61's website is very good for getting you started if you need to take a train in a place you're unfamiliar with. But keep in mind that he likes trains A LOT MORE than you do (unless you're a train nut). Reading his website once convinced me to take an overnight train between Bangkok and Chiang Mai instead of a low cost flight. That's when I learned this lesson. So don't assume that his advice that the train is the best transport option is correct for you.

pinniped

Whenever I've needed a paper guide, I've looked for LP. I rarely use the guides for hotel recommendations, but for everything else I like the content of LP.

iahphx

From my experience (30 years worth), LP guidebooks these days tend to be haphazardly updated. Steves SERIOUSLY updates his guidebooks every year. Steves is extremely good with basic Eurpopean logistics for fast-moving American tourists. If I quickly need to know how to get from the airport into town, or how to avoid a long line getting into a museum, Steves' guidebooks are the first place I look. While his guidebooks aren't perfect, I highly recommend them for newbie travellers. I don't recommend LP for such travellers.

R

Rick's kids said he liked "Old World " Europe. His son was doing some youth-oriented travel guide in Europe. I've bought his luggage and books and like his pod casts and city walks, llike Amsterdam, but he lost me when he used his forum to get political, which is his right. But it was "Hillary" or the road, not that I'm a Trump fan,

iahphx

Yup, as I've said, I'm no fan of Steves' politics -- and I think some of his political naivete creeps into his books -- but I don't see travel as a political matter. As long as he and his family don't go political, I'll be a fan and customer. When they do go political, I -- like you -- will tune out.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

Rick Steves' documentary on travelling to Iran, and his TED-talk on the same topic, was a major influence on me deciding to go as well. And, I found that his description of what it was like to visit the country was accurate. I haven't read any of his books, or bought any of his luggage, and I'm most certainly not a stoner. But, Rick Steves has helped me, so my impression of him is positive.