Rick Steves tour

pwmatt

pwmatt

Cathlete
Congrats on your trip, I watch him as much as I can on PBS. Does he offer suggestions on what to bring? I know he has lots of books on traveling. Is he leading the tour?
 
So much fun! I love Europe!!!!

I haven't been on a Rick Steve's tour, but I've been all over Europe many times, and keep it to one bag each time we go. My suggestions of what we normally bring :

-comfortable walking shoes (tennis shoes or other)
..wear one on the plane, and bring a second pair that you can wear to a nice dinner, etc... I find that dark shoes for both go a long way for dressing with versatility. I have black sportier tennis shoes that can double as both, for example, in case one pair is not agreeing with my feet one day. You'll do a LOT of walking.

-Bring pants that will last a couple of days/wears without having to wash them (or will hand wash well in a sink). They only people that wear shorts in Europe are Americans (for the most part), so it depends on how interested you are in "blending in". I would suggest more pants, because if it gets unexpectedly cold, you're not stuck.

-Bring a wrap/shawl of some sort for chillier evenings. It can double as a skirt in a pinch.

-I find that sweaters wear better than cotton for multiple days. But for shirts, plan the same approach as your pants. Things that you can wear many days, wash easily in a sink if need be, and will go with all of your pants so you can rotate outfits.

-socks, I bring 3-4 pairs and wash them in the sink after I wear them each day.

-underwear, same thing as above.

What fun you'll have! Hopefully that's helpful!!!
 
How fun!! I love Rick Steve's and I would love to go on one of his tours.

I don't have experience with his tours, but I have been to Europe many times and it's very doable with one bag. I have a 20" or 22" suitcase and I can pack everything I need in there for a 2 week trip. I think the advice melimcn gave is dead on and is pretty much what I do.

I pack my clothes in ziplock bags (the 2 gallon size works great) -- tops in one, underwear and socks in another -- etc. If you suck all the air out of the bags you'd be surprised how much room you save in your suitcase! I put dryer sheets in each one to keep everything smelling fresh. The bags work great as a dirty clothes hamper, too.
 
Hi Phyllis,

I didn't go on a Rick Steves tour, but I followed his advice in his books and on his site. I and three other women went to Italy last May for 2 weeks with carry-on only. We followed Rick Steve's packing guide and had great success. We even used his backpack suitcase he offers on his site. It worked really well for all 4 of us. We noticed others using his suitcases while we were in Venice.

We packed 3 long-sleeved and 3 short-sleeved tops. We also packed three pairs of pants that can convert into shorts. We wore Columbia and REI brand clothing that was the wicking material that dried quickly. We brought the Rick Steves clothesline for washing our socks and undies. There was plenty of room on this clothesline for 4 women. Perfect!

I wore a pair of hiking boots for my shoes. These worked really well for 10 hours on foot each day either hiking along the coastline of Cinque Terre or navigating the cobblestone roads in ancient Rome.

Hope this helps.
Lorrayne
 
Never done one of his tours, but definitely love his advice on packing. DH and I spent 10 days in Italy with one bag each. And we didn't check them either. The thought of wasting time waiting for bags (or worse, losing them!) was too much for us. It was fantastic! We have friends who can't believe that we did it; I can't imagine doing it any other way. It's the only way we travel.

I can't remember exacatly what I packed except that I took a couple of jersey dresses (on black, one print), a jeans skirt, two or three tee shirts. I think I took a pair pants. For shoes I took a pair of Sketchers mary janes and a pair of Clark's sandals. I carried a shrug and a black pullover sweater. Can't remember anything else. We went in early May of 06, so the weather was very nice.

Have a great time and tell us how it goes! You're going to love Italy!!!
 
Congrats Phyllis! I bet you'll have a blast! I have never been on one of Rick's tours, but I lived in Europe for a few years and we used his advice for picking the places we lived as well as for our own travels. I don't wear shorts myself (I look better in skirts and as someone else said, you don't see them as much in Europe except on Americans) but I found lightweight pants pretty great for most days in northern Europe. In the warmer southern parts a lightweight skirt would do and was also more acceptable for visiting conservative cathedrals and that sort of thing. I liked to bring skirts or dresses (or pants) that were fairly casual but could be dressed up a bit for a nicer restaurant, so they could do double-duty. I also learned to pack fairly small, though I cheated by using those plastic travel bags that you can suck the air out of. (I used some where you just roll them up to push the air out, didn't need a vacuum or anything--you can get them at places like Bed, Bath & Beyond or even some drugstores.) I also found those travel bags handy for separating different parts of the trip--this bag for the first couple days, then this bag for the next couple. Wash the stuff in the first bag and wear again. That sort of thing.

HTH.

p.s. I am pretty sure I once saw Rick Steves in the market in Haarlem in the Netherlands, where we were living for a while. I saw him holding a big camera and thought "That looks just like Rick Steves" but I was a bit shy and waited to go up to him. I wandered a little more among the stalls and by the time I got up the nerve I couldn't find him again. :( We had even chosen Haarlem based on his recommendation as a place to stay when visiting Amsterdam (my DH worked in Amsterdam). I was pretty sure it was him, especially when I checked his schedule on the internet and saw that he was scheduled to be in Holland at that time.

[font face="comic sans ms" font color=purple]***Lainie***
My fitness blog: http://fitnessfig.blogspot.com/ http://bestsmileys.com/exercising/7.gif[/font]
 
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