Rick Steves' Europe

Culture Series / 11 Seasons

Catch Rick Steves' latest one-hour special on Iceland. Explore Reykjavík, with endearing sights and thermal pools, plus a side-trip to the Golden Circle's gorges, geysers, and waterfalls.

26m 47s / TV-G

Germany's Hamburg and the Luther Trail

S9 E901 / 26m 47s / TV-G

Hamburg, Germany’s mighty port city has risen from the ashes of World War II with a gleaming new skyline and a brisk creative energy. From there, Rick visits the great historic sights of Martin Luther and the Reformation (Erfurt, Wittenberg, and Wartburg Castle) before finishing in the capital of Franconia: wine-loving Würzburg.

Germany's Dresden and Leipzig

S9 E902 / 25m / TV-G

Saxony, part of the former East Germany, remains a secret to most travelers. Rick visits the two great cities of the region: the capital city of Dresden, with the opulent palaces and art treasures of the Wettin dynasty, and Leipzig, with its Bach heritage, a massive monument to the day Europe beat Napoleon, and museums remembering its communist heritage.

Germany's Frankfurt and Nuremberg

S9 E903 / 25m / TV-G

Skyscraper-studded Frankfurt — with so much commerce it’s nicknamed “Bankfurt” — has a delightful-to-explore old center. Rick also visits Nürnberg, a capital for both the First Reich (the Holy Roman Empire) and the Third. From its towering castle and playful fountains to its Nazi Documentation Center and maze of underground bomb shelters, Nürnberg is a fascinating study in contrasts.

Bulgaria

S9 E904 / 25m / TV-G

Bulgaria, so mysterious to most Americans, has a vivid identity as a crossroads of the Balkans. Rick traces the country's complex history, from ancient Thracian tombs to medieval Orthodox Christian monasteries to Soviet monuments.

Romania

S9 E905 / 25m / TV-G

Rick and his team tour Romania's vibrant capital, Bucharest, with its "Little Paris of the East" architecture and lingering reminders of a brutal communist dictator. Then they head into Transylvania, where they visit fortified churches, cobbled merchant towns like Sighi?oara, and castles made famous by an imported German king and the real-life Dracula. Finally, they explore Maramure?.

Assisi and Italian Country Charm

S9 E906 / 25m / TV-G

In the Italian countryside, Rick connects with rustic, traditional culture: enjoying an agriturismo (farmhouse inn), seeing how prosciutto and pecorino cheese are made, and hiking down into deep and ancient wine cellars. He ends in Assisi — the hometown of St. Francis — which retains its spiritual aura to this day.

Siena and Tuscany’s Wine Country

S9 E907 / 25m / TV-G

Siena, once a proud and independent city-state, retains its confidence and unique traditions. Rick enjoys a front-row seat at its wild horse race — the venerable Palio — and marvel at cultural treasures from the days when Siena rivaled Florence for leadership of Tuscany. Then he heads into wine country for a little dolce vita under the Tuscan sun.

West England

S9 E908 / 25m 1s / TV-G

The quintessence of charming England is the “West Country”: quaint Cotswold villages with their fine churches, manor homes, and gastropubs; Wells, England’s smallest cathedral town; and the New Age capital of Glastonbury, with its legends of the Holy Grail and King Arthur. He finishes by pondering the dramatic prehistoric stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.

Southeast England

S9 E909 / 25m 1s / TV-G

Arcing along the southeast coast of England, Rick travels from Canterbury (with its famous cathedral) to Dover (stoutly fortified from Roman times to the Battle of Britain). Then he hikes the trails that top the towering chalk cliffs of the South Downs, wander into the beachy resort of Brighton (England’s Coney Island), and push on to Portsmouth.

England's Cornwall

S9 E910 / 25m / TV-G

The far southwest of England is a world unto itself, with a persistent Cornish culture. He explores a world of flowers springing from towering hedges, a tin-mining heritage going back to biblical times, salty pirates' towns and fishing villages, and the Land's End of England. Then, side-tripping deep into vast and mysterious Dartmoor National Park, he hikes to forgotten stone circles.

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