Rick Steves
500 episodes listed below
Weekly multi-segment travel interviews pairing European destinations with historians and explorers.
Travel with Rick Steves treats travel as both logistics and life education. Across Europe and beyond, guests turn trains, museums, borders, guidebooks, and old cities into stories with practical footing.
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Travel with Rick Steves is a weekly one-hour interview program produced for public radio, structured around multiple segments per episode instead of one continuous story. Host Rick Steves interviews authors, historians, scientists, and destination-based local guides, drawing on his background writing European guidebooks and hosting public television travel shows. A typical episode pairs a specific European city or region — Potsdam, Padova, Budapest's thermal baths — with an unrelated segment on ancient or military history, natural science, or current events. Recurring subject matter includes WWII history and memorial sites such as the Netherlands American Cemetery and the Monuments Men, ancient Rome, Viking heritage in Scandinavia, and outdoor adventure travel like long-distance cycling and urban kayaking. Guests are usually tied to a specific book, museum, or region — examples in the sample include classicist Mary Beard, anthropologist Wade Davis, WWII historian Robert Edsel, and explorer-author Kate Harris — alongside local guides speaking about particular destinations. Episodes occasionally cover current events with a travel or cultural framing, such as a 2026 conversation on US-Canada tensions following tariffs and annexation rhetoric. Rick Steves periodically shares his own travel history, including recollections of backpacking the 1970s Hippie Trail. Many episodes close with a practical travel-tips segment from a guest who hosts their own travel show or podcast. The mix is practical trip-planning content alongside longer historical, scientific, or cultural context rather than pure logistics. The tone is conversational and explanatory, aimed at listeners who want background and context to go with destination recommendations.
Made for: Travelers and armchair travelers who want historical, scientific, or cultural context behind specific European and international destinations, not just logistics.
What sets it apart: Each episode splits into several independent guest interviews rather than one continuous story, often pairing practical destination guidance with unrelated deep dives into history or science in the same hour.
A weekly one-hour conversation with guest experts and callers about travel, cultures, people, and the things we find around the world that give life its extra sparkle. Rick Steves is America's leading authority on travel to Europe and beyond. Host and writer of over a hundred public television travel shows and author of 30 best-selling guidebooks, Rick now brings his passion for exploring and understanding our world to public radio. Related travel information and message boards on www.ricksteves.com.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Rick Steves connects practical trip planning with the history, landscapes, and local meanings that make destinations worth understanding.
Rick Steves builds travel conversations around the questions that make a place intelligible. A kayak trip around Manhattan becomes a look at the island's natural landscape, while a discussion of the Mississippi connects paddling routes with dams, wetlands, and river ecology.
A boiling Amazon river and Marcus Aurelius's missing barbarian turn your itinerary into a very nosy seminar.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A brisk, history-minded hour moves from Potsdam to Roman power to the Hippie Trail with easy curiosity.
Potsdam opens this Travel with Rick Steves hour with an easy day-trip pull: Prussian palaces and parks, Frederick the Great's old orbit, and a city later charged by Cold War history.
A reflective Canada episode about the values and political strain behind a once-easy border crossing.
Oh Canada! uses a familiar border crossing to open a wider conversation about why many Canadians are feeling newly wary of the United States. Rick Steves starts with the Peace Arch between Washington and British Columbia, then gives Canadian guests Rick Antonsen and Wade Davis…
A thoughtful hour on Dutch remembrance, American war dead, and the French education that shaped a younger United States.
Travel with Rick Steves pairs remembrance with cultural history in an hour that moves between Margraten, the Dutch town that has kept faith with American soldiers buried there since World War II, and David McCullough's account of 19th-century Americans who traveled to Paris to…
A thoughtful travel hour about better tourism, overlooked cities, and the colonial history behind elephants in the Congo.
Travel with Rick Steves treats travel as more than itinerary-making, with Paige McClanahan arguing for a visitor who notices the effect they have on the places they enter.
Irish oddities, Viking artifacts, and Silk Road night rides make for a brisk, curious travel sampler.
Travel with Rick Steves moves through places where travel gets agreeably strange: the moving Marys of County Cork, Viking traces in Scandinavia, and Kate Harris's bicycle journey along the Silk Road.
A brisk travel hour links Liverpool, Roman power, and home-base hiking into a useful nudge to look closer.
Liverpool comes through as a port city with more going on than Beatles mythology, though the Beatles thread gives the hour its cleanest opening: ships, American music, and a city built for cultural exchange.
Hot springs, a sacred Amazon river, and Padova art give this travel hour a curious, waterlogged sense of wonder.
Travel with Rick Steves treats hot water as both pleasure and pilgrimage, moving from Hungary's mineral baths, where spa days can even be prescribed as therapy, to Andres Russo's search for Peru's boiling river and a brief turn toward Padova's art-filled Basilica of St. Anthony.
A waterborne travel hour with Manhattan by kayak, the wild Mississippi, and sane advice for trips that go sideways.
Water sets the course in this episode of Travel with Rick Steves, beginning with Elliot Stein's kayak trip around Manhattan and the surprise of seeing the island as a natural place under the concrete. The Mississippi segment is the stronger current.
Deep Disney parks talk, right down to the signage.
Real family routes, practical travel stories.
Everyday curiosities, explained with a sideways grin.
Travel with Rick Steves episode 799 presents three travel segments: author Brinsley McNamara discusses supernatural folk culture from his book Weird Ireland, Oslo guide Paul Johansen surveys Viking heritage sites across Scandinavia, and explorer Kate Harris recounts her 10-month, 6,000-mile bicycle journey from Turkey to India along the Silk Road.
Travel with Rick Steves episode 792 features two segments: historian Robert Edsel discusses his book Remember Us, about the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten where 10,000 Americans are buried and where Dutch citizens have maintained a grave adoption program since 1945, and a tribute to the late David McCullough through an archive interview about his 2011 book The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris.
Tourism is not just a bucket list.
Travel with Rick Steves presents three segments: Hungarian tour guides George Farkas and Peter Poltzman explain that Hungary's hot spring spa culture is embedded in its national healthcare system, with doctors prescribing spa visits, and describe the Széchenyi, Gellert, and Rudas baths in Budapest.
Liverpool gets its due.
Travel with Rick Steves episode 796 examines current US-Canada tensions through conversations with cultural anthropologist Wade Davis and author Rick Antonsen, both based in British Columbia, recorded in the context of President Trump's repeated statements about annexing Canada as the 51st state and imposition of tariffs.
Travel with Rick Steves features three guests covering urban kayaking, river ecology, and travel philosophy.
Potsdam sits close to Berlin.
This episode explores the historic hill town of Orvieto in Italy and advocates for train travel in Europe and India as a convenient and social way to experience destinations.
This episode explores the history and modern relevance of European travel, focusing on the completion of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia, the evolution of tourism from pilgrimages to the Grand Tour, and how technology enhances travel experiences while preserving human connections.
This episode explores Spain's modern rail system for travelers, features insights from foreign correspondent Nicholas Kristof on reporting in conflict zones, and examines the historical origins of national borders.
This episode celebrates 20 years of the Travel with Rick Steves radio program, exploring lessons from travel through insights from author Paul Theroux on the 'vanishing point' and actor Martin Sheen's transformative experiences in India.
This episode explores the enduring value of travel guidebooks, features insights from former Time Out publisher Peter Fiennes, discusses the Gulf of Mexico's significance beyond stereotypes, and highlights viewing great European art.
This episode of Travel with Rick Steves explores Greek culture with a local guide, offers tips for visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris, and shares discoveries from the Balkan Peninsula as less-touristed European destinations.
This episode explores Ireland's literary legacy through poet W.B.
Rick Steves explores wilderness destinations that inspire creativity, featuring Snowdonia National Park in Wales and Slovenia's natural landscapes.
Rick Steves explores Mardi Gras in Germany's Rhineland, historic preservation with the World Monuments Fund, and local tips for visiting Alaska.
Rick Steves explores English pub culture, Breton festivals, and unique global traditions with expert guests.
Rick Steves explores travel inspiration through stories about Monet's gardens, a French farmhouse, and Americans marrying Italians.
This episode of Travel with Rick Steves helps listeners decide between visiting Prague, Budapest, and Lisbon by featuring insights from local tour guides about each city's unique charms.
Rick Steves explores Potsdam's history, interviews historian Mary Beard about Roman emperors, and recounts his 1978 Hippie Trail adventure.
This travel episode features musician Alan Doyle exploring Newfoundland and TV host Rick Mercer sharing Canadian getaway recommendations, plus a segment on New Orleans' cocktail culture and history.
Rick Steves explores northern destinations including Bowen Island, Alaska, and Iceland, with guest experts sharing travel tips and experiences.
Rick Steves explores travel destinations including scuba diving, Italy's Amalfi Coast, and England's coastal trail with expert guests.
Rick Steves explores popular vacation options in Portugal and Spain, with guides discussing the Algarve coast and authentic Spanish culture.
Rick Steves explores Roman ruins in Rome and the ancient city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, with expert guests and listener travel tips.
This episode explores World War I through the poetry of soldiers, with author Michael Korda, and also covers travel to rural Turkish villages.
Rick Steves discusses emerging travel destinations in Central Europe, Norway's oil-funded social benefits, and a journalist's hostage ordeal in Somalia.
Rick Steves and guests discuss driving tips for Europe, including road rules in Germany, infrastructure in Ireland, and scenic routes in Provence.
Rick Steves interviews a German journalist about American travel impressions and a mudlarker about Thames treasures.
Rick Steves explores the isolated Sentinelese tribe, Amsterdam's canals, and Portugal's Coimbra university town.
Rick Steves explores climate change impacts, heirloom foods, and Shakespeare's influence in South Sudan through interviews with experts.
Rick Steves explores Polynesian seafaring and ancient Greek culture through expert interviews and travel insights.
Rick Steves explores cultural insights from Italy, Renaissance Florence's genius, and the history of Timbuktu through interviews with experts.
Rick Steves discusses the upcoming total solar eclipse, a kayaking pilgrimage in Cambodia, and strange fermented foods.
Rick Steves explores Norwegian cultural quirks, the value of wild places in America, and herbal healing traditions from around the world.
Rick Steves explores Ireland's history, culture, and travel tips, including a walking tour of Dublin and the Aran Islands.