Columns

August 2019 issue | Appears on page

Checking out of Prague and into the Czech countryside
By Rick Steves
Kutna Hora’s Gothic cathedral was funded by the town’s once-lucrative silver mining and minting industry. Photo by Cameron Hewitt

Few cities can match Prague's over-the-top romance, evocative Old World charm ... and tourist crowds. To escape the masses and experience more of the real Czech Republic, take a bus or train ride outside of the city to see a rich medieval town, a sobering concentration camp memorial, or a grand Czech castle.

Kutna Hora, a beautifully preserved and down-to-earth town, is just a one-hour direct train ride from Prague. With a current population of just 20,000 it...

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August 2019 issue | Appears on page

Explore port wine in Portugal's Douro Valley
By Rick Steves
The Douro’s hillsides are lined with stepped terraces built over the centuries, and more modern large, smooth terraces, with vines planted in vertical rows. Photo by Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli

An endearing slice of Portugal is the Douro River Valley, the winding, terraced region that produces the country's beloved port wine. This is Portugal's answer to Germany's romantic Rhine River Valley. But unlike the Rhine, the Douro was never a strategic military location. So, rather than castles and stony ramparts, visitors encounter farms and sleepy villages. The only thing fortified here ... is the wine.

The Douro region, where...

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August 2019 issue | Appears on page 2

New Cuba travel restrictions. TripAdvisor hotel safety alerts
By David Tykol
Karen Wagner (right) shared copies of ITN with passengers on the Eurodam.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 522nd issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine, the one our subscribers — you! — help write.

Speaking of subscribers, during a round-trip cruise to the Mexican Riviera on Holland America Line’s Eurodam in November-December 2018, Karen Wagner of Monarch Beach, California, attended a Cruisecritic.com Roll Call meet-and-greet organized by another passenger.

She wrote, “I just asked for some time at the meeting...

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August 2019 issue | Appears on page 33

The Geografile
By Bryan Henry

British subjects, even those outside of the UK, who celebrate a 100th birthday or 60th wedding anniversary get a personalized card from the ruling monarch, a tradition dating to 1917.

August 2019 issue | Appears on page 37

Spain’s tapas — tasty and convivial
By Rick Steves
At Basque-style tapas bars, pintxos are already laid out, so you can simply point to or grab what you want. Photos by Cameron Hewitt

When it comes to eating in Spain, I love gathering around the table or bar for tapas, a parade of small dishes served family style. I never tire of them. The experience is like an edible scavenger hunt, where I collect small portions of seafood, salads, meat-filled pastries and deep-fried tasties and piece them together for a light evening meal.

My tapas memories are vivid. In the heart of Spain’s Andalucía region, on a warm summer evening, I elbow up to a Granada tapas bar that...

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August 2019 issue | Appears on page 38

London - Temple of Mithras the Bull Slayer
By Julie Skurdenis
Reconstructed foundations of the 3rd-century-AD Temple of Mithras in Walbrook — London, England. Photos by Julie Skurdenis

During the 1940-1941 Blitz, much of the area called The City, London’s historic center as well as its central business district, was destroyed. Years after the end of World War II, bombed-out sites were still being excavated. In 1952-1954, one of these sites, located on Walbrook between Cannon Street and Queen Victoria Street in the heart of The City, yielded a remarkable discovery buried 23 feet below the surface: the remains of a Roman temple.

On the last day of the excavation...

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August 2019 issue | Appears on page 40

Morocco in depth (Second of three parts)
By Randy Keck
The Roman-era ruins at Volubilis, once a city of 25,000. Photos by Randy Keck
This is part two of a three part series. Read part one here. Read part three here.

On my 18-day, April 2019, hosted group tour to Morocco with the small-group adventure-tour operator (and ITN advertiser) ElderTreks, we simply covered a lot more ground than most shorter itineraries do.

My travel writer/tour leader/tour operator genes compel me to automatically assess a tour in terms of what I thought was good to great and also what might be improved or changed.

What I...

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July 2019 issue | Appears on page

Best places for kidding around in Europe
By Rick Steves
Parades at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen are inspired by traditional Danish culture — and children are even part of the pageantry. Photo by Rick Steves

I'm often inspired by families on the road. Last summer, on a ferry between Oban and the Isle of Mull in Scotland, I met a family from Texas. The parents were taking their kids on a year-long adventure through Europe and told me how they've realized there's no better education or quality family time than traveling together -- and I wholeheartedly agree. The key is balancing educational sightseeing with fun activities.

When I toted my kids Jackie and...

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