From Ireland to the Greek Isles, a look at Stone Age cave paintings, megaliths and mysterious goddesses.
Tracing the rise of Greek culture; the Acropolis, Parthenon and Golden Age temples.
Rome's rise through its art, including its supersized monuments, colorful mosaics and marble Caesars.
Exploring ancient Roman cities from England to Turkey, including their art, aqueducts, theaters and churches.
Diverse art produced by early Europeans, from Christians to Muslims and Byzantines to Vikings.
Gothic cathedrals with colorful altarpieces, lacy stonework and radiant stained glass; art celebrating worldly pleasure; artists like Giotto mastered realism in Italy.
The "rebirth" of Florence is powered by Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael and Michelangelo, whose David sculpture and painting of the Sistine takes the Florentine Renaissance to new heights.
Rome's St. Peter's Basilica, Bernini statues and fountains; dramatic canvases of Rubens in Belgium; the chandeliered Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.
Europe's Neoclassical buildings of columns and domes; dramatic Romantic paintings depicting extreme emotions and nature; touring castles.
Impressionist works, including Monet's lilies, Renoir's ladies, Degas' snapshots and Rodin's statues; tracing the travels of Van Gogh through his art; wild and crazy buildings in Spain.
The wild, colorful, surreal and fun art of the 20th century, from Spain to Hungary to Glasgow to Oslo; the work of Pablo Picasso.
Kings and prime ministers studied at Oxford and Cambridge universities; Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill; Ironbridge Gorge.
A visit to Lisbon, Portugal, features cod, hot pastries, a stroll of the city's back lanes and fado music; exploring castles of Portuguese royalty in Sintra.
Dancing on the beach in Nazaré, Portugal; medieval abbey in Batalha; royal library; port wine; exploring Porto, Portugal.
The ins and outs and pros and cons of cruising, including making smart use of limited time on shore and the congestion and commercialism that comes with mass tourism.
Three classic Greek getaways -- Santorini, Mykonos and Rhodes -- include touring ancient Greek ruins, tracing the vestiges of the Crusades and sampling rustic cuisine.
Siena, Italy's, Palio horse race; Scottish Highland Games; Carnevale in Venice, Italy; celebrating Easter in Greece.
Palermo, Italy; the Romanesque cathedral of Monreale; Mount Etna; cannoli; Greek temples at Agrigento; Roman mosaics at the Villa Romana del Casale; the Greek theater in Taormina.
Fresh seafood at the fisherman's harbor in Cefalù, on the northern coast of Sicily; Siracusa; Capuchin crypt; agriturismo; a classic Sicilian banquet.
The Weeping Glen of Glen Coe; Inverness; the battlefield of Culloden; Stone Age burial grounds and Iron Age island forts; Caledonian Canal; Loch Ness; sheepdog demonstration; traditional folk music.
The tranquil isle of Iona; Staffa's puffin colony; Isle of Skye's Iron Age forts, thatched crofter huts and Trotternish Peninsula; sailing to Orkney; Scapa Flow.
Street art, trendy dining and Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture in Glasgow, Scotland; touring historic Stirling Castle; bagpipe lesson; the Speyside Whisky Trail; Manhood Stone.
Germany's port city of Hamburg, post-World War II; historic sites of Martin Luther and the Reformation, including Erfurt, Wittenberg and Wartburg Castle; Wurzburg in Franconia.
The capital city of Dresden, Germany's palaces and art of the Wettin dynasty; Leipzig's Bach heritage, a monument to the day Europe beat Napoleon and museums.
Frankfurt, Germany, a global hub for commerce; Nuremberg, Germany's, towering castle, fountains, Nazi Documentation Center and underground bomb shelters.
The complex history of Bulgaria, from ancient Thracian tombs to medieval Orthodox Christian monasteries to Soviet monuments.
Romania's capital, Bucharest; Transylvania's fortified churches, cobbled merchant towns and castles; Maramures region of Romania.
Farmhouse inn; making prosciutto and pecorino cheese; hiking down ancient wine cellars; the basilica in Assisi, Italy, the hometown of St. Francis.
The Palio wild horse race in Siena, Italy; Tuscany's wine country.
Cotswold villages boast churches, manor homes and gastropubs; New Age capital of Glastonbury; prehistoric stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.
The Cornish culture in the far southwest of England; tin mining heritage; pirates' towns and fishing villages; Dartmoor National Park.
The streets of ancient Ephesus; natural spa at Pamukkale; lunch in a Turkish pizzeria; cruising the Mediterranean on a traditional Turkish gulet.
Aerial view of Cappadocia; underground city; circumcision party; exploring troglodyte ghost towns; shopping for sheep; the modern capital of Ankara.
A tour of France's Loire Valley includes four castles; a château used by Leonardo da Vinci near the end of his life; and a garden.
Exploring Versailles; Vaux le Vicomte; Fontainebleau; the glass and statuary of Chartres cathedral.
Religious tradition in Jerusalem; Tel Aviv; Masada; pilgrims visit biblical sites around the Sea of Galilee; Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.
Jerusalem; harvesting olives near Ramallah; pilgrimage to Bethlehem; Abraham's tomb in Hebron.
The city of Padua, Italy, is known for its university, Giotto frescoes and basilica; Verona's Roman ruins; Ravenna's mosaics.
Rick Steves takes a look at the sights outside of Amsterdam, from Haarlem, to Rotterdam, Delft and Zuiderzee.
Rick Steves takes a look at the rich history, art and culture on offer in Amsterdam, Holland's capital.
A reunited Berlin entertains more visitors than ever before.
Dalmation Coast; hiking through Plitvice Lakes National Park; Zagreb; Istrian Peninsula.
Little Slovenia's capital of Ljubljana; mountain resort of Lake Bled in the Julian Alps.
Historic Spanish capitals Granada and Córdoba; Andalucian culture; Costa del Sol.
Spanish culture; windsurfing in Tarifa; Rock of Gibraltar; sailing to Tangier.
Viking ships; Opera House, World War II tales; Norwegian art.
Sailing under towering fjord cliffs; hiking glaciers; Hanseatic heritage.
Cultural highlights of Stockholm, Sweden's capital, include gourmet reindeer and vodka; sailing the archipelago.
Helsinki, Finland's Neoclassical old town has a modern flair for design; two-hour boat ride to Tallinn, Estonia.
Tracing the trail of pilgrims, from the French border to Santiago de Compostela; running with the bulls in Pamplona; Celtic culture of Galicia.
The ancient Basque Country capital of Gernika; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
Fine living in Burgundy, France; canal barge; medieval hospice; modern monastery.
A canoe ride through the Dordogne River Valley; goose farm; lamp-lit castle; country market; Albi, home of Toulouse Lautrec; Carcassonne.
The festivity of Barcelona; Montserrat; pilgrimage along the Costa Brava; Salvador Dali's home and mausoleum/museum.
Vatican City, the world's smallest country; Monaco; San Marino, Italy; Liechtenstein; Andorra.
Luzern, Bern, Zurich and Lausanne; art created by inmates of an asylum; Swiss innovations such as drug policies and underground arsenals.
Vienna's gardens, art and fine music; a trip along the Danube River; hiking through the Baroque Melk Abbey.
Art Nouveau; peat bathing in Olomouc, Moravský Krumlov, Trebon and Konopiste; Holocaust memorial in Terezen.
Old port town of Nafplio; the ruins of Olympia; preserved theater at Epidauros; ancient capital of Mycenae; Mani Peninsula.
Copenhagen's Viking history; Europe's first pedestrian boulevard; palace treasury; bike ride through a hippie squatter community; Tivoli Gardens.
The open-air museum in Aarhus; royal burial church and Viking ship museum in Roskilde.
The Grand Bazaar and spice market in Istanbul; the fall of the ancient capital of Byzantium; Hagia Sophia; Blue Mosque; Topkapi Palace.
Historical sites in Tehran, Iran; tranquil village; anti-American propaganda.
Three historic capitals of Iran are Persepolis, Shiraz and Esfahan.
Roman hot springs; cruising canals; Gothic church; Viking history.
Mount Snowdon; medieval castles; Victorian promenades; slate mine; sheep-herding dog.
Edinburgh Castle; the new Scottish Parliament Building; Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia.
Back-street fish markets; pizza; climbing Mount Vesuvius; the ruins of Pompeii.
The Amalfi Coast: Positano resort; Sorrento; ancient Greek temples at Paestum; the Blue Grotto.
Hunting for truffles; artichoke festival; farmhouse feast; a ride through cypress groves.
In this program, we'll drive through the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside connecting all the hill town dots, see a ceiling fresco masterpiece NOT by Michelangelo, eat rustic bruschetta, walk a vineyard that goes all the way back to Etruscan times and more, all while exploring a string of hill-capping medieval towns that somehow manage to keep their heads above the flood of the 21st century.
The palace of Maria Theresa; Hapsburg crown jewels; a picnic on the Danube.
Alpine adventures include summer bobsledding, hiking around Hitler's Eagles Nest hideout and a boat ride on Lake Hallstatt.
The challenges and surprises of travel are shaped into a finished show.
Madrid, Spain; museums; Picasso masterpiece; flamenco dancers.
Castile; pickles; medieval walls; bachelorette party; troubadours.
Normandy, France; lily ponds; artisans; composer Erik Satie; cuisine; pilgrims.
Belfast, Northern Ireland; Irish whiskey; rock columns; golf course; Irish music.
London; Millennium Bridge; mummies; riverside beachcombing; the Thames.
Headquarters of the European Union; medieval hospital; carillon concert; lace; art; Belgian chocolate.
Roman ruins in Nimes; Avignon's papal palace; Van Gogh's Arles; the Rhone.
The Riviera's yachts; Monaco harbor; Nice's promenade; artists' hangouts.
Cobbled and Baroque Krakow; tragedy at Auschwitz; lively Warsaw.
Straddling the Danube River is the Hungarian city of Budapest, with its bridges, mineral baths, old coffeehouses, parks and thriving capitalism.
Bullfighting and flamenco in Sevilla; Moorish palace, cathedral and labyrinthine Jewish quarter in Andalusia.
Southern England; Roman/Nazi invasions; wild horses; ancient stone circle; cream tea.
A trip to prehistoric Stonehenge follows Glastonbury; a visit to a ruined abbey in South Wales.
Scotland; pipers; castles; caber; clan gathering; Highland massacres; Loch Ness monster; whiskey distillery; ferry.
Bulgaria; donkey cars; monastery; sculptors; traditional dinner.
Turkey; sunrise; dam; grease wrestlers; Mount Nemrut; dancing.
Enjoying the best of Sicily, from fishing for anchovies off Cefalu to Palermo to the enchanting ruins of Segesta.