Rick Steves Best of Germany: With Salzburg

by Rick Steves

Hit Germany's can't-miss art, sights, and bites in two weeks or less with Rick Steves Best of Germany! Inside you'll find: Strategic advice from Rick Steves on what's worth your time and money Short itineraries covering Munich, Bavaria, Rothenburg and the Romantic Road, the Rhine Valley, and Berlin, plus Salzburg, Austria Rick's tips for beating the crowds, skipping lines, and avoiding tourist traps The best of local culture, flavors, and haunts, including walks through museums and atmospheric neighborhoods Trip-planning strategies like how to link destinations and design your itinerary, what to pack, where to stay, and how to get around Over 400 full-color pages with maps and vibrant photos Suggestions for side trips to Dachau Memorial, Würzburg, Nürnburg, Burg Eltz, Cologne, Baden-Baden, Frankfurt, Dresden, and Hamburg Experience the old-world romance and modern-day excitement of Germany with Rick Steves.
Planning a longer trip? Pick up Rick Steves Germany 2020, the classic, in-depth guide to exploring the country, updated annually.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

429 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2013

About the author

Rick Steves is an American travel writer, television personality, and activist known for encouraging meaningful travel that emphasizes cultural immersion and thoughtful global citizenship. Born in California and raised in Edmonds, Washington, he began traveling in his teens, inspired by a family trip to Europe. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in European history and business, Steves started teaching travel classes, which led to his first guidebook, Europe Through the Back Door, self-published in 1980.
Steves built his Edmonds-based travel company on the idea that travelers should explore less-touristy areas and engage with local cultures. He gained national prominence as host and producer of Rick Steves' Europe, which has aired on public television since 2000. He also hosts a weekly public radio show, Travel with Rick Steves, and has authored dozens of popular guidebooks, including bestselling titles on Italy and Europe at large.
Beyond travel, Steves is an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, environmental sustainability, and social justice. He supports marijuana legalization and chairs the board of NORML. He has funded housing for homeless families and donates to anti-hunger and arts organizations. In 2019, he pledged $1 million annually to offset the carbon emissions of his tour groups.
Steves is a practicing Lutheran with Norwegian ancestry and continues to live in Edmonds. He has two adult children and is in a relationship with Reverend Shelley Bryan Wee. Despite health challenges, including a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2024, Steves remains committed to his mission of helping Americans travel with greater purpose, empathy, and understanding of the world. His work reflects a belief that travel, done right, can be both transformative and a force for peace.

Reviews

[Chelsey Saatkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

so stoked to go to germany!! thanks as always, rick!

[Jess16G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great tips and sightseeing suggestions.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, a great read to know more about Germany and where to visit. After reading this book, a new destination that I did not know that I wanted to go to was driving the Romantic Road and visiting Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber. Beautiful Medival town, I wish we had stayed the night here, would have loved to have spent more time just walking through the village. This is a great resource to plan your trip to Germany.

It also includes Salzburg, and we also visited here and again, Rick Steve’s suggestions were very helpful in planning our trip.

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like I was constantly taking notes! There has been such thorough research on the different cities/regions covered and although this is set up as a fourteen day trip, I think that it will also be extremely easy to break into smaller trips and really customize some of the tours and routes he recommends. I will say that there were a couple of towns that I felt like were unnecessary, but overall I think there are some great hidden-gems and recommendations!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was most interested in the information on Berlin and found that section clear and well organized. There were great little tips throughout including restaurant recommendations and information about various neighborhoods that gave a sense of the feel and flavor of the places.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so helpful in planning our German adventure! We used it before our trip and also during the vacation. Especially useful were the descriptions and stories about each castle along the Rhine and the real kilometer markers the author placed along the river that helped identify them.

[Cyndy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best travel books ever! Great info we needed on cities to visit, tours, transportation, food, hotels and more. Highly recommend!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent overview of Germany read in prep for our trip there

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the portion on Munich and Füssen for a small trip to the area. Super helpful for planning! Would definitely pick up again for any future trips to Germany.