Rick Steves' Europe

In this third of three shows focusing on travel skills, we'll visit the Swiss Alps, Paris and London while covering tips for finding the best accommodations, getting around in big cities, and enjoying Europe's cuisine.

In this second of three shows focusing on travel skills, we'll visit Venice, Siena, and the Cinque Terre in Italy to learn about trip planning, packing, safety, and - perhaps the most rewarding skill of all - connecting with the locals.

In this first of three shows focusing on travel skills, we'll visit the Netherlands and Germany to learn about transportation by train and car within Europe, changing money, and settling in upon arrival.

Venice, more than any other European city, has an endlessly seductive charm. For centuries, it was nicknamed La Serenissima, The Most Serenely Beautiful One— and for good reason.

In Venice we'll cruise the Grand Canal, luxuriate in a venerable caf�, and savor fresh fish canalside. We'll also be dazzled by masterpieces of the Venetian Renaissance and get intimate with the city of Casanova...on a gondola in the moonlight.

Hiking through the Cumbrian Lake District — England's green and pristine mountain playground — we’ll admire idyllic lakes, discover misty waterfalls, tour a slate mine, and conquer stony summits. And we'll meet the locals — and their beloved dogs and sheep — everywhere. Then we play a little cricket, hike Hadrian’s Wall, and are dazzled by Durham’s Norman cathedral.

In London, we'll ponder royal tombs in Westminster Abbey, discover treasures in the British Library, enjoy the vibrant evening scene in Soho, uncover Churchill's secret WWII headquarters, and straddle the Prime Meridian at Greenwich.

Let's ride a unicorn into the Middle Ages at Paris' Cluny Museum, take a midnight ride in a classic car, get a heavenly look at stained glass in Sainte-Chapelle, go on a tombstone pilgrimage at P�re Lachaise Cemetery, and savor the Parisian caf� scene.

A cruise on the Seine River is the perfect introduction to Paris. We'll also pay a visit to Napoleon's tomb, and take in the majestic Louvre. Then we'll shop in a village-like neighborhood, attend church in a pipe organ loft, and celebrate Bastille Day.

We'll enjoy Renaissance art in Florence, the city that propelled Europe out of the Middle Ages. Then we'll visit a couple of cultural capitals in their own right: Pisa, where we'll marvel at a tipsy tower; and Lucca, where we'll enjoy some Puccini.

In Florence we'll gaze into the self-assured eyes of Michelangelo's David, enjoy Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and climb the dome that kicked off the Renaissance. Then we'll cross the Arno to where Florentine artisans live, work, and eat...very well.

Today we'll explore Rome on a more intimate scale - dodging Vespas in the crusty Trastevere district, roaming through the historic Jewish Ghetto, and enjoying art treasures in a string of rarely visited churches - uncovering the charms of hidden Rome.

As we ramble through the heart of Rome, we'll admire breathtaking Bernini statues and ponder sunbeams inside St. Peter's Basilica. After dinner, we'll take a nighttime stroll, lacing together the city's piazzas and fountains.

Part one of three on the Eternal City, this episode resurrects the rubble and brings back to life the capital of the ancient world. Focusing on the grandeur of classical Rome, we’ll marvel at the Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the empire's exquisite art. Then we’ll go offbeat by bicycle to see the Appian Way and marvels of Roman engineering.