Feb. 27, 2012 at 12:27pmWhat to See!

And where to go!

On Wednesday evening on KSPS7.3 or Channel 109 in Spokane, there are two diverse travel shows playing back to back. The first, at 6p.m. is part 1 of Rick Steves’ Europe: Three-Part Travel Skills special. 

At 7p.m. stay tuned for Travelscope: Greece- Cruising The Isles.

Both of these programs appealed to me. I’m always open to learning how to travel more efficiently and I’ve actually traveled to the Greek isles and wanted to see more and more of it.

Who better to tell us how to travel smoothly and affordably than Rick Steves? His 25 years experience in travel throughout Europe are legendary. This show combines both travel on location in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, the Rhine and the Swiss Alps, with practical travel tips.

I’ve always checked out Steves’ very efficient website before going on a trip. The website has travel tips galore broken into a number of categories to make searching for specifics every easy. This show combines some of the best tips on planning a trip, dealing with foreign languages, where to stay and where to stay safe as well as getting around and more.

Also among the great things to know are:

• -       Knowing how much ground you can cover in a given day
• -       Traveling at night by train to save days
• -       Knowing schedules tidbits like … museums closed on Tuesdays or was that Wednesdays?
• -       Seasonal differences in travel
• -       Be smart about travel scams

-    On two trips to Europe I mentally thanked Steves’ consistently for his excellent tips on packing and packing light! He is vehement about packing only one bag - with a 20 pound limit. Sounds radical I know, but you too will be grateful for his advice when you’re not lugging around a huge suitcase while you’re trying to sightsee all and take photos all over Europe.

Travel light!