Home | Mysite

The Trip of a Lifetime

Rick Steves Best of Europe 14 Day Tour Scrapbook

Welcome!

Let me paint a picture for you. If anyone were to walk into my room, the first thing that they would see would be a cork board filled with carefully cut-out pictures of the places I dreamed of visiting one day. Googled images of famous landmarks from Paris, Venice, Rome, and many more destinations. If anyone were to ask me what my biggest dream was or what I would do with a million dollars, the answer would always be to travel the world; to see for myself the magical places that for years I had read about and saw on movie and TV screens. On my 21st birthday in April 2018, my loving, generous grandmother gifted me with a ticket for Rick Steves’ Best of Europe in 14 Days Tour. My excitement could not be understated as I realized that my dreams would finally be coming true.

Hi! My name is Shannon. I am a 21-year-old student from the east coast who recently embarked on the most amazing trip of my life! During the summer of 2018 I was able to visit four countries and seven cities in two weeks. Through this website I hope to share with you, through my photos and stories, my incredible journey where I started out as shy young girl traveling on her own with 28 strangers and ended up as a more confident, mature, cultured woman with 28 inspiring, gracious friends. Through this Rick Steves tour I was able to learn about and see the world’s most awe-inspiring sights, experience diverse cultures, form life-long friendships, and enjoy once-in-a-lifetime experiences that I will never forget.

Before I begin, I want to thank my grandmother for giving me the opportunity to go on such an unbelievable trip. But I also want to thank my incredibly loving parents. Everything I have and everything I am is because of them. They have made so many sacrifices in their lives to provide for my siblings and I, never hesitating to put us and our happiness before their own. Because of this, they have never really been able to travel, even though I know that they have always wanted to. I hope to one day gift my parents with a Rick Steves trip, their own trip of a lifetime, so that they can visit all of the amazing places that I know they have dreamt of seeing, and enjoy firsthand the unforgettable experiences that I was lucky enough to have.

Rick Steves' Best of Europe in 14 Days Itinerary*

Day 1-Arrival in Paris

Day 2-Historic and Artistic Paris

Day 3- Beautiful Burgundy, France

Day 4-Scenic Drive to Switzerland

Day 5-Hiking Day in the Swiss Alps

Day 6- To Bavaria and Munich

Day 7- Munich Past and Present

Day 8- Over the Alps to Venice

Day 9- Seductive Venice

Day 10- Timeless Tuscany

Day 11- Renaissance Florence

Day 12- Layers of Rome

Day 13- A Walk Through Cesar's Rome

Day 14- Departure from Rome

*

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/europe-14-days

What I Loved About the Tour

Visiting some of the most famous spots in the world, learning so much and getting a true feel for every place we visited, and immersing ourselves in the cultures and traditions of each country! Every place we went was so unique from the rest, and it was incredible to learn about how many different ways people can live.
Great balance of structured group and free time- Personally, I loved the structured group time the best, but it was nice to be able to have time to do our own thing. Specifically, for our free time we were always given a number of suggestions for what we could do from our tour guide, Colleen, or from our Rick Steves Guidebooks, so we were never in want of ideas.
Group Dinners-In every location we visited we had at least one meal as a group. In addition to being able to get to know each other better, for each of these dinners Colleen pre-ordered the menu with foods typical to the country or region. Some of my favorite moments of the tour were on our group dinners!
Each of the hotels were very well chosen- they were in fantastic, convenient locations, and each had great staffs. The hotels were all extremely cute and quaint, very traditional and true to the countries we visited, not too grand or overwhelming. And the type and location of our rooms would rotate so, for instance, we took turns staying on the upper or lower floors.
The tour gave us so many great opportunities for us to bond as a group and get to know each other. We truly became a family that supported and watched out for each other, and the relationships I made I will cherish forever. It just made the experience so much more enjoyable!
From the trip I was able to take away many things that I could apply to my everyday life. For instance, I now know the benefits of going outside of my comfort zone.
Some of the best moments of my life were on this tour. I was so incredibly and genuinely happy. There are moments in life when you are fully grounded and aware of where you are and what you are doing, and you are just so happy and content, feeling truly fulfilled and as if you are living life to the fullest. I had so many of those moments on this trip.
Cultural activities that the tour planned- we got surprised with local performances and demonstrations which truly enhanced our experience and helped us learn so much more about the countries and their cultures. These were some of my favorite moments of the tour!
Each time we had a local guide, they were truly fantastic- all incredibly thorough, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and engaging.
Being able to just let go and have fun! So much fun!
This trip allowed me to break outside of my bubble, gain new perspectives, and broaden my world view.
The tour was full of pinch-me moments. It was truly a dream come true, everything that I hoped and so much more! You will create memories that you will cherish for the rest of your life!

Meet the Group

Our Tour Guide: Colleen

Colleen was a truly fantastic tour guide; so incredibly nice and knowledgeable. Specifically, before we reached each destination, and during our orientation walks, Colleen would teach us about the specific countries and cities we were visiting, teaching us their histories and cultures as well as bits of the native languages. She was just as knowledgeable and comprehensive as all of our local tour guides. I truly learned so much from her. She made it her priority that we all enjoyed ourselves, stayed safe, and had the trip of a lifetime.

Our Group

There were 28 travelers in addition to Colleen, our tour guide, and Paul, our fearless driver. My tour group was truly such a fantastic, nice group of people. We were all from different parts of the United States and came from such different backgrounds, and so just as we were learning about different ways of life in the countries we were visiting, we were able to learn similar things from each other. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone, learning more about their lives, homes, families, jobs, etc. I was very nervous and shy coming in, but everyone was so incredibly nice and easy to talk to, and they made me feel very comfortable.

One of my favorite things about my group was that we all very much looked out for and took care of each other. The generosity and compassion of this group was unbelievable and heartwarming. From holding umbrellas over each other’s heads to protect each other from the heat, to making sure no one got lost, to inviting each other to tag to sight-see or get meals in our free time. Specifically, everyone would look out for me, which I very much appreciated, as I was a young, 21-year-old traveling on her own. But even being the only single traveler, I always felt very much included. Different group members would constantly invite me to have meals with them or go sight-seeing with them in our free time.

We all got along incredibly well, and truly had so much fun together. I remember laughing so hard my stomach hurt and smiling so much my face was sore. We went to truly amazing places, but you really learn that having great company, being surrounded by amazing people, makes the experience of traveling so much more enjoyable and memorable. We became a sort of family be the end and I will always treasure the friendships I made on this tour.

Our Bus

We had one bus for the full duration of our trip to get us to each of our destinations. Our air-conditioned bus was extremely comfortable, nice and spacious; large enough for us to have more than enough space to spread out if we wanted. Colleen encouraged us to constantly switch seats on the bus to get different perspectives. I was always able to get a window seat which made me very happy, because we were able to see such tremendous scenery on our bus rides. We spent a decent amount of time on the bus between destinations, but it was a fantastic opportunity to get some rest and see more of the countries that we were visiting. We had breaks at regular intervals to walk around, get some food or drinks, or use the bathroom if we needed to. We also had a refrigerator from which we could buy drinks for $1 (way better prices than in Europe itself) if needed.

Paul, our bus driver, was absolutely fantastic, we all felt extremely safe in his hands. He was very funny, and him and Colleen would always joke that they acted like an old married couple.

Traveling Tips

Bring you Rick Steves Guidebooks! They are incredibly useful for travel and sightseeing tips and ideas!
Take time to rest- It is a very busy tour so make sure to take care of yourself, including getting a good night sleep! The bus rides are a fantastic opportunity to get some rest and relax in between each destination. It is okay to take it easy sometimes.
Pack lightly- I had a 50 1b backpackers pack on my back the entire journey, plus my school bag which was stuffed to the max on my front. Although we only had to carry our luggage back and forth between the bus and our hotels, it was troublesome having so much stuff to lug around.
Get to know your group! You will be able to form relationships that will last a lifetime!
Take part in the cultural traditions of the country, including trying each country’s cuisine. I pushed myself to try everything, and I loved tasting the different dishes of the countries we visited.
Things might not go as planned, but that is okay. Unexpected things happen, so it is important to adjust and move forward. Honestly, some of the best memories come from those times
Don’t worry if you can’t see everything- I would put pressure on myself to see absolutely everything, but that is very exhausting and difficult to do. I might not have seen absolutely everything but I tried to remember that I was seeing more than most people do in a lifetime, so it is important to be mindful and appreciative of that.
Take it in- It is a busy tour, but take time to slow down, maybe sit on a bench and just take in your surroundings during your free time. You are going to see some of the most incredible sights in the world, take time to enjoy it!
Appreciate every single moment of the trip, don’t take it for granted, it goes by so incredibly fast. So few people get these opportunities in their lives. Appreciate every place you see, every person you meet, and everything that you do. These will be memories you will cherish for the rest of your life.
Push yourself to go out of your comfort zone and truly enjoy the moment- Going outside of my comfort zone is traditionally very hard for me, but I really made an effort to do so on this trip because these were once in a lifetime experiences.
Don’t leave with regrets! Live your life to the fullest on this trip!

Notes on Navigating This Website

I have created a page for each destination that we visited on the tour. On each page there are a number of slide photo galleries (just hover your mouse over the first image and arrows will show up so that you can go through each of the many pictures that I took on this trip). In addition, I have given a quick run down of our schedule for each day, the sights we saw, my most memorable moments, and my overall impressions in order to give you a good sense of what it was like on our tour. Enjoy!