• 212
    watchers
  • 2.2k
    plays
  • 4.2k
    collected
  • 4
    lists

Rick Steves' Europe

Season 9 2016
TV-G

  • 2016-10-06T04:00:00Z on PBS
  • 25m
  • 4h 10m (10 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
  • Documentary
Season 9 of Rick Steves’ Europe features ten all-new TV shows. Join writer and host Rick Steves as he experiences the local culture, cuisine, and fun in some of Europe’s most interesting places: Italy (Siena, Assisi, and Tuscany’s wine country); England (Cotswold villages, Wells, Stonehenge, and the southern coast); Germany (Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg, Nürnberg, and Frankfurt); and some exotic eastern adventures in Bulgaria and Romania. Whether you’re an armchair traveler eager to learn, or an active traveler dreaming up new plans, Season 9 of Rick Steves’ Europe is the next best thing to a plane ticket.

10 episodes

Season Premiere

2016-10-06T04:00:00Z

9x01 Germany's Hamburg and the Luther Trail

Season Premiere

9x01 Germany's Hamburg and the Luther Trail

  • 2016-10-06T04:00:00Z25m

Hamburg, Germany's mighty port city, has risen from the ashes of World War II with a gleaming new skyline and a brisk creative energy. From there, we visit the great historic sights of Martin Luther and the Reformation (Erfurt, Wittenberg, and Wartburg Castle) before finishing in the capital of Franconia: wine-loving Würzburg.

Saxony, part of the former East Germany, remains a secret to most travelers. We'll visit the two great cities of the region: the capital city of Dresden, with the opulent palaces and art treasures of the Wettin dynasty, and Leipzig, with its Bach heritage, a massive monument to the day Europe beat Napoleon, and museums remembering its communist heritage.

Skyscraper-studded Frankfurt — with so much commerce it's nicknamed "Bankfurt" — has a delightful-to-explore old center. We'll also visit Nürnberg, a capital for both the First Reich (the Holy Roman Empire) and the Third. From its towering castle and playful fountains to its Nazi Documentation Center and maze of underground bomb shelters, Nürnberg is a fascinating study in contrasts.

2016-10-30T04:00:00Z

9x04 Bulgaria

9x04 Bulgaria

  • 2016-10-30T04:00:00Z25m

Bulgaria, so mysterious to most Americans, has a vivid identity as a crossroads of the Balkans. We'll trace the country's complex history, from ancient Thracian tombs to medieval Orthodox Christian monasteries to Soviet monuments. And we'll enjoy an intimate taste of contemporary culture: the yellow brick road of Sofia; the gregarious craftspeople of the medieval capital, Veliko Tarnovo; and the thriving pedestrian zones of cosmopolitan Plovdiv.

2016-11-05T04:00:00Z

9x05 Romania

9x05 Romania

  • 2016-11-05T04:00:00Z25m

We'll tour Romania's vibrant capital, Bucharest, with its "Little Paris of the East" architecture and lingering reminders of a brutal communist dictator. Then we'll head into Transylvania, where we'll visit fortified churches, cobbled merchant towns like Sighișoara, and castles made famous by an imported German king and the real-life Dracula. Finally we'll explore Maramureș, where everyday life still feels like an open-air folk museum.

In the Italian countryside, we'll connect with rustic, traditional culture: enjoying an agriturismo (farmhouse inn), seeing how prosciutto and pecorino cheese are made, and hiking to the bottom of deep and ancient wine cellars. We'll end in Assisi — the hometown of St. Francis — which retains its spiritual aura to this day. Like pilgrims, we'll explore its stony center before trekking to its awe-inspiring basilica, built on the tomb of the beloved saint.

Siena, once a proud and independent city-state, retains its confidence and unique traditions. We'll enjoy a front-row seat at its wild horse race — the venerable Palio — and marvel at cultural treasures from the days when it rivaled Florence for leadership of Tuscany. Then we'll head into wine country for a little dolce vita under the Tuscan sun.

2016-11-26T05:00:00Z

9x08 West England

9x08 West England

  • 2016-11-26T05:00:00Z25m

The quintessence of charming England is the "West Country": quaint Cotswold villages with their fine churches, manor homes, and gastropubs; Wells, England's smallest cathedral town; and the New Age capital of Glastonbury, with its legends of the Holy Grail and King Arthur. We'll finish by pondering the dramatic prehistoric stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury.

2016-12-03T05:00:00Z

9x09 Southeast England

9x09 Southeast England

  • 2016-12-03T05:00:00Z25m

Arcing along the southeast coast of England, we'll travel from Canterbury (with its famous cathedral) to Dover (stoutly fortified from Roman times to the Battle of Britain). Then we'll hike the trails that top the towering chalk cliffs of the South Downs, wander into the beachy resort of Brighton (England's Coney Island), and push on to Portsmouth, whose naval heritage has left it with the best collection of historic sailing ships anywhere.

Season Finale

2016-12-10T05:00:00Z

9x10 England's Cornwall

Season Finale

9x10 England's Cornwall

  • 2016-12-10T05:00:00Z25m

The far southwest of England is a world unto itself, with a persistent Cornish culture. We'll explore a world of flowers springing from towering hedges, a tin-mining heritage going back to biblical times, salty pirates' towns and fishing villages, and the Land's End of England. Then, side-tripping deep into the vast and mysterious Dartmoor National Park, we'll hike to forgotten stone circles and chase wild ponies.

Loading...