This book may have been mentioned at Gadling in the past,
but I picked it as the book for today because I just purchased it (with a Barnes and Noble holiday gift card, of course
:) Rick Steves’ Europe
Through the Back Door 2006 is not your average guidebook. In fact, it really isn’t a guidebook at all, even though
the entire second half of the book includes suggested itineraries for several different European regions. Steves’ calls
this The Travel Skills Handbook, and for anyone planning to spend a signifigant time in Europe (like me) I believe it is
a must-read. This guy breathes, eats and sleeps Europe. He knows his stuff, no question. The first half of this book is
packed with informative tips on booking flights and rail tickets, what to pack, how to navigate cities on the cheap and
tactics for outsmarting thieves. I will probably mention some of the specific tips in future posts, but if you are
planning a do-it-yourself adventure through Europe, consider getting yourself a copy of Steves’ excellent how-to, which
he appropriately dubs a Read-Before-You-Go book.