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A look at this well-traveled American's new DVDs from his most recent European trip.

Rick Steves New European DVDs
'Best of Europe' Shows Several Countries in New Series

Great scenery combines with informative commentary in typical Rick Steves style.

He is, to be sure, quite knowledable on his subject. If only everyone were as informative and accurate in thier profession as Rick Steves is in his. We would certainly be living in a much more educated world.

Steves' speciality is travel, specifically European travel. For years, he has gone throughout the continent providing a different kind of guide for viewers of PBS audiences in the USA. Steves focuses on a place's character and culture, much of it derived directly from locals, and teaches Americans how do to the same.

With a backpack over the shoulders and a hand in his pocket, Steves presents Europe with a true American approach: Very down home with a respect-your-surroundings and save-a-buck style. He's from Washington (a U-Dub alumn) who started his travel career by opening a small travel store in his piano shop.

Rick has a chat with locals – one his cousin – on a fjord in Oslo.

Originally known for books – his "Europe Through the Back Door" esentially told travelers how not to be an Ugly American while traveling – he has now expanded to television and DVDs.

His new series called "Best of Europe" that is currently running on PBS was filmed primarily in the summer of 2010. It is also available as a two-set DVD series that features 10 half-hour segments on 17 locations. That's 6 1/2 hours of travel, plus bonus segments of Euopean insights and a travel skills lecture from one of his many speaking engagements.

The video visits the following locations, each divided up into the half-hour segments from the PBS shows:

DISC 1

Granada, Cordoba and Span's Costa del Sol; Andalucia, Gibralter and Tangier; Northern Spain and the Camino de Santiago; Western Norway (fjords, mountains and Bergen), Oslo; Stockholm and Helsinki and Tallinn.

Steves "bridges" the gap between tourists and true Euro tourism.

DISC 2

Croatia; Dubrovnic and Balkan side trips; The Best of Slovenia, plus the two "bonus extras."

In the videos, Steves, closely examines the "walking the Camino," a 500-mile journey through the Pyrenees from France to Santiago, Spain; takes a scenic ride with a cousin along a fjord in Oslo; visits the place of the Nobel Prize banquet in Stockholm (Steves also mentions a Nobel Prize location in Oslo but does not point out that one is for the Nobel Peace Prize, the only ceremony not held in Stockholm); has a seafood dinner and beer at great-looking restaurant on a remote island in Sweden and shows several reasons why Croatia is such a beautiful country to explore, among dozens of other adventures.

A PubClub.com favorite is a look at the Running of the Bulls; in these videos Steves and his crew were certainly in the right place at the right time.

From a balcony overlooking the Running of the Bulls.

The shows move at a fairly quick pass and are good entertainment to watch with the family or travel-trotting friends. Steves seems attracted to churches the way moths are to light and the length of time he spends there tends to slow down the programs, but he also gets out for the occasional beer and glass of wine.

Steves can some across as a bit of a geek at times when he's having a drink, but that's part of his down-home charm. And, it must be pointed out, while Steves' videos definitely appeal to families he certainly does not hide the fact he enjoys having a beer with lunch or dinner. And that is to be applauded. Or cheered!

Rick Steves' videos make a viewer want to go to the places he visits and do the things he does on trips. But if they cannot, or must wait a while to do so, the videos make for an excellent visual replacement.

The videos reviewed here are just $10 – far less than a plane ticket to Europe – and can be ordered on-line at RickSteves.com

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