Guide Books
As a reference, these are the ones we bought or borrowed:
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Best of Europe
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Paris 2017
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Rome 2017
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French, Italian, and German
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Europe 101: History and Art for the Traveler
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Postcards from Europe
Audio App
The Rick Steves app was also helpful. It is full of Rick Steves Podcasts that you can download and listen to when away from WiFi (great for the plane). The podcasts are about all different topics that relate to traveling in Europe; food, language, history, things to do, etc. and then there are the walking tours. Many of the walking tours in the books are also available on the app! They include an interactive map and the ability to skip around to all the stops in your own order and speed.
Here is a list of all the podcasts that correlated to our trip:
France
French Wine
Americans in France
Discovery of France
French Food and Faux Pas
French Fromage I
French Fromage II
Understanding the French
All Paris Podcasts
Germany
Germany Today
Munich and Bavaria
Italy
Folk Music of Italy
Italian Chaos
Italian Cuisine Culture I
Italian Cuisine Culture II
Italian Food Culture
Italian Food Culture II
Italy’s Decadent Desserts
The Joy of Pasta
Michelangelo
Pasta 101
Pleasures of Italian Cuisine
All Venice and Rome Podcasts
I then made sure I had all the walking tours in Paris, Munich, Venice, and Rome. That way, no matter what we decided, I could have them on hand, ready to go. In the end, my brother and I wanted to just take in the sights rather than have an audio guide at all times, but my parents listened to them and would share all the unique details. It ended up working great. The rest of the podcasts I listened to before we left while working-out or driving, like I would with an audio book. They were also great to have on the tour bus!
YouTube Videos
We watched all the Rick Steves YouTube videos that we could find related to out trip:
I know it’s a lot of videos, but trust me, when you want to get excited, there is nothing more fun than having a lazy Sunday binge watching Travel Videos. And if you are planning far enough in advance, you’ll have plenty of time to make your way through them!
