Rick Steves' Europe

Rick Steves' Europe and Its Tour Program

Rick Steves' Europe is a travel company in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle, that designs and runs its own guided small-group tours in Europe. Its jobs page says "Our primary business is the design, marketing and management of guided European tours," and the homepage promotes "Rick Steves' small-group tours with 51 finely crafted itineraries for 2027!" The About Rick page says Rick Steves "started his business, Rick Steves' Europe" in 1976, and that the company "runs a successful small-group tour program taking 30,000 travelers to Europe annually"; elsewhere the same page says "more than 30,000 people" and describes a business "with more than 100 full-time employees." The footer names the company as Rick Steves' Europe, Inc. and shows "CST# 2086743." The contact page gives the office address as 130 4th Ave. N., Edmonds, WA 98020-3114.

The What We Do page confirms both the operator role and the region in one line: "We organize and lead energetic tours throughout Europe." The same list says the company researches and writes guidebooks, produces the television and radio shows, sells "select travel bags, guidebooks, maps, DVDs, and other travelers' supplies," and teaches "free do-it-yourself travel seminars." The jobs page describes it as "a multi-faceted travel company" and says it is "committed to creating an environment of inclusiveness where every person feels welcome and valued."

The tours sit inside a larger travel media business. The About Rick page lists "a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information." It calls Rick Steves "America's most respected authority on European travel" and says he "spends about four months a year in Europe, researching guidebooks, fine-tuning his tour program, filming his TV show."

What the Company Stands For

The What We Do page states the mission: "to inspire, inform, and equip Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening," adding "We value travel as a powerful way to better understand and contribute to the world in which we live." It lists "We are committed to being a climate-smart tour company," and the About Rick page explains what that means in practice: "The company contributes annually to a portfolio of climate-smart nonprofits, essentially paying a self-imposed carbon tax." Press links on that page are headed "Travel Company Self-Imposes $1 Million Carbon Tax to Offset Climate Impact."

The same page says Rick Steves "considers himself a teacher," having "taught his first travel class at his college campus in the mid-1970s," and that more than 40 years later "he still measures his success not by dollars earned, but by trips impacted." It describes his philanthropy and advocacy, including "$9 million in funding to build two neighborhood centers in his community" and a "24-unit apartment building for homeless women and their children" donated to the local YWCA. The free resources it names include the Rick Steves Audio Europe app and Classroom Europe, "a searchable database of short, teachable video clips."

What the Site Shows About the Tours

The homepage points visitors to the tour program through an "Our Tours" link and a monthly "Tour News" feature; recent editions have featured the French Riviera, "Adriatic's Never-Ending Wonders" and "Totally Yodel-y Germany." The navigation has a "Tour Account" login and a "Tours FAQ," and the footer offers a separate Tour News Email alongside the general Travel News Email. The rest of the homepage shows how much of the site is media rather than tours: it features a new one-hour TV special, "Best of London," a radio show titled "Canadian Road Trip," and a Travel News item on "The Best $30 Travel Tool." The About Rick page links press coverage of the business, from How I Built This to a TEDxSeattle talk titled "Leading a Business on the Ethical High Road for the Long Haul." The What We Do page is clear about the limits of the service: "We are not travel agents, so we don't book flights, hotels, or rental cars." The company pages describe the tour program only in general terms, and the detail of each trip (what it includes, how long it lasts, what it costs, how large the groups are) is reached through the "Our Tours" link.

Contact and Support

The Contact page says "We're here for you Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Pacific Time)," gives the phone number 425-771-8303, and lists separate email addresses for guided tours, the travel store and general questions. It invites visitors to the Travel Center in Edmonds "on Saturdays only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m." and publishes holiday closures for 2026 and 2027, from Thanksgiving and Christmas to Memorial Day.

Beyond the tours, the site runs a large free library. Classroom Europe is a "free video library for teachers and students with 400+ video clips from Rick's TV shows." Monday Night Travel invites people to "Join Rick and his team of travel-savvy teachers every Monday night on Zoom." There is a Travel Forum where travelers swap advice, for example on splitting time between Lauterbrunnen and Zermatt in Switzerland, where a staff member from Rick Steves' Europe answers with train connection times. The forum has a board called Rick Steves Tours, described as "A community for Rick Steves tour alums, first-timers and future tour members," which is a useful place to read what past travelers say before booking, alongside a travel store for gear and guidebooks and a program of talks and classes. The contact page also points to a Tour FAQ and to Rail Europe orders.

What the Site Does Not Settle

The company, about and contact pages give no tour prices, departure dates, itinerary lengths, group sizes, inclusions, or deposit, payment and cancellation terms, so a reader has to go to the tour listings and the Tours FAQ for those. The one firm statement is that the company does not book flights, hotels or rental cars, so travelers arrange their own flights.

The tour program suits American travelers who already know Rick Steves' guidebooks or TV shows and want a guided small-group trip built on the same approach, with a company founded in 1976 that publishes its values plainly. Anyone who needs a full price and itinerary before making contact should start with the "Our Tours" section rather than the company pages.