Dodging four men pushing a cart full of honeydew melons, I step out of the noisy traffic of Istanbul, pass through the horseshoe-arched door and trade one commotion for another. Suddenly the air — ...

“A fisherman, a priest, and a student” sounds like the beginning of a crude joke. But on my latest trip to Europe, these three characters weren’t punchlines. Instead, they were reminders of the value ...

Don't let Rick Steves' gentle demeanor fool you. He's one determined man—especially if something piques his curiosity, which is a great thing for all of us. In the mid-'70s, while sitting in a ...

Some of my most vivid memories from my first visit to Istanbul in the 1970s are of the colorful locals. Scruffy kids sold cherry juice, and old men would grab huge cucumbers from wheeled carts, peel, ...

Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. on KPBS TV Istanbul's rich heritage spans the centuries from Christian Byzantium to Muslim Ottoman rule to today's thriving city. We ...

Travel expert Rick Steves has been to so many places overseas -- from incredibly quaint cities and small hidden towns to the regions that are most expensive to visit in Europe — so it might be hard ...

Rick Steves is arguably the country’s most beloved travel writer and guide since Mark Twain, and millions know him from his long-running series on traveling through Europe. But his latest book is a ...

In 1609, Sultan Ahmet I ordered the construction of the spectacular Blue Mosque that would rise next to, and rival, Hagia Sophia. Tea is a daily ritual of Turkish life. Istanbul's teahouses are ...