Rick Steves' 1999 Europe Through the Back Door Travel Guide - Budget Backpacking Tips, Hidden Gems & Cultural Insights for European Adventures - Perfect for Solo Travelers & Group Tours

I found this book to be very useful. First of all, this isn't a guidebook. This is basically a how to travel book. It shows you how to travel the back door way. In other words, travel as a guest rather than as a tourist. It's unfortunate how many tourists are happy to be herded into tourist ghettos to be stripped of their cash. This book shows how to avoid that, and how to enjoy Europe as the Europeans do. Also this book gives good advice on how to travel cheaply. I particularly admire Rick's philosophy of travel. He advocates socially responsible travel, getting to know the local people, and experiencing what's unique in each country. On the down side, Rick tries to be humorous, but a lot of the jokes are too corny. However this doesn't bother me too much.In the second half of the book, he gives some recommendations for back doors into Europe. He covers all of the Western European countries. The back doors are little touristed spots which really breathe the magic of Europe and reflect what tourists expect to see before they go. After reading these, you won't be able to stay away from Europe. I just felt that I wanted to visit all of the places he recommended. At least visit one of these places, and I'm sure you'll be impressed with his skills for finding those perfect places.If you're interested in a guidebook, you might want to buy one of Rick's country or city guidebooks. In those, he goes into detail about the sights and places to stay. If you're interested in some strategies for travel, and in recommendations for some very special places to visit, pick this book up.