Rick Steves Shares His Top Travel Rule for Avoiding Crowds in Europe
- Travel expert Rick Steves advises avoiding long lines at European tourist sites by purchasing tickets online in advance or arriving early/late to beat the crowds.
If there's one thing travel expert Rick Steves knows it's Europe. His popular Rick Steves' Europe public television program's 13th season comes out this October and he's also the host of the Travel With Rick Steves radio program and podcasts. He's even got his own European tour series, guidebooks, travel gear, classes and Europe audio guide app. So, you can trust him when he says he knows a thing or two about navigating the biggest tourist attractions and historic sites in European countries.
He believes the worst thing you can do is waste time waiting in long lines for hours to see the top sites. It's a recipe for losing huge chunks of precious vacation time. When you can, he suggests buying tickets online for the biggest sites in advance. This ensures guaranteed entry and often at a certain time, which can vastly help limit long lines and crowds. But if you can't, follow his number one tip for beating tourist mobs: arrive early or go late.
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Rick Steves' Number One Rule for Beating Crowds in Europe
This can be especially helpful in cities that cater to cruise excursions, he says. "If you're in Athens, for example, and there are three ships in port, there's 3,000 tourists on each ship. And it seems like every one of them wants to go to the Acropolis. That's crowded. Why would you go in the middle of the day?" He says afternoon might be the perfect time to go, because cruise ship crowds often flock there first thing in the morning. "I like to go when everybody else is leaving. I'm there at the last two hours of the day," he said in a recent YouTube short from his one-hour special Rick Steves Experiencing Europe . Use this strategy for sites that cater to big-bus tours, too, like in Paris at the Louvre or London's Big Ben tour.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-nKbuCiQLcg
Steves doesn't mince words when it comes to his feelings on this lack of planning. "There's two IQs of European travelers. Those who wait in lines and those who don't wait in lines."
"Find a way to enjoy the sites during a time when they're not overwhelmed with tourists," he suggests. He also mentions the Colosseum, one of Rome's biggest tourist attractions. "These people aren't waiting in line not to get into the Colosseum. To buy tickets to get into the Colosseum. There are ways to get tickets that don't involve waiting in line."
For the Eiffel Tower, "everybody wants to go to the Eiffel Tower. Last time I went, I used my guidebook, I made a reservation. When I got there, there was a long line, but I made a reservation. They said oh, you have a reservation, come on to the front. They put me on an elevator. I went up, had a great time, came down before that last person got to the front."
Recent photos prove his point. "This is the Pantheon in the middle of the day. I stay about a block away in my favorite hotel in Rome. Man, oh, man, it's mobbed in the middle of the day. I go in the morning, and I'm all alone there. I go in the evening, I'm all alone."
In short, he says to keep it simple when planning your itinerary. "We need to not go to the famous places when they're so crowded. It's elementary."
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More European Travel Tips From Rick Steves
Public television's most-watched, longest running travel series, Rick Steves' Europe , is now coming into its 13th Season. The October 1 premiere episode covers Iceland's Reyjavik and The Golden Circle. Future episodes include two episodes each in Iceland, Poland (Kraków, Warsaw with Gdańsk), Istanbul (Turkish Delights, Capital of Emperors and Sultans) and London (A Royal Tour, Yesterday and Today), plus highlights of Paris and Italy and a gourmet barge cruise in Burgundy.
Steves' popular tips regularly hit social media, and include ways to avoid tourist traps in Europe (skip the stuff that's advertised all over and venture outside of the main tourist areas, neighborhoods and city centers), the one thing to splurge on in Europe (the food) and his number one travel tip of all time (pack light!)
Related: Rick Steves' #1 Tip for Overcoming Language Barriers When Traveling
This story was originally reported by Parade on Sep 2, 2025, where it first appeared in the Travel section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
