On The Road With Rick Steves

Vicki Mabrey Follows Steves Through Europe In Search Of His Travel Secrets

(CBS)  And many European merchants work feverishly to get a recommendation in one of his books. Majel Tromp was thrilled when he printed a blurb about her canoe tours near Amsterdam. He's expanding the blurb into a full recommendation in his next book, but only after taking the tour himself.

Is everything the way he thought it would be? "Yes, this is everything I hoped it would be," says Steves. "Three hours, $30 … and you get Vermeer paintings along the way. You get the real thing that inspired Vermeer."

How important is it to Majel as a tour guide to be written up in Steve's book? "Very important," says Majel. "Because that's how I get the Americans coming to do this tour."

As the "blitz" rolled on, we wound up in Amsterdam's red light district. The oldest profession is legal here, so in his Amsterdam book, there's a map showing where to find prostitutes, and cheaper prostitutes. Steves also highlights cafes where marijuana is on the menu.

"It's not my responsibility to shield my tender Americans from something that is a reality here," says Steves.

"Do you tell your readers how much it costs to buy a joint?" asks Mabrey. "Yes, it's $3," says Steves.

"Do you tell them the best places to go?" asks Mabrey.

"Well, most of my readers are older," says Steves. "So I tell them where older people would be more comfortable."

What makes Steves successful? "I think it's his average Joe-ness, his American-ness," says Openshaw. "I think when people see Rick and he is, I think, a genuine down-to-earth, almost goofy guy, and when they see he can go to Europe, 'Well, I could do that!'"

Steves says occasionally there is a downside to his influence on thousands of "Rickniks" -- like what he sees happening in Rothenburg, Germany, a picture-postcard town he almost single-handedly put on the map for American travelers.

"I see more tourists coming with my book in hand and the locals can crank up the quaint and serve up the clichés, and suddenly all these tourist crowds are trampling the bit of reality I was trying to catch," says Steves.

But Steves says even the American stampede he helped to create won't stamp out the Europe he loves.

"You must have a shorthand for some of the cultures, some of the countries," says Mabrey. "So I'll rattle off some nationalities."

The French.

"Complicated," says Steves.

The Italians.

"Lovable chaos," says Steves.

Germans?

"Achtung!" says Steves.

The English?

"Proper," says Steves.

The Irish?

"Lots of beer," says Steves. "Lots of talk, lots of love."