GPS, ebooks and other technologies changing the way we travel

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Navigating Europe in the digital age
GPS, ebooks and other technologies changing the way we travel
Exploring the Louvre without your nose stuck in a guidebook can be a freeing experience.
1 hour 49 minutes ago
Several years ago, I was invited to Amazon.com headquarters. After signing a legal promise of secrecy, I was taken into a special room. Someone came in carrying a package containing Amazon’s secret weapon … the Kindle.
It was turned on. And from the second I held it, so was I. It felt like I was holding the future. Since then, the ebook market has taken off. The Kindle has worthy competitors, including the iPad, Sony Reader and Nook.
While I consider myself a paper guy, I can see the advantages to ebooks. An ebook reader is smaller and lighter than a guidebook. You can effortlessly carry hundreds of ebooks, which is great for long, multi-destination trips. And with built-in wireless, you can buy books from anywhere, convenient for spur-of-the-moment detours.
Of course, ebooks have their problems. Though they work well for novels, they remain clunky for guidebooks. It can be difficult to find the information you’re looking for; flipping from page to page can be awkward; and maps â?? often designed to run across two pages â?? don’t always appear correctly. An ebook reader is expensive, and if you lose it, you’re out hundreds of dollars. Still, ebooks are here to stay, and they’ll only gain in popularity.
Ebooks are just one of the latest technologies changing the way we travel. E-mail, blogging, Facebook and Twitter have usurped postcards. Public pay phones are nearly obsolete now that cell phones, international phone cards (sold in Europe), and calling over the Internet offer easy and cheap alternatives. After a busy day of sightseeing in Berlin, you could go back to your hotel room, download a movie, and watch the serious “Das Boot” or the funny “Good Bye, Lenin!”
An audio tour you can run on your iWhatever is the one technology I’m excited about. More and more tourist offices and museums are offering these for free or at low cost. For instance, the tourist information office in Italy’s Padua has MP3 tours covering five walking routes. You can download these for free from their website (www.turismopadova.it), or just borrow one of their MP3 players when you’re there. Bath’s tourism office has a downloadable Jane Austen walking tour that includes a printable map (http://visitbath.co.uk). Free audio tours for London’s National Portrait Gallery, Prague’s Charles Bridge, and other sights are available at www.acoustiguide.com .
I just launched Audio Europe, an extensive free online library â?? containing audio tours of Europe’s major sights and interviews with travel experts â?? organized by destination. Choose whatever interests you, and download it to your iPod, smartphone, or computer at www.ricksteves.com or iTunes. Before you leave for Europe, it’s worth checking online to see what kinds of digital content you can find to enhance your trip. Using Google or the iTunes store, search for sights and cities you’ll be visiting.
Some places are going beyond audio. At Chateau de Chenonceau in France’s Loire region, pictures and videos accompany the audio narration, cluing you in to what you’re looking at. You can rent an iPod there or run the tour on your own device (www.chenonceau.com). Versailles’ free app for iPhones uses GPS to sense where you are and pops up related videos, narration, and slideshows ( www.chateauversailles.fr ).
While paper guidebooks are still selling well, map sales are being hit much harder by techie alternatives, such as Google Maps and GPS. To be honest, I’m still somewhat of a holdout when it comes to GPS (then again, I was probably the last writer in America to cling to WordPerfect). To me, part of the fun of being immersed in Europe is navigating. If you want to connect with locals, ask for directions. By being engaged, I learn and internalize the lay of the land.
If I do use a GPS, I make it a point to also have a road map handy and at least a vague sense of my route. One time, driving from St. Moritz to Lugano via Italy’s Lake Como, I realized my GPS had just directed me past the Lugano turnoff. Hitting the brakes and checking my map, I figured out it was aiming to send me on the freeway, then on a ferry across the lake. I stuck with the “slower” roads on the quieter side of the lake … and got in an hour earlier. The lesson: GPS is most useful in conjunction with a good map and some common sense.
That’s the bottom line with most technology. They can lead you in the right direction â?? to that small town in the hills or through an overwhelming museum like the Louvre â?? but the rest is up to you.
writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. E-mail him at
, or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, Wash. 98020.)
?© 2010 Rick Steves …Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.
The Eiffel Tower and the Hotel des Invalides are illuminated at dusk with in Paris.
The intricate ceiling of the Appolo Gallery at Paris’ Louvre Museum is reflected in a display case in the foreground. Built in 1661, the gallery was not fully completed until 1851. In all, over twenty artists worked on the decoration. The Appolo Gallery gallery contains more than two centuries of French art, and houses such wonders as the French Crown Jewels, including the famous R?©gent (140 carats) and Sancy (53 carats) diamonds, as well as the 105-carat C?´te de Bretagne ruby.
The Sacred Heart Catholic church (Basilique Sacr?©-Coeur) is seen on Paris’ highest point, in Montmartre. The view at the top of the dome is excellent — 271 feet above Montmartre Hill — and is the second-highest viewpoint after the Eiffel Tower.This elaborate stained-glass cupola (dome) inside Magasins du Printemps department store is located above the main restaurant in the store. Installed in 1923, it is composed of 3,185 individual pieces of stained glass.
Tourists soak their feet in a reflecting pool at Place du Trocadero, an area of museums and gardens.A “Bateau Mouche” tourist boat travels near the Paris Justice court. These boat tours are a popular, but relaxing way to view the sights of Paris along the Seine River.Originally a royal fortress for kings, and open to all since 1793, the Louvre is one the world’s greatest art museums, housing 35,000 works of ancient and Western art, displayed in over 60,000 square meters of exhibition space. More than 6 million visitors see the Louvre per year.Local art, food and other goods are sold in passage Jouffroy, across Boulevard Montmartre. Originally designed to protect pedestrians from mud and horse-drawn vehicles, the passages (shopping arcades), arre located between the Grands Boulevards and the Louvre.
A view of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Its 1977 factory style architecture contrasts with the surrounding buildings of Paris’ oldest district near Notre-Dame cathedral. It has a public library, and the French National Museum of Modern Art.
One of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture is the Notre Dame Cathedral, attracting 13 million visitors each year. The name Notre Dame means “Our Lady” in French.The famous stone statues of Notre Dame.The Jardin des Tuileries is Paris’s most central garden. Its fountains, sculptures, cafes, formal gardens, and central location, make it a popular destination for visitors and locals.Tuileries Palace encloses the western end of the Louvre and the formal gardens that make up Jardin des Tuileries park, stretching from the Louvre to the Place de Concorde, and bordered by the Seine.The cabaret Moulin Rouge was built in 1889, in Paris’ red-light district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy. The Moulin Rouge is best known as the birthplace of the can-can dance.
The Fontaine des Mers at one of the main public square, Place de la Concorde. At 20 acres, it is the largest square in Paris.
The Arc de Triomphe stands in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Elysees. The arch honors soldiers who fought for France. The names of generals and wars fought can be found on the inside and top of the arc. Underneath, is the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I .People walk past a boulangerie (bakery) in the Montmartre district in Paris.A piece of renowned French Roquefort blue cheese is displayed in a shop in Paris.
The Place Vendome is an octagonal square located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Eglise de la Madeleine. The bronze spiral column at the center of the square was constructed in 1810 by Napoleon to celebrate the French armyâ??s victory at Austerlitz. Within the square are apartments, and posh hotels and high-end retailers, including Cartier, Chanel, and Bulgari.The high-speed rail network in France goes to several Parisian train stations, including Gare Du Nord shown here. The name was derived by the idea that travelers would be able to travel to Belgium, Netherlands, Northern Germany and the Scandinavian countries. It is the busiest railway station in Europe, and the third -busiest in the world.
The grandest address in Paris
The Pere Lachaise cemetary (Father Lachaise Cemetery) on the eastern edge of the city, is named after the Jesuit Father Lachaise, King Louis XIV’s confessor.Many famous people are buried here, including Musset, Chopin, Moliere, Oscar Wilde, Delacroix, Balzac, Jim Morrison.
The Mus?©e d’Orsay is one of Paris’ most popular museums, housed in the former railway station, the Gare d’Orsay. The museum houses an extensive collection of sculptures and impressionist masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Cezanne.The Grand Palais (Big Palace) was built for the World Fair of 1900. The building is best known for its enormous glass-domed roof, making it one of Parisâ?? most recognizable landmarks. The Grand Palais was the work of three different architects, and is currently the largest existing ironwork and glass structure in the world.The Louis Vuitton department store is located on the stunning Champs-Elysees, one of the world’s most famous and beautiful streets.Le Pantheon was originally intended to be a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve to fulfil a vow made by Louis XV while he’d fallen ill.It was used for religious and civil purposes until 1885 and now functions as a famous burial place.
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