Reserve seats on any 2017 Rick Steves tour today, and you’ll save $ 100 per person! To receive your early booking discount, you must reserve a 2017 tour by midnight on November 30, 2016. Discounts are for new bookings only and must be secured with a $400 per person deposit(订金).

See our Conditions:

   Tour price guarantee: our tour prices do not include air tickets, and may be adjusted without notice due to possible changes in currency rates and trip costs. However, your price for the tour you’ve selected will be guaranteed the moment we receive your deposit.

   Included in the price of each tour: Sightseeing tours by a Rick Steves’ Europe(RSE) guide, and local guides when appropriate, including all admission to sights seen as a group; all breakfasts and half of your dinners; accommodation each night; all transportation from the first hotel to the last hotel of the tour; all RSE guide, local guide and driver tips.

   The plans of the trip may be changed: Europe is full of surprise, and we need to be flexible enough to take advantage of whatever comes along so that we may provide you with the best possible tour.

   Tour payments: Your final tour payment must be paid at least 60 days before the departure. Missing the final payment deadline may result in your being removed from the tour! If you sign up for a tour less than 60 days before its departure, the entire tour price must be paid.

   Transferring(改签) to another tour: Up to 60 days before your departure, you can transfer to any other tour in the same calendar year with seats available, applying your existing deposit and with no transfer fee. If you transfer to a different tour, the price of that tour will be applied, effective on the date we confirm your transfer. Transfers less than 60 days before your tour’s departure may not be possible.

Ecotourism：A Different Way to Travel

Are you attracted to obscure places? Do you prefer to vacation away from other tourists? Are you careful to take only memories and to leave only footprints？If you answered yes to more than one of these questions，you just might be an ecotourist.

Ecotourists are people who want to experience the unspoiled natural world—and leave it that way when they return home. This trend started in the 1990s，and ecotourism is now growing three times faster than the tourism industry at large. The Kapawi Ecolodge in Ecuador’s remote Amazon Basin is contributing to that expansion，and it gives a snapshot of what ecotourism looks like.

At the Ecolodge，a small group of cabins sits in the middle of the Achuar people’s reserve and is only accessible by air. From here，visitors can explore parts of the Amazon rainforest seen by few outsiders. As they do，local Achuar guides explain how the forest is like their supermarket，where they find food，clothing，medicine and tools. As a result，tourists learn to appreciate the local culture as well as the natural environment.

The owners of Kapawi pay monthly rent to the Achuar people，but they also train the community to run and manage the lodge. They have agreed on a plan to turn the operation over to the Achuar completely by 2011.The owners are working to make ecotourism benefit and empower the local people.

You probably won’t start your own ecolodge，but you can be an ecotourist if you follow these guidelines：Protect the environment；Support local businesses；Respect the local customs and traditions.

The world is full of fascinating places to visit. As an ecotourist，you can enjoy them yourself and make sure that they remain beautiful for future generations as well.

More perhaps than any other European nation, the Swiss have got used to looking after foreign travelers. As early as the 18th century, wealthy French, Germans and Italians were treating the country as an amusement center while, in the 19th century, it became the major holiday playground for the British nobles. Today, it attracts visitors from all over the world.

The Swiss are clear about the importance of tourism to their economy, which contributes about eight percent of Gross National Product, and helps the industry greatly. Managers of hotels from all over the world go to Switzerland to learn how to do the job, and a generally high standard can be expected from the great majority of the country’s hotels, most of which are small and pride themselves on a personalized service. Public transport is the best in Europe. Both the Swiss Federal railways and the private railways are fully electrified, and the total network is made up of about 5000 kilometers of track.

Under the Fly Baggage system passengers can check luggage in at 116 railway stations and have it automatically carried to their flight. The national highway system is equally well planned, and the mountain roads offer views of some of the country’s most breathtaking scenery. Also serving the mountains is an effective system of railways and cable ways, while more than 160 passenger cars cross the lakes and rivers to and fro. Hiking in the mountains is equally popular with Swiss nationals and foreign visitors. For those who want to view the country from a height without having to climb the mountain themselves, it is always possible to take in the view from a balloon.