The Unexpected Way Rick Steves Finds Cheap But Tasty Eats When Traveling Europe

Whether you're backpacking across the Scottish Highlands or channeling your inner Odysseus and exploring the Greek islands, you would do well to listen to Rick Steves. You might watch his public television show or read one of his many guide books, but in either case, you're going to learn a lot about travel in general, and European travel in particular. He knows all the best kebab spots, he knows to avoid sitting at the cafe table with your drink if you don't want to pay extra, and, as it turns out, he knows how to get a great deal on meals: by going to one of Europe's many public cafeterias.

Sure, when you imagine yourself traveling to Europe, you're probably daydreaming about yourself in a perfect world, dining on expensive caviar in some trendy place on the French Riviera. However, finding a cafeteria is not only a great way to save money on your trip, but a way to more fully immerse yourself in your European experience. "You'll find self-service restaurants in big cities everywhere, offering low-price, low-risk, low-stress, what-you-see-is-what-you-get meals," Steves says on his official website. Whether you find them in a museum, in a department store, or even in a train station, you'll be able to take advantage of good food at reasonable prices.

What if you're really looking to save a buck (or a Euro, as the case may be)? What if you could hardly afford the department store, let alone its food hall? Well, Rick Steves says that other institutions in Europe may have you covered. He recommends that you "find a cheap, humble cafeteria that's associated with (and subsidized by) a local institution," whether that's a church, a university, or even Austria's Supreme Court in Vienna. (Yes, they have a cafeteria open to the public; yes, you will probably feel weird being surrounded by a bunch of judges and lawyers grabbing lunch, but it seems like an interesting experience all the same.)

If it all sounds kind of dreary for what's supposed to be a fun trip, you might be looking at it the wrong way. Not only is the food often pretty great despite its unpretentious surroundings (like Autogrill, a fixture in Italian rest stops), it's a peerless way to experience where you are as it truly is: not a curated postcard of an experience, but something real, something fun, and something tasty.