Author: Rick Steves, Special to USA TODAY

With pilgrimages, the point is to go beyond tourism and connect more deeply with a place, a culture or a faith. Rick Steves shares several favorites.

These days, enjoying Italy requires some advance planning so you don’t end up spending half your trip waiting in lines. Here’s what you need to know.

It will be some time before visitors can once again experience Pairs’ Notre Dame; however, France has plenty of other spectacular Gothic cathedrals.

Be skeptical of fake officials, selfie-taking tourists behind you at the ATM and Airbnb hosts demanding wire transfers, warns Rick Steves.

When the museums in cities Rome, Florence, and Vienna are overrun with tourists, Rick Steves advises skipping the crowds and visiting these spots.

Skiing’s not the only reason to visit Europe in winter. Sparse crowds, cheap flights and lodging and holiday markets make an off-season trip worth it.

Set under a historic fortress, Tomar is a place with lots of local ambience, yet remarkably untouristed – and well worth a stop.

Paris’ Père Lachaise – final resting place of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde – isn’t Europe’s only must-see cemetery. Rick Steves suggest a few more.

Florence offers a wide array of foodie activities and Tuscan delicacies beyond the usual Italian pizza and pasta fare –  be brave and dive in.

An easy day trip from Edinburgh, St. Andrews. Scotland, is the birthplace of golf and where the future king and queen of Britain fell in love.