Rick Steves is known for his popular European travel guidebooks, hosts a travel show on public television and talks about smart travel on public radio on Saturdays. His new free audio tours of museums and historic walks in London, Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome are now available via iTunes. The well-traveled Steves shares highlights and tips with Kelly Carter for USA TODAY.

Q: What's the first thing you do when you walk into a hotel room after checking in?

A: Gather up all the fliers, sales pitches, requests for feedback, breakfast menus and annoying notices that litter a room. I want a nest with open, uncluttered surfaces. That´s why on planes of airlines like US Airways that cover seat trays with advertisements, I peel them off, too. We need to hold the line against advertising that is rising like a greedy tide in our already shrill world.

Q: What one item do you take on every trip?

A: I never leave home without my noise-reduction headphones. I´d rather fly economy with NRH than business class without. The droning hum of an airplane is exhausting. And so are some super-chatty seat mates. When I wear my NRH, no one talks to me. I can snooze or think or write or, if I choose, enjoy music. I also use my NRH on bus rides, train rides and if a hotel is unusually noisy.

Q: Where have you been recently?

A: I was just in Croatia, and I love the knack they have for taking a humble stretch of rocky shoreline and turning it into a wildly romantic bar or café. In Rovinj at Valentino ´s Bar, you grab a pillow as you enter and settle among cool Croatians into a place literally on the rocks. As the sunset fades and the flames on the old–time candelabra seem to brighten, you realize that you don't need to be rich to enjoy a luxurious moment on the Adriatic Coast.

Q: What´s the most surprising or unexpected place you're ever visited?

A: Iran. I was clueless and afraid. That´s why I went. All I knew was what most Americans knew – what Ted Koppel taught us. ... Walking the streets under 10-story-tall banners that proclaimed “Death to America” on flags made of dropping bombs for stripes and skulls for stars, I realized 70 million Iranians don´t hate us. Their government may tell them to hate us. They may be confused by our foreign policy and their media. But I found most Iranians – like most Americans – are good and caring people confused by media and motivated by fear and love. Later, while stuck in a Tehran traffic jam, a driver in the next car asked my driver to roll down his window. Handing across a bouquet of flowers, he said, “Give this to the foreigner in your back seat and apologize for our traffic.” I ´ve never been so warmly received on the streets of any city as I was when people in Iran learned that I was American.

Q: What´s your favorite vacation spot?

A: Traffic-free Italy. Whether Sienna, Venice, the villages of the Cinque Terre or some windy Tuscan hill town, I love Italy. And I love it most when it´s quiet and I can hear the rustle of strollers on the piazza, the pecking of the birds on medieval windowsills, the snapping of laundry high above, the commotion of happy eaters spilling out of a trattoria and the joy of children running free. Give me Fiat-free Italy and I´m one happy traveler.

Q: Can you offer an insider tip or recommendation for your favorite vacation place?

A: Go one step beyond Greece to Turkey. Stay away from any place within easy striking distance of a cruise ship.

Q: What´s the next hot destination for Americans traveling to Europe?

A: Turkey may not get into the European Union, but as far as travelers are concerned, it´ s as good as there. Turkey is exotic, unpredictable, fun-loving, cheap, tasty, filled with history and friendly. For a generation, many Americans have been afraid. ... As Midnight Express images fade and as Americans learn to celebrate rather than fear the diversity on this planet, Turkey is the best deal going in Europe.