In this talk at Google Rick Steves attempts to boil down 30 years of traveling advice in 1 hour. He focuses on Europe but many of his suggestions can be applied to traveling anywhere in the world. Getting beyond the advice of how to find cheap hotels and good deals, Steves seeks to teach travelers how to make their vacations a meaningful experience which takes in the authentic culture of a place. He talks about ways to avoid tourist crowds and broaden one's perspective by going to some of the not so familiar places nearby major destinations that can provide some of the riches cultural experiences.
With a little research and preparation travelers can avoid paying top dollar for guided tours that might show some of the big sights but often isolate you with other tourists and away from the people of region. He gives many, many excellent tips that he's learned over the years along with talking about some of his favorite European travel destinations. This Google Talk is available on streaming video on YouTube.