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Rick Steves’ European Christmas

Explore the sights and sounds of Christmas celebrations from Paris to Nürnberg to Tuscany

  • Christina Zeiders

After producing more than 100 travel shows, Rick Steves and his crew finally decided to celebrate Christmas in Europe. The result is a picturesque celebration in Rick Steves’ European Christmas.

Watch Rick Steves’ European Christmas on WITF TV Sunday, December 8 at 8pm, Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm, or Tuesday, December 20 at 9pm. WITF Passport members can stream it now using their login and the PBS Video app.

From England to Norway, Burgundy to Bavaria, and Rome to the top of the Swiss Alps, this special brings you down on the carpet with wide-eyed children, up in the loft with the finest choirs, and into the kitchen with grandma. You’ll experience traditional European Christmas like never before – from flaming puddings and minced pies in England to an angelic choir donning flickering crowns of candles in Oslo.

Christmas in Europe is a fascinating mix of Christian and pre-Christian traditions – yule logs and mistletoe, shepherd’s bonfires and fondue, monastic chants, and a Christmas yodel.

Rick Steves’ European Christmas is filled with inspiring sounds of traditional European holiday music — unfamiliar to most American ears — performed by families and choirs in their homes, chapels, and cathedrals.

In England, spirits soar as choral groups sing like angels and jovial conductors perform centuries-old carols in acoustically perfect churches. In the countryside of Tuscany, villagers make great bonfires to signal to villagers — dressed as shepherds — to come and sing old carols. In Norway, the ethereal voices of the Norwegian Girls’ Choir celebrate the return of the sun and little Santa Lucias brighten the season with their namesake’s traditional tune.

Watch Rick Steves’ European Christmas on WITF TV Sunday, December 8 at 8pm, Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm, or Tuesday, December 20 at 9pm, or live stream it using the PBS Video app. WITF Passport members can stream it now using their login and the PBS Video app.

Rick Steves’ European Christmas is chock full of fun history. You’ll discover curious holiday facts like why Cromwell outlawed Christmas and how Charles Dickens brought it back in a big way, why English turkeys wore boots in December, and that there are no plums in plum pudding and no mince in mince pies. You’ll find out how to please Norway’s pesky Julenisse and that Tyrolians are still singing Silent Night in the village of its birth.

Watch Rick Steves’ European Christmas on Thursday, December 8 at 8pm or Saturday, December 10 at 4pm on WITF TV or through the PBS Video app live stream.

Watch Rick Steves’ European Christmas on WITF TV Sunday, December 8 at 8pm, Saturday, December 10 at 4 pm, or Tuesday, December 20 at 9pm, or live stream it using the PBS Video app. WITF Passport members can stream it now using their login and the PBS Video app.


During the special, you will have the opportunity to donate to WITF and receive a thank you gift that includes the Rick Steves’ European Christmas DVD, the Rick Steves’ European Christmas CD, a colorful companion book, and more!

Watch the program to find out how to donate, or go to witf.org/givenow and search “Rick Steves European Christmas” under “Gift List” to choose your thank you gift an

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