Christmas Eve in Europe
Christmas Eve is finally here, and on behalf of my entire staff at Rick Steves' Europe, I'd like to wish you the warmest and most joy-filled holiday season — and a 2025 filled with good health and enduring happy memories.
This video clip is my little present to you — the finale of our classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.” My favorite feature of the show’s structure is how, in each culture, we stop just before Christmas arrives.
With this clip, Christmas Eve is finally here — and all across Europe, people are celebrating in their own unique ways. In England, families await the arrival of Father Christmas; in Norway, friends join hands in song; in Burgundy, a toast starts the celebration feast; at the Vatican, people pack St. Peter’s to attend a glorious Midnight Mass; and, as Christmas Day dawns, a joyful chorus heralds the birth of Jesus.
Merry Christmas!
Pope John Paul II Celebrates Christmas One Last Time
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.”
A highlight for our crew was filming the Midnight Mass at the Vatican on Christmas Eve in 2004 — which happened to be Pope John Paul II’s last Christmas. The vast basilica was packed, the pope seemed radiant, and our cameraman put our viewers right in the front pew.
The Vatican is generally a very difficult place for visiting film crews to get permission to do anything. But for some reason, their welcome warmed at Christmas, and we found ourselves with a prime spot in the center of St. Peters — midway up the central pilaster, under Michelangelo’s magnificent dome, with a front balcony perch to catch the action. In this extra, you’ll see just a bit more of Pope John Paul II’s final Christmas Mass.
Behind the Scenes: Filming Christmas in Italy
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.”
Rome was bursting with Christmas traditions, from Piazza Navona’s Christmas market to the ultimate manger scene in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. The highlight was filming the Midnight Mass at the Vatican on Christmas Eve — which happened to be Pope John Paul II’s last Christmas.
Roberto Bechi (who has inspired our guidebook readers and tour groups visiting his Tuscan hometown of Siena for decades) worked his wonders — and with his connections, he had sacred music and prayer infusing the tranquil Italian landscape with the spirit of Christmas. With his help, we filmed living nativities recreating Bethlehem in idyllic towns.
The logistics of this shoot were tricky. While it seemed we were everywhere on Christmas, we actually only shot Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Rome and Salzburg. (Other “Christmas” celebrations you see were staged for our cameras a few days before the real thing.) And I was never actually on camera in England, France, or Italy. You’ll notice throughout that I established myself in each of those countries with “on-cameras” in locations that could pass for those places. For example, the shot of me “in Rome” was actually in front of the cathedral of Salzburg, which was designed to be a one-quarter-scale knock-off of St. Peter’s — but in Austria. Forgive me, Father…for I have deceived.
Peaceful European Winter Scenes
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.”
As you watch this clip of choirs performing in Oslo and Nürnberg, enjoy scenes of winter in Europe. While fields and squares are filled with color and vibrancy in the summer, the naked branches, solitary candles flickering in windows, and lonely vistas of winter offer a peaceful charm, with the promise of life and renewal just around the corner.
Behind the Scenes: Filming Christmas in Switzerland
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.” Today, we travel to the Swiss Alps, which seem to shout the glory of God. Up here, where villages huddle under towering peaks, Christmas fills a wintry wonderland with good cheer. Traditions are strong, and celebration comes with families, friends, and fun. It may be cold outside, but as the sun sets, it’s impossible not to linger in this cozy setting.
We filmed the special in seven countries, and six were snowless. The Swiss Alps were our one last hope for a white Christmas — our worst-case weather scenario backup. I simply had to get snow in the Alps…and just barely did.
My key support person in the fairy-tale village of Gimmelwald was Olle, the village schoolteacher. He had emailed me photos of his beautiful, snow-covered village a month before. But that December was unseasonably warm, and on the days leading up to our arrival, the town was bare and wet. Thankfully, a strong snowfall hit the day we came to town, giving us the white Christmas of our prayers. By the time we were leaving, it was all but melted.
Gimmelwald was a folk festival of Christmas traditions. Olle arranged everything. He planned a sledding expedition to cut down the tree, arranged a cozy fondue in a remote hut, and lit our torches as we skied and sledded back down the mountain into his village. Olle’s parents came by (Grandpa even grew an old-fashioned big white beard for the filming) as they pulled out all the stops to celebrate a traditional Swiss family Christmas Eve…on December 21.
The Alps would also be a great place to rendezvous with my family. (Other holiday shows I’d watched, where the host was without family, seemed almost mournful.) My family flew in for just three days and performed heroically (especially considering the jet lag).
After 15 years of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos in our TV shows, my son
Christmas in France
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.” Today, we travel to France, where Christmas is the stuff of dreams. Rich sounds of medieval carols abound, simple rituals are shared by families and friends, and when days are short and nights are long, it’s customary to leave a single candle flickering in the window.
We found that Paris celebrates Christmas with its typical urban flair: extravagant lighting, yummy window displays, and ice skating up on the Eiffel Tower. And the Burgundian countryside surprised us with its rustic, small-town enthusiasm for the spirit of Christmas. Highlights included following the mayor (with her flaming-red hair and sack of gifts) as she visited her town’s senior citizens, enjoying a humble picnic in the woods with the guys out to chop some firewood, and filming a private concert of intimate medieval carols in an ancient abbey.
Joyeux Noël!
My New Book: "On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer"
Back in 1978, when I was just 23, I traveled from Istanbul to Kathmandu with my best friend, Gene. It was quite an adventure for a couple of kids just out of college. There was no way of connecting with loved ones, and we didn’t know where the end of our trail was. For us, it was a venture into uncharted territory. It was a journey of discovery, to question our Western values and help us better understand the world. Along the way, we made friends in Tehran, got lost in Lahore, got high for the first time in Herat, battled leeches in Pokhara, and much more. We were free and earnest, but the trip helped us build a better empathy for cultures and humility for seeing what a small speck we were in this world.
Almost 50 years later, I still pack along that curiosity whenever and wherever I travel. What drove me to write a 60,000-word journal along the way is beyond me…but with that journal as the basis for my new book, “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer,” you’re invited to join me on what was far and away, the trip of my life.
Pre-order “On the Hippie Trail” now, and I’ll send you a postcard with a message from my trip and a video of me reading an excerpt from the book. Find out how at https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/landing-page/preorder-on-the-hippie-trail.
Happy travels!
Behind the Scenes: Filming Christmas in Austria
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.” Today we travel to Austria, where the festive swirl of heartwarming sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas abound. This is where the season’s most-loved carol, “Silent Night,” was first performed over 200 years ago.
We knew that filming an intimate family Christmas feast would not necessarily come out natural and fun-loving on TV, so we filmed two and picked the best. The Bavarian family that the German Tourist Board lined up for us tried hard. But the evening just felt stiff. We spent long hours feasting and filming with them but ended up with nothing usable.
Thankfully, just over the border, the traditional Austrian family we filmed the next night exceeded all hopes. They took me dashing through the snow in a two-horse open sleigh. By the way, as you watch this clip, imagine the stress of knowing that in 15 minutes, the light will be gone, and the delightful sleigh bit will become unusable. We scrambled to reach their home late after a long day of filming and had to really keep things moving along — cutting the friendly welcomes (without being rude to the kind and eager people who have no idea how critical the fading light is), getting the horses all in gear, and clip-clopping merrily past the cameraman.
Then, at the door of their gingerbread-cute yet massive home, the entire family greeted us with a Christmas yodel. Inside their time-warp home, a classic grandma was making cookies with children you just had to pinch, an old Habsburg grandpa played the zither, Mom lit the advent wreath while teaching her child the significance of each candle, and Dad blessed the house from the attic to the barn with incense as his daughter sprinkled holy water with a sprig of spruce. (Part of my goal with this program was to explain the meaning behind some of our rituals — like the Advent wreath — in a tradi
Celebrating Christmas with Bavaria’s Christkind
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.”
Germany’s grandest Christmas market, in Nürnberg, comes complete with an angelic Christkind dressed in gold, played by a real-life teenage girl. After we filmed her show before an awestruck crowd of German kids, we were invited to a private audience with her. We felt like paparazzi trailing some teenage heartthrob.
In this clip of the interview, we learn how Martin Luther, the local reformer, wanted to shift the focus from St. Nicholas back to the Christ child. But as Germans had a hard time getting their mind around baby Jesus giving gifts, the Christmas gift-giver gradually morphed into a sweet girl.
Christmas in Germany
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas” — and when it comes to traditional holiday images, Germany’s Bavaria is the heartland. In this clip, we savor classic holiday themes: glittering trees, old-time carols, and colorful Christmas markets.
Even though I was determined to limit the shopping focus in the show, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Germany’s grandest Christmas market, in Nürnberg. Like the region’s children, we were mesmerized by Nürnberg’s quirky, gift-giving Christmas angel, the “Christkind.” She held court in an auditorium with several hundred lovingly wonderstruck grade-schoolers — and filming them mob her after she said, “If you’re very, very gentle, you can touch my wings” made for great TV. (Next up, I’ll share a rare interview with this German Christmas angel.)
Christmas in London
To celebrate the season, I’m sharing clips, extras, and behind-the-scenes notes from my classic one-hour special, “Rick Steves’ European Christmas.” Today we travel to London, which offers Christmas fun fit for a king or queen and streets twinkling with joy.
The Christmas special is the only time we’ve ever filmed with a sound technician. We knew that we’d be privileged to film at wonderful Christmas concerts throughout Europe, and we wanted to get the music just right. Our sound team did a marvelous job, and music was a big part of the program — even giving us the bonus of a great Christmas CD as a souvenir: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/christmas-cd.
