Rick Steves' European Christmas

I leave this book out on the coffee table during the Christmas season, and family members read it when they visit. I like the Christmas traditions that are written about in this book.

Does not talk about a lot of cities (one per country). The cities it does talk about hold a lot of information

The Rick Steve's Video "Christmas In Europe" is a very enjoyable video presentation based on his regularly featured public televison program. He travels to Britain, Norway, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland giving a presentation of how the Christmas holidays are celebrated in each of these countries. The vast majority of the celebrations are based on traditions and if you are the type of person who enjoys "traditional" things you will love this program. It is colorful and has a large segment of musical presentations scattered throughout it. The DVD was created from the televison program that first appeared on public televison in 2005 or so. The DVD also contains several full presentation musical concerts, a presentation of Italian nativity sets as displayed each season, an interview with the traditional German Christmas angel and an enjoyable slide show of scenes taken from the presentation set to traditional Christmas music. As I said, if you enjoy traditional Christmas topics as I do, you will enjoy this program very much. If your taste are more modern and secular you probably will not enjoy it very much. A reasonable part of the program is centered around Christmas being the birthday of Jesus and this message is found repeatedly throughout the show. Since the birth of the Christ child is an important part of my celebration of the holiday I enjoyed this very much. It was a nicely presented message of the meaning of Christmas that also included some of the pleasant secular tritions along with it. It was a nice balance. Presentation time is about 2 hours long.

This is actually a DVD and not a book like the previous two reviews have mistaken. There is a matching book to this DVD and probably what they have mistaken in this case. Now, on to the DVD. I cannot recommend this DVD enough! My family has sat down to this program for the past two years and everytime I find something new to appreciate about it. Rick Steves takes us on tour in his usual style through several European countries and their unique customs. This time however we are allowed into the homes and traditions of the native peoples families. 7 european cultures are explored through their Christmas and holiday traditions. Italian, Swiss, British, French are to name a few of the places Rick takes us to on Christmas eve and the preceding days of celebration. What I like about the DVD most is the way you are shown each countries holiday traditions seperatly right up to Christmas eve then you are treated to the mounting Christmas eve excitment from all countries as they get ready for Father Christmas's visit or for some cultures the pinnacle of the season that evening. It shows the flashy city wide celebrations as well as what the average family does for seasons greetings. If you want to see humanity at its best this DVD will surely do your heart some good to see the common excitement in all childrens eyes and in the adults voices. Like I said I can't say enough. However, I will break a cardinal rule here and tell you that I would splurge here a little and go to www.ricksteves.com and purchase the Christmas set which includes the DVD, the book that the other two reviewers are refering to, as well as the matching CD that contains all of the carols that are in the DVD. Belive me once you see the performances you will want the CD! This package sells for around 35 dollars and is well worth it! Wishing you a happy holidays whatever time of the year you read this!

This is a great combination of travel information, historical background, holiday traditions, great photographs and even recipes, all describing the European Christmas experience. There are chapters on England, Norway, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Rick Steves even adds a personal touch as his family joins him to celebrate a snowy Christmas in Switzerland. This is a book you will pick up every Christmas to reread and enjoy.