From manger scenes and mistletoe to wintry wonderlands, RICK STEVES' EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS celebrates the Christmas season throughout the European continent. In the special, Rick visits friends and families in England, France, Norway, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy to reveal their customs and practices of the holiday season. He begins his travels in England, where the Christmas pudding is the real centerpiece of a traditional English holiday meal. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower heralds the season with its red, twinkling lights. And in the countryside of Tuscany, villagers stack neat pyramids of wood for great bonfires. The lighting of the fires is a signal to villagers - dressed as shepherds - to come and sing old carols. RICK STEVES' EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS offers a colorful, musical celebration of Christmas across Europe where viewers will learn about customs from "the old countries," hear local choirs, and discover holiday family traditions.

Rick Steves is a popular public television host, a best-selling guidebook author, and an outspoken activist who encourages Americans to broaden their perspectives through travel. He is the founder and owner of Rick Steves' Europe, a travel business with a tour program that brings more than 30,000 people to Europe annually. Rick lives and works in his hometown of Edmonds, Washington, where his office window overlooks his old junior high school.