Join Rick Steves for a colorful, musical celebration of Christmas across Europe. From England to Wales, France, Norway, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, you'll see the bright Christmas markets, hear local choirs, share holiday traditions with families...and even play in the snow.

Usually you'll find Rick Steves touring the great destinations of Europe. Now you can join him on a different journey: a Symphonic Journey. Just as travel broadens one's perspectives, so can music. In this hour-long concert special — Rick Steves' Europe: A Symphonic Journey — Rick teams up with the Cascade Symphony Orchestra on a musical tour that begins in the USA, then touches down in seven different European countries. People of every nation have music that quickens their heartbeat and sets their patriotic spirit soaring. For each stop, Rick paints the cultural context in words, and then the orchestra plays stirring anthems — Strauss in Austria, Wagner in Germany, Smetana in the Czech Republic, Verdi in Italy, Elgar in England, Grieg in Norway, Berlioz in France — each accompanied by glorious video footage.

In another of his popular lectures, Rick explains how thoughtful travel can expand our worldview and shape our actions at home.

On the loose in France's countryside, we drive up Alsace's Route du Vin for miles of vineyards, half-timbered villages, and feudal fortresses. We head to Verdun to walk the trenches of World War I before visiting Reims Cathedral to marvel at Gothic splendor and Chagall's stained glass. Our final stop is Epernay, the bubbly birthplace of champagne.

Join Rick as he travels through the Holy Land in this hour long special, weaving together both the Israeli and the Palestinian narratives. In Israel, we'll travel from the venerable ramparts of Jerusalem to the vibrant modern skyline of Tel Aviv. In Palestine, we'll harvest olives near Hebron, visit a home in Bethlehem, and pop into a university in Ramallah. We'll also learn about the persistent challenges facing the region today