Season 11 of Rick Steves’ Europe: “Austrian and Italian Alps” — Premiering now on public television! Featuring eight all-new episodes, Season 11 starts off on a high — high in the Alps! Join me for Episode 1101, “Austrian and Italian Alps,” where we celebrate both nature and culture. After conquering the Zugspitze (in neighboring Germany), we tour Austria — exploring Innsbruck, visiting a remote Austrian farm, and joining in a Tirolean village festival. Then, for more rugged fun, we cross the Al

The festive swirl of heartwarming sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas abound in Austria — the land where the season's most-loved carol, "Silent Night," was first performed over 200 years ago. According to legend, Joseph Mohr, a priest, went out one Christmas night to bless a newborn baby. As he walked home in the snow, he was so moved by the stillness of the starlit, holy night that he wrote a poem about it. He later gave the poem to Franz Gruber, his church organist, who quickly composed a