In this special, it’s party time in Europe. In addition to all its epic history and high culture…

In the thin-air “thriller” special, join Rick Steves on an alpine adventure from Italy to Austria to Switzerland to France…

Christine gets curious about the castles of Switzerland: In Château de Chillon, she explores its unique architecture and discovers secret passageways. In Château de Gruyères, she learns about the legend of the ‘Gru’, and the many phases the castle went through under different rulers; and at Schloss Thun, she explores a medieval hall, and tells the legend of the creature who lives in its attic.

Christine gets curious about the legend of Kalev and the foundation of Tallinn; the story of the Danish flag falling from the sky; Tallin’s UNESCO Old Town, City Hall & Old Thomas, the medieval wall, Kiek in de Kök and Fat Margaret towers, a Russian Orthodox church, St. Catherine's Passage, and unicorn horn powder at one of the oldest medieval pharmacies in Europe.

Travel expert Rick Steves sails beyond Europe for a one-hour special, Egypt: Yesterday and Today. Join Steves for an exploration of historic and cultural wonders, including the teeming metropolis of Cairo, the fabled city of Alexandria and the glories of the pharaohs in Luxor. He also brings viewers into a wonderland of back lanes and shops, meeting artisans, craft makers and vendors.

The Herriot Way explores the 52-mile walk through some of the best scenery in the Yorkshire Dales, known by many as the filming location of All Creatures Great and Small.

In the 1600s and 1700s, the art of "divine" kings and popes — and of revolutionaries and Reformers — tells the story of a Europe in transition. In the Catholic south, Baroque bubbled over with fanciful decoration and exuberant emotion. In the Protestant north, art was more sober and austere. And in France, the excesses of godlike kings gave way to revolution, Napoleon, and cerebral Neoclassicism.

Around 1400, Europe rediscovered the aesthetics of ancient Greece and Rome. This rebirth of classical culture showed itself in the statues, paintings, and architecture of Florence, then spread to Spain, Holland, Germany, and beyond. The Renaissance — from art-loving popes to Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and Michelangelo's "David" — celebrated humanism and revolutionized how we think about our world.

After Rome fell, Europe spent a thousand years in its Middle Ages. Its art shows how the light of civilization flickered in monasteries and on Europe's fringes: Christian Byzantium, Moorish Spain, and pagan Vikings. Then, around A.D. 1000, Europe rebounded. The High Middle Ages brought majestic castles, radiant Gothic cathedrals, and exquisite art that dazzled the faithful and the secular alike.

The Romans gave Europe its first taste of a common culture — and awe-inspiring art. From its groundbreaking architecture to its statues, mosaics, and frescos, Rome engineered bigger and better than anyone before. At its peak, the Roman Empire was a society of unprecedented luxury, with colossal arenas for entertaining the masses and giant monuments to egotistical emperors. And then it fell.