10 Videos to Prolong the Festive Spirit
Christmas has passed, 2025 has arrived, and it seems like time to return to work. Yet, who wouldn’t want to extend the magical holiday mood just a little longer? Fortunately, it’s not that hard to achieve. Simply carve out a moment and immerse yourself in some of the best reports, virtual tours, and gastronomic journeys through the enchanting countries of Eastern Europe.
A parade of Christmas star bearers in Lviv, a journey to the birthplace of Carol of the Bells, a virtual stroll through festive Bucharest, a bird's-eye view of Warsaw's dazzling fireworks, Prague's Christmas trilobites, an intimate Christmas in tiny Tallinn, and the legendary Saint Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest—all this and more can be found in our post-holiday selection of festive delights.
A Christmas Tour to the Homeland of Carol of the Bells
The world’s most popular Christmas song was created by two Ukrainians: Mykola Leontovych composed the music, and Peter Wilhousky wrote the lyrics. So, if you’re searching for the true spirit of Christmas, Ukraine should be your first destination. That’s precisely what travel bloggers Uzol and Manko did, exploring several regions of this country, which, despite three years of war, has preserved its incredible and magical Christmas traditions.
Their atmospheric report reveals why Ukrainians used to decorate Christmas with a "didukh" instead of a tree, offers a taste of authentic Hutsul carols, and takes you to the town where the melody of Carol of the Bells was born. You’ll also experience dog sledding with huskies, the magic of Gedzio Park, and the breathtaking sunrise atop Drahobrat in the Carpathian Mountains.
A Magical Stroll Through Bucharest
Some travellers love hiring tour guides or hearing friends recount their incredible trips. But for others, words can be a distraction—they prefer to see new places through their own eyes, free of commentary. Virtual tours cater to this type of adventurer, offering unfiltered glimpses of new destinations.
One such example is this walking tour of Christmas Bucharest. From its central boulevards to the Old Town and its festive markets, Romania’s capital feels like a living fairy tale. It’s a place where the wonders of the holiday season seem not like childhood fantasies, but tangible realities in the enchanting winter months.
New Year’s Fireworks From a Bird’s-Eye View
Most of us have seen New Year’s fireworks from the ground, but few have witnessed them from the sky. Thankfully, the Polish bloggers and aerial enthusiasts at the POLAND ON AIR channel decided to do just that. Instead of spending New Year’s Eve at a typical dinner table, politely listening to the president’s speech with a glass of champagne, they took a different approach.
An hour before 2025 began, they gathered at an airport, boarded a plane, and soared above Warsaw to capture the euphoric glow of the city’s fireworks from a bird’s-eye view. The result is a mesmerizing visual experience.
Christmas Without Bloody Gas
For a long time, Budapest’s Christmas market was considered the best in Europe by tourists. No matter when you visited Hungary’s capital in recent years, it felt like a country where people truly lived in a safe fairy tale, unaware of any problems. However, over the past three years, Hungary's economic prosperity was largely supported by its leader Viktor Orbán’s willingness to buy gas from the Russian regime. Now, that situation has changed drastically, as Ukraine has finally blocked the transit of Putin's (supposedly cheap, but in reality, bloody) gas through its territory. With the disappearance of cheap gas, prices have soared, and problems have arisen for Hungary’s Christmas celebrations. This year, many tourists complain about the high prices and are seeking cheaper restaurants and street food stalls as far away from the city center as possible. Yet, even there, the legendary Saint Stephen’s Basilica still stands, now adorned with a new beautiful Christmas tree and a Santa chair for photoshoots—but without its signature ice skating rink.
The Legendary Christmas Market in Vienna
Although Austria is not technically in Eastern Europe, but rather in Central Europe, Ukrainian travel blogger Masha Sebova’s visit to the country during the winter holiday season makes it an interesting journey. It offers insights into whether there truly exists a cultural gap between different parts of Europe or whether the cultural code—specifically the Christmas one—is fundamentally the same in Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. In addition to exploring the cultural and social experiences of various Austrian cities and regions, Masha naturally visited the legendary Christmas market in Vienna at the end of her festive report.
Christmas Trilobites in Prague
No matter how you look at it, all Christmas markets are quite similar—some have more festive lights, others fewer; some offer slightly tastier food, while others are a little less satisfying; some have a more interesting Old Town, while others less so. But once you visit one Christmas market, you might feel as though you’ve visited them all. That’s why Czech realtor Daniel Kotula decided to create a Christmas tour of Prague, but with a twist: he ventured off the beaten path, exploring areas that typical tourists usually don’t visit. For example, in the Czech capital, there’s a mountain range called Hemrovy skály, which stretches for 100 meters and is a fantastic remnant of volcanic rock formed 430 million years ago. If you're lucky, you might even find the fossil of a Christmas trilobite underfoot. Daniel also visited the Grand Hotel Evropa, whose café inspired the interior design of the restaurant in the film Titanic. In a world where the coronavirus, nuclear-armed Russian aggressors, and artificial intelligence threaten humanity with a universal apocalypse, it might be quite fascinating to simply have a coffee in such a place with a solemnly fatal atmosphere and reflect on the thought: what if this Christmas is the last one?
The Christmas Star Parade in Lviv
For many years, Lviv in Ukraine had a striking tradition—organizing a Christmas star parade. Unfortunately, last year, this event was cancelled due to the threat of Russian missile strikes, as Putin's war criminals have shown that nothing is sacred to them—they specifically target maternity hospitals and children's clinics, so they could very well target Christmas celebrations as well. However, thanks to Ukraine’s air defence, which has improved with the help of Western partners, this year the star parade was revived. And it was truly spectacular—a grand event that was festive, joyful, and life-affirming, bringing thousands of people together to celebrate.
Cozy Christmas in Small Estonia
If large public celebrations, grand fireworks, and dazzling light shows are not what you're looking for to get into the festive spirit, perhaps you prefer something more intimate, cozy, and calm. If you're an introvert who enjoys quieter celebrations, you’ll love the Christmas market in tiny Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. American bloggers from the channel Here's Good decided to end their tour of European Christmas capitals here and took on a challenge: could they create a small gastronomic celebration with just 50 dollars in their pockets?
Polish Christmas Street Food
If you had visited Polish Kraków at the end of the Soviet Union era, you would have seen a dark, dirty, and poor ancient city—it would have been no different from other cities that spent decades under Moscow’s influence. However, once Moscow was decisively pushed out, life in the city immediately began to improve rapidly and significantly. Glazed gingerbread, cheese delicacies, sausage treats, sandwiches with hundreds of different fillings, chocolate churros, and mulled wines—legend has it that the scent of delicious food from the Christmas market in the bright, clean, and wealthy Kraków could be smelled from every corner of Poland. Unfortunately, video can't convey the smells or tastes, but the report from the Main Market Square in Kraków on the Food Story Channel will definitely make your mouth water.
The Main Christmas of Europe
It wasn’t celebrated in the expensive and peaceful capitals of Europe, nor at lavish Christmas markets or under giant, illuminated Christmas trees—it was celebrated right on the front lines of the war between Ukrainians and Russian occupiers. For example, Ukrainian soldiers near Toretsk, on Christmas Eve, just like every other evening for over 1000 days, fought back against Putin’s occupiers and found a moment to celebrate Christmas—albeit earlier than everyone else. While people across Europe were peacefully sitting down to Christmas dinners, Ukrainian soldiers were already on duty in the trenches, continuing their endless battle with Russian forces. So, if you made a wish for 2025 during Christmas or New Year’s Eve, other than "may Putin die and the Russians be driven out of Europe," you simply don’t know how to make the right wishes.