Euro Day
Travelers across Europe often find themselves exchanging these colorful bills, each note a symbol of unity in this continent's rich tapestry.
Celebrate European unity and cultural diversity by connecting travelers, finance professionals, and culture enthusiasts to European experiences—from currency education to cinema and cuisine.
- Explore 20+ European cultures in one month: a country-by-country guide to traditions, food, and film
- Currency meets culture: how the euro unified a continent—and what it means for travelers today
- European cinema night: curated film recommendations from award-winning directors across the EU
- Cook your way through Europe: authentic recipes from euro-zone countries
The name euro was officially adopted on 16 December 1995, and the euro currency came into existence on 1 January 1999. After well over 30 years of planning—European leaders had, in fact, been wanting to introduce one currency for the whole of continent since the 1960s.
After years and years tough negotiations, and plenty of opposition from the United Kingdom, the currency was finally born virtually in 1999. Actual notes, however, and coins did not circulate until 2002.
Since then, the Euro has been rapidly taking over one European Union country after another, and its reach has been expanding along with the constant increase in the amount of countries belonging to the EU. It is currently used daily by about 334 million Europeans in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain and is expected to be introduced into many more countries in the near future.
Learn About the European Union
For those who don’t know a great deal about Europe in general, this is the perfect day to educate yourself a little! There are a number of things you can do to become a bit more familiar with European culture—all of the countries mentioned above may indeed use the same currency, but each and every one of them has its very own, unique history, culture, customs and cuisine, so pick one aspect of the culture of one or a few European countries, and get to know all about it.
Watch a Film About Europe
If it’s the cinema that you enjoy, Europe has produced many compelling films that you will find are very different from most of Hollywood productions in the way they are acted and directed. A great movie to start enjoying European cinema with is “Hable con Ella” (Talk to Her), an excellent Spanish drama released in 2002, written and directed by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. The movie won the 2002 Academy Award for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. If you prefer scarier films, try Sweden’s critically acclaimed Låt den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In), a 2008 romantic horror film about a little boy who is rescued from bullies by strange little girl he then falls in love with, who turns out to be a vampire. The movie received multiple awards including “Best European Fantastic Feature Film”.
Enjoy Some European Food
If cooking is your passion, find a European recipe that you haven’t yet tried and spend the afternoon or evening making it! Buy some lamb and make delicious Greek pitas paired with tzatziki, cook up a big pot of creamy Swiss fondue, or make some tangy, filling Polish bigos. However you decide to celebrate Euro Day, make sure that it helps you get to know European culture better!