Prague's Christmas markets, and the city under the castle in December

Prague is one of the best-preserved historic cities in Europe. It largely escaped the bombing of the Second World War, and its centre is a remarkable survival of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque streets, churches and palaces along the banks of the Vltava, beneath a great castle on its hill. It is also one of the most visited cities in Europe, and in summer its narrow streets can be uncomfortably crowded. December brings crowds of its own, but it also brings the Christmas markets, the lights and the snow, if you are lucky, and a sense of the city in the season that suits it best.

The markets

Prague's best-known Christmas market fills the Old Town Square, one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. A great Christmas tree, lit up each evening, stands in the middle. Wooden stalls around it sell decorations, crafts, gingerbread and hot food, and the twin Gothic spires of the Týn Church and the painted façades of the merchants' houses rise above them. On one side of the square, the Old Town Hall's astronomical clock, first installed in the early fifteenth century, draws a crowd every hour to watch its procession of apostles.

A second large market fills Wenceslas Square, the long boulevard in the New Town that has been the scene of many great moments in Czech history, from the protests of 1968 to the Velvet Revolution of 1989. There are smaller markets elsewhere, including one in the castle district.

The food is part of the pleasure: grilled sausages, roast ham carved from the spit, potato pancakes, and svařák, mulled wine, served in mugs. Trdelník, the spiral pastry cooked on a spit and sold at many stalls, is a recent arrival to Prague rather than an old Czech tradition, though it is popular all the same.

Czech Christmas

The Czech Christmas has customs of its own. On the evening of 5 December, St Nicholas walks the streets with an angel and a devil, questioning children about their behaviour. Before Christmas, live carp are sold from large tubs of water on street corners. Many families still take one home to swim in the bath until Christmas Eve, when it is fried and eaten with potato salad as the centrepiece of the Christmas Eve dinner. Presents are brought on Christmas Eve, not by Father Christmas but by Ježíšek, the baby Jesus, and are found under the tree after dinner.

The castle and the river

Across the river, reached by the Charles Bridge, the medieval stone bridge lined with Baroque statues, lies the Lesser Town, Malá Strana, a district of Baroque palaces, churches and steep lanes. Above it, Prague Castle, one of the largest castle complexes in the world, encloses palaces, churches, gardens and the great Gothic cathedral of St Vitus. On a winter evening, with the castle lit up above the river and the bridge almost empty, the view is one of the finest in Europe.

December is cold, often around freezing, and it gets dark by about four in the afternoon. That is when the lights and the markets come into their own.

Prague's music is another winter pleasure. Its churches and concert halls hold Advent and Christmas concerts throughout December, often of Czech composers such as Dvořák and Smetana, and the Christmas Mass by the Czech Baroque composer Jakub Jan Ryba is performed in many churches.

The Christmas breaks

Just You's Prague Christmas Market Break, three nights for solo travellers, spends its time in the city: the Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, the Lesser Town and the castle district.

Just You's Christmas in Prague, five nights, also for solo travellers, includes the city along with three places beyond it. Český Krumlov is a small medieval town in a bend of the Vltava, beneath a great castle, and a World Heritage Site. České Budějovice is a brewing town with one of the largest town squares in the country. Kutná Hora was once one of the richest towns in Bohemia, thanks to its silver mines, and has a great Gothic cathedral and a famously macabre chapel decorated with human bones.

Wrap up warmly, wear boots with a good grip on the cobbles, and allow time for a long lunch in a pub. Czech beer and Czech Christmas markets make a very good combination.