We arrived in Prague on November 26th after a long overnight flight from Boston (via Munich). This would be our eighth Christmas Market trip since 2013. We visited Prague back in the Spring of 2019 at the end of a Viking Elbe River cruise and loved this beautiful, old European city. At that time, we thought it might be a good Christmas Market destination. Early this past Fall we decided to do another Christmas Market trip, and after some Internet research, we saw that Prague had high Christmas Market ratings, so the choice was made!
We arrived at out hotel mid-afternoon on Nov 26th, the opening day for the Old Town Square Christmas Market. Our hotel, the Ventana, was perfectly located near the Old Town Square and from our room we could see the square and the famous clock tower. Resting for a bit, we ventured out to the square to watch the lighting of the Christmas Tree at 4:30pm.
Wow, the crowd was huge, it was difficult trying to move around or get a decent spot to view the tree lighting. We attempted to walk around the Christmas Market but it was near impossible to get close to any vendor stalls for food, drink or crafts. We decided to find a proper restaurant for dinner and after checking out many crowded restaurants, we settled for one away from the square but not far from our hotel. All the restaurants were crowded, especially ones with large screen TV’s, you see, the World Cup was going on and we were in a soccer loving country!
The next days and nights the Christmas Markets would be crowded, but much easier to get around. At night the lights created such a magical experience. Christmas Markets at night are the best!
Stay tuned for more blogs on our Prague trip:
- Visit to Prague Castle
- Checking out other Christmas Markets around the city
- Christmas Market foods
- Tour some of the beautiful Prague Churches
Here are some images from the Old Town Square Christmas Market.
Ventana Hotel, our home for 6 days.
Old Town Square tree lighting and opening day crowds
Night time is magical at Christmas Markets
Please checkout our video of the Old Town Square Christmas Market.
Recommended Websites
Prague Experience: Prague city guide and online booking service. https://www.pragueexperience.com/
Ventana Hotel https://www.ventana-hotel.net/
Official Prague Tourism Website https://www.prague.eu/en