Prague at Christmas
When planning the many dream vacations you want to take while studying abroad, Prague might not cross your mind. Maybe it's because you don’t know much about it, don’t know where it is or have honestly never heard about it from past study abroad students. Personally, I only decided to make the trip to visit my best friend from home who happened to be studying abroad at the same time as me. I didn’t really know what to expect, and I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised.
Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic and located almost in the center of the country. It is famous for the Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and world-renowned Christmas markets. Running from the end of November to early January, Prague's Christmas markets show off a proud selection of handcrafted gifts, drinks, delicious food and more.
While many European countries have quaint Christmas markets selling elaborate cookies, spices and handcrafted ornaments, the Christmas markets in Prague stand out. They are a yearly tradition and are very important to Prague culture. The largest and most popular Christmas markets take place in Old Town Square, marked by a large Christmas tree that is picked from a different region of Czech Republic each year.
The Christmas markets are one of the best places to do your gift shopping. You’ll find hand-crafted ornaments, candles and candle holders, wool knit gloves and hats, and more Christmas decorations/gifts. If you’re not there to shop, you can certainly eat your way through. The food is arguably the best part, with different opportunities everywhere you look. There are corndogs (with half cheese, half hot dog), bratwurst, hot wine, chocolate covered waffles on a stick, spiced potatoes and the famous chimney cake. This delicious dessert is a chimney-shaped pastry that’s filled with ice cream and topped with fudge, nuts or whatever your heart desires!
If you find yourself missing the Christmas markets, there are always the Easter Markets. Although not as famous, they are still just as impressive as the Christmas markets. There are more than 90 stands filled with laces, decorated Easter eggs, wooden toys, puppets and Easter decorations — not to mention the food! Meat skewers, sausages, cheese and traditional Czech Easter delicacies are easy to find while wandering around the markets.
All said and done, you just can’t go wrong. Prague is a beautiful city with amazing history and stunning architecture. While experiencing their amazing Christmas markets should be a life goal, just getting a chance to visit at all would be an incredible new experience that everyone should have.