Christmas Markets: Prague, Dresden, Wroclaw and Krakow

1. Day 1: Arrive in Prague

   Prague Airport (PRG) to your hotel in the Old Town

   • Dinner
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Vaclav Havel Airport Prague (PRG), about 20 km west of the centre, and a driver meets you in arrivals for the transfer to your hotel near the Old Town. Plan to land by about 3 pm so you have time to settle in before the evening. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing: how the week runs, what to wear for the cold, and how the markets work, from mug deposits to which stalls cook to order. Then we walk together into Old Town Square, where the Christmas tree stands in front of the Tyn Church and the market stalls fill the square under the Old Town Hall tower. A first mulled wine is on us. Dinner is a welcome meal at a Czech restaurant nearby, with roast pork, dumplings and sauerkraut. On the walk back, Charles Bridge is a few minutes away and quiet at this hour.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Vaclav Havel Airport Prague (PRG)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Evening walk to the Old Town Square Christmas market, with a mulled wine
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Prague Castle at opening, then a concert

   Prague Castle, Mala Strana and Charles Bridge

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 2 details

   We are at the gates of Prague Castle when the circuit opens, around 9 am in winter, before the coach groups arrive. With a local licensed guide we walk through St Vitus Cathedral, with its stained glass and the tomb of St Wenceslas, the Old Royal Palace and its vaulted Vladislav Hall, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane. The small Christmas market in the castle courtyards is a quieter place for a hot drink. We walk down through Mala Strana, the Lesser Town, to a sit-down lunch, then cross Charles Bridge in daylight, past the Baroque statues and the view up to the castle. The afternoon is free: rest, shop, or go back to the markets at Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. In the evening we go to an included classical concert in one of Prague's concert halls or churches; the venue and programme are confirmed with your final itinerary.

   Included

   • Prague Castle circuit with a local guide: St Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St George's Basilica and Golden Lane
   • Walk through Mala Strana and across Charles Bridge
   • Sit-down lunch in Mala Strana
   • Classical concert in the evening

   Easier option: Take the tram up to the castle and down again instead of walking the hill.

   More active option: Climb the Great South Tower of St Vitus Cathedral (about 287 steps, ticket on the day) for the view over the roofs.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: The longest walking day: up to about 8 km with the climb to the castle, on cobbles and stone stairs.

   

3. Day 3: The Old Town, Josefov and the markets

   Old Town, the Jewish Quarter and Wenceslas Square

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Prague
   Day 3 details

   A later start. We meet the Old Town Hall's Astronomical Clock for its hourly show, then walk the lanes of the Old Town with a local guide, from the Powder Tower and the Municipal House to the Carolinum. Next is Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter, where the Old-New Synagogue has stood since the 13th century and the Old Jewish Cemetery packs centuries of headstones into a small walled plot; the Jewish Museum sites close on Saturdays and Jewish holidays, so we schedule around them. We finish at Wenceslas Square, scene of the 1989 Velvet Revolution, where the second big market runs down the boulevard. Lunch is yours: the market stalls sell trdelnik, grilled sausages and potato pancakes. The rest of the day is free. In the early evening your guide can take anyone who wants to Prague's Petrin hill or a beer hall, or you can return to the Old Town Square market for the tree lights.

   Included

   • Old Town walk with a local guide, including the Astronomical Clock
   • Josefov: the Old-New Synagogue and the Old Jewish Cemetery (Jewish Museum ticket)
   • The Wenceslas Square Christmas market

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot, mostly flat.

4. Day 4: Along the Elbe to Dresden

   Prague to Dresden

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Dresden
   Day 4 details

   We leave Prague at about 9:30 am and drive north about two hours, following the Elbe valley through the sandstone hills of Bohemian and Saxon Switzerland into Germany. Dresden was the capital of the Saxon electors and kings, and its Baroque centre, destroyed in February 1945, has been rebuilt over decades. We check in near the Altmarkt and sit down to lunch, then walk with a local guide along the Bruhl Terrace above the river, past the Semperoper and the Hofkirche to the Frauenkirche, the domed church rebuilt from its rubble and reconsecrated in 2005. As it gets dark we go to the Striezelmarkt on the Altmarkt, one of Germany's oldest Christmas markets, first recorded in 1434, with its tall Christmas pyramid and stalls of Erzgebirge wood carvings. Taste Dresden Stollen, the fruit bread the market is named after. Dinner is yours.

   Included

   • Drive from Prague to Dresden with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Dresden
   • Old Town walk with a local guide: the Bruhl Terrace, the Semperoper, the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche
   • The Striezelmarkt at dusk, with a mulled wine and a slice of Stollen

   Free time: Evening free

   

5. Day 5: Dresden: the Green Vault and the Zwinger

   A day in Dresden

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Dresden
   Day 5 details

   This morning we use a timed ticket for the Historic Green Vault in the Residenzschloss, the treasure chamber of Augustus the Strong, where gold, ivory, amber and jewels are shown in mirrored Baroque rooms as he arranged them in the 1720s. Timed entry keeps the rooms calm. From the palace it is a short walk to the Zwinger, the Baroque pavilions and courtyard built for court festivals, where you can step into the Old Masters Picture Gallery to see Raphael's Sistine Madonna. The afternoon is free. Dresden has several other markets in December: the medieval market in the Stallhof, the Augustusmarkt on the Hauptstrasse across the river, and smaller ones in Neustadt. Your guide will point you to the ones that are open. In the evening go back to the Striezelmarkt, or cross the Augustus Bridge for the view of the lit old town over the Elbe.

   Included

   • Historic Green Vault on a timed ticket
   • The Zwinger and the Old Masters Picture Gallery

   Optional experiences

   • Half-day trip to Meissen, about 25 km down the Elbe, for the porcelain manufactory and its own Christmas market (arranged on request)

   Easier option: Skip the gallery and spend the late morning in a cafe on the Neumarkt.

   More active option: Climb the Frauenkirche dome (ticket on the day) for the view over the rooftops and the market.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot, mostly indoors.

6. Day 6: Into Poland: Wroclaw

   Dresden to Wroclaw on the A4

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Wroclaw
   Day 6 details

   We leave Dresden at about 9 am and drive east about three hours on the A4 motorway, across the Neisse into Poland and through Lower Silesia, with a coffee stop on the way. Wroclaw sits on the Oder, spread over a dozen islands and more than a hundred bridges. After a sit-down lunch near the Rynek, a local guide walks us around the market square, one of the largest in Poland, with its Gothic town hall and rows of painted merchant houses. The Christmas market fills the Rynek and the streets around it, and you will start to spot the city's small bronze dwarfs, now several hundred of them, tucked by doorways and lamp posts. At dusk we cross to Ostrow Tumski, the cathedral island, where the gas street lamps are lit by hand, and walk back over the Tumski Bridge. The evening is yours at the market.

   Included

   • Drive from Dresden to Wroclaw with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Wroclaw
   • Walk with a local guide: the Rynek, the town hall and the Christmas market, with a mulled wine
   • Ostrow Tumski and the cathedral island at dusk

   Free time: Evening free

   

7. Day 7: The Raclawice Panorama, then Krakow

   Wroclaw to Krakow on the A4

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Krakow
   Day 7 details

   We start at the Raclawice Panorama, a circular painting about 114 m long that wraps around the viewer, showing the 1794 battle in which Kosciuszko's peasant army beat the Russian forces. Entry is in timed sessions, so we take the first one we can book. At about 10:30 am we drive east about three hours on the A4 to Krakow, with a sit-down lunch on arrival. In the afternoon a local guide walks us from the Barbican and St Florian's Gate down Florianska Street to Rynek Glowny, the medieval market square, where the Christmas market stands between the Cloth Hall and St Mary's Basilica. Inside the basilica we see Veit Stoss's carved wooden altarpiece, finished in 1489. On the hour, listen for the trumpet call from the tower that breaks off mid-tune. In December Krakow's szopki, the tall, glittering nativity cribs, are on show near the square. We finish with a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Raclawice Panorama in Wroclaw
   • Drive from Wroclaw to Krakow with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Krakow
   • Old Town walk with a local guide: the Barbican, Florianska Street, the Cloth Hall and the Christmas market, with a mulled wine
   • St Mary's Basilica and the Veit Stoss altarpiece
   • Farewell dinner

   Free time: After dinner free at the market

8. Day 8: Wawel, Kazimierz and home

   Wawel Hill and Kazimierz, then Krakow Airport (KRK)

   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   We walk up Wawel Hill for the first entry we can book, before the queues, for Wawel Cathedral, where Polish kings were crowned and are buried, and the Sigismund Chapel with its gilded dome. From the castle walls there is a view down to the Vistula. From Wawel it is a short walk to Kazimierz, for centuries the Jewish town of Krakow, now a district of cafes and small galleries around Szeroka Street, where the Old Synagogue and the Remuh Synagogue and cemetery still stand. Your guide shows you where to find zapiekanka, the open baguette Krakow eats at any hour, or a bowl of zurek soup. Lunch is yours. In the early afternoon we drive you to Krakow John Paul II International Airport (KRK), about 15 km west of the centre. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm, or stay on; your guide sees you to the airport.

   Included

   • Wawel Cathedral and the Sigismund Chapel, first entry we can book
   • Kazimierz walk with your guide: Szeroka Street and the synagogues
   • Drop-off at Krakow John Paul II International Airport (KRK)

   Easier option: If your flight is before about 4 pm, we go from Wawel straight to the airport.

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm to see Wawel and Kazimierz.

Wildlife and weather: December days are short and cold, so we sightsee in the daylight and keep the markets for after dark, when they are lit and at their best. Snow is possible; drive times can stretch in bad weather.

• Prague3 nights
• Dresden2 nights
• Wroclaw1 night
• Krakow1 night