Magical Christmas Markets

A great European tradition, the Christmas market brings the flavor of an old-fashioned country fair into the heart of the modern city, offering the best street food, local crafts, Yuletide decorations and, for kids, clowns and rides. In Prague's Old Town Square, check out the dried-flower decorations and hand-embroidered tablecloths as you build up your appetite for lzensk oplatky (huge wafer-thin cookies with a sugary filling), washed down with punch and mead. The market in Brussels stretches from the 17th century Grand Place to Place Sainte-Catherine with its open-air ice rink; the highlight is the Mange d'Andra, a surrealist carousel with...