Prague

Tram 22 climbs to Prague Castle, but the way to arrive is on foot. Cross Charles Bridge between its baroque statues, carry on into Lesser Town and take the Castle Stairs, Zámecké schody, up to the gates, where the guard changes every hour from nine until six, and at noon with a fanfare. Little of the centre was lost to the Second World War or to Communist-era rebuilding, so the walk between the spires and domes is most of the sightseeing. The tram misses it.

Charles Bridge is also where everyone else is. The way round them is to get lost on purpose in the lesser-walked streets, where the old city carries on without an audience, or to go down Pařížská Street from Old Town Square into Josefov, the Jewish Quarter, for the Old-New Synagogue and the Old Jewish Cemetery. Vyšehrad, the older fortified hill to the south, has ramparts above the river and an afternoon quieter than anything the centre offers.

We went between Christmas and New Year. It was cold, and festive in earnest: the Christmas markets run on Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square until Epiphany, and between the two holidays the tour groups come for them, cold or not. May, June, September and early October are mild, and busy without being overwhelming. July and August bring the heat, the queues on Charles Bridge and the year's highest hotel rates. January and February are the coldest and the cheapest, and quiet once the markets have packed up.

We stayed in Old Town, beside the Astronomical Clock, and it was a good choice: the most convenient base for a first visit, and a little busy, for a reason that becomes clear on the hour. The clock dates from 1410. Every hour a skeleton pulls a rope, the apostles appear at two windows, and a crowd gathers underneath to watch. Lesser Town, below the Castle, is quieter and just as dear; New Town, round Wenceslas Square, is quiet and still central. The apostles' last walk is at eleven at night. As the windows close a rooster crows, which, next door to the clock, passes for lights out.