Must the cycle route at Můstek give way to Christmas markets every year?

And this is far from being only about cycling. In such a heavily used location, where five very busy pedestrian routes intersect along with several metro exits, the public space should primarily serve as a passable, clear, and non-commercial square. Instead, every year it is filled with stalls—and the effect is always the same: confusion, chaos, and worse conditions for people passing through on foot or by bike.

A backbone route used daily by hundreds of people

The section between 28. října Street and Wenceslas Square has long been among the most heavily used cycling routes in the city center. According to figures from the city administration, around 1,000 people cycle through here daily during the season, and about 500 outside the season.

And it’s no surprise. It is one of the few places where it is easy and relatively safe to get from the southern part of the center to the north—without having to venture onto the uncomfortable Smetana Embankment or take complicated detours.

However, this very route is filled with stalls in the Můstek area every year. Riding through it by bike becomes very difficult even with maximum caution. The path between groups of tourists is winding, traffic flows cross from all sides, and people are often squeezed into the narrow space between the stalls.

The problematic nature of movement through this area, and the possibility of making alternative routes was already discussed back in 2017 during the controversy over the temporary closure of pedestrian zones in the city center.

Do markets in this location even make sense?

The area at Můstek is not some “leftover” empty part of a square. It is one of Prague’s transport hubs—a junction connecting Wenceslas Square, Na Můstku, Jungmannova Street, Národní Street, and 28. října Street. Tens of thousands of people pass through here every day. This is precisely the place where open space, clarity, and the ability to take a breath in the middle of an otherwise overcrowded city center are most needed.

In short, not every larger open space has to be “squeezed dry” by commercial stalls. It would be enough to keep the intersection itself open, and most of the market could still operate across the rest of Wenceslas Square.

Not every open space has to be drained by commerce

This is not in opposition to markets. Markets are at home in Prague; they belong to Advent and spring. They just don’t have to be placed in the middle of a transport hub and a through-route that, for example from the perspective of cycling, has no alternative. After all, would we allow stalls to be set up in a busy intersection used by car traffic?

And it’s not a problem of just “a few” weekends—the markets occupy the space for several weeks, often even after Christmas. Meanwhile, other places show that it can be done differently. At the Rudolfinum last year, it was successfully negotiated that the markets would leave the cycling route empty.

“Let them go another way”? The alternatives don’t work

A potential detour via Rytířská Street or Jindřišská/Vodičkova has its limits. Rytířská is technically passable, but the connection toward Národní doesn’t work because of the missing contraflow bike lane on Martinská Street. Prague 1 refuses to establish it, even though it already functioned for several weeks in the past. Likewise, a contraflow bike lane is missing on Perlová Street, which was also proposed years ago as a possible corridor for creating alternatives to passing through Zlatý kříž.

Vodičkova/Jindřišská are logical backbone connections, but the rough paving in Vodičkova has already become something of a Prague “legend.” Riding through here is very uncomfortable even for an experienced cyclist. More intensive use of these streets by bicycles is also, understandably, not welcomed by the public transport authority.

In reality, neither option is a true alternative. Some steps have been taken: in recent years, new contraflow bike lanes were created in Jungmannova and Celetná streets. But to truly complete the detour options, contraflow bike lanes in Martinská or Perlová are still missing.

What should be done?

No one is calling for the abolition of the markets. They just shouldn’t be located where the most important routes of the entire city center intersect. Wenceslas Square has plenty of space. Shifting the stalls a few dozen meters further away would not harm Prague—on the contrary, it would significantly improve comfort for pedestrians and for people who move around the center by bike.

So it is fair to ask: Must the cycle route and the natural pedestrian corridor give way to stalls every year? Does the city really have to squeeze commercial use out of every free spot in the center?

And if we answer that this is indeed how it should be, then why not actually complete the detour options and, on the tenth anniversary of the pedestrian-zone controversy, finally add contraflow bike lanes on Perlová or Martinská streets?