Cracow City Guide - Nightlife

The combination of a large student population and an increasing number of tourist visitors means that the nightlife scene in Cracow has hotted up considerably over the last few years. The epicentre of nightlife is on and around Rynek Glowny, with pavement cafes a popular place to begin an evening. Distinctions between cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs tend to blur a bit, especially later in the evening when cosy cellar bars become party zones complete with booming dance music and sweaty dance floors. Live music tends to be rock or jazz, but there are occasionally more off-beat shows. Bars have tended to close fairly early in the past but more and more are opening until 0200 or even 0400. A cover charge may sometimes apply. The minimum drinking age in Poland is 18, and it is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who appears to be drunk.

Bars: Every week sees the launch of a new cafe or a pub, so keeping up with what's happening in the city can be a bit of a challenge. Check the local press or websites such as www.cracowonline.com, www.cracow-life.com or http://where2b.org/where2b/en/events for the latest hip venues.

One of the best of the cellar pubs is CK Browar, Podwale 6-7, a lively pub with stone walls and lots of nooks and crannies to hide away in. Piwnica Pod Baranami, Rynek Glowny 27, is a Cracow classic pub with cheap beer, but also the venue for traditional cabaret shows every Saturday. Bodega Marqués Vinoteca, ulica Slawkowska 12, is a wine bar with an Iberian ambience, several hundred kinds of wine on offer and great Spanish tapas to boot.

Clubs: Cracow's club scene has improved vastly in recent years, with new clubs opening all the time. Party goers tend to move from one spot to the next as the night goes on. One of the hottest dance clubs at the moment is Club Fusion (website: http://www.clubfusion.pl/) at ulica Florianska 15, although Kredens, Rynek Glowny 12, a cavernous cellar club, has a well established reputation for dance music too. Shisha Club, Maly Rynek 2 (website: http://www.shisha.pl/) is an oriental-style club with a labyrinthine, stylish interior and exotic ambience. Buddha Bar & Garden at Rynek Glowny 6, also offers oriental décor and atmosphere. Frantic (website: http://www.frantic.pl/), also in the Old Town at ulica Szewska 5, attracts a young crowd with its funky décor: it has two dance floors and three bars. And Zoom Club is one of the places to check out at the weekend, with visiting hip house DJs from all over Poland. Kitsch, ulica Wielopole 15 (website: http://www.kitsch.pl/) meanwhile, is the best gay friendly spot in town.

Live Music: Jazz is popular in the city and some of the cellar bars make for the perfect environment in which to hear bands. Klub U Louisa, 13 Rynek Glowny on the main square (website: http://www.ulouisa.com/) is one of the oldest places of its kind in Cracow, and one of the most famous. Today it is both jazz club and Internet cafe. Indigo, ulica Florianska 26, is another smoky cellar perfect to listen to jazz music in relaxed surroundings. Stalowe Magnolie (Steel Magnolias), ulica sw Jana 15, an expensive venue, is open from 1800 to dawn - jazz ends at midnight and recorded house music begins. The Klezmer Hois (Klezmer House) restaurant, ulica Szeroka 6 (website: http://www.klezmer-hois.cracow.pl/), in Kazimierz, offers nightly Klezmer (a combination of traditional Jewish music and 1920s jazz) from one of three bands, as well as other music on occasion. Boogie Café Bar, ulica Szpitalna 9 (website: http://www.boogiecafe.pl/) is a slick, stylish bar with a cosmopolitan feel and regular jazz concerts. Many of the city's bars and clubs have live music one night a week.