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| Home > City Guide - Cracow - Nightlife | ||
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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 cafés a popular place to begin an evening. Distinctions between cafés, restaurants, bars and clubs tend to blur a bit, especially later in the evening when cosy cellar bars become debaucherous party zones complete with booming dance music and sweaty dancefloors. There are a number of attempts at funky style-bars but as yet no real nightclub worthy of the name. 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. When there is one, the cover charge is around Z5-15. Drinking regulations are quite strange in Poland. The minimum drinking age is 18, for drinks with over 4.5% alcohol content. There is no minimum age for drinks below that level. The average price of a beer is between Z4 and Z6, while sprits can set you back Z20 or more. Bars: 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. Klub Metro, ulica Florianska 24, is one of the new breed of trendy pubs, based loosely around a London underground theme with posing customers, plenty of vodka downed with red bull and a mixed sexuality crowd. An artsy, Bohemian hangout is Nowy Kuzyn, Maly Rynek 4, with its 1970s-style decor, funky furniture and trance sounds. More traditional pubs include Piwnica Pod Baranami, Rynek Glowny 27, with its cheap beer, and Pub Popularny, ulica Grodzka 31, with its rock music and strong beer. Casinos: There is a branch of Casinos Poland in the Hotel Continental at aleja Armii Krajowej 11. The hotels Forum, ulica Marii Konopnickiej 28, and Pod Roza, ulica Florianska 14, also have casinos that are open to the public. The minimum age for entrance is 18 years – passports are required. At very least, a suit and tie or the equivalent is the standard dress code for hotel casinos. Clubs: Cracow’s club scene is yet to really take off and most of the real action is in the student clubs. One very lively new venture is Strefna 22, Rynek Glowny 22. This multi-level nightclub has a couple of busy dancefloors and chill-out rooms with sweeping views of Rynek Glowny. Also on the same square is Kredens, Rynek Glowny 12, a cavernous cellar club, which gets very sweaty, but is also very popular with the local student crowd. A classier club is Pasja, ulica Szewska 5, which caters for a besuited older crowd, although the music can be a bit cheesy. The only gay club is Piekielko, ulica Starowislna 32, which functions as a pub, restaurant and a nightclub with one of the world’s smallest dancefloors. Live music: Jazz is popular in the city and some of the cellar bars make for the perfect environment in which to hear bands. U Muniaka Jazz Club, ulica Florianska 3, runs until midnight Wednesday to Sunday. Podium, ulica Bracka 4, is a decent cellar venue for blues and rock at the weekend. Stalowe Magnolie (Steel Magnolias), ulica Sw Jana 15, is open from 1800 to dawn – jazz ends at midnight and recorded house music begins. The Polish restaurant, Chlopskie Jadlo, ulica Agnieszski 1, is an excellent venue for live performances of folk music. The Klezmer Hois (Klezmer House) restaurant, ulica Szeroka 6 (website: www.klezmer-hois.cracow.pl), offers nightly Klezmer (a combination of traditional Jewish music and 1920s jazz) from one of three bands, as well as other music on occasion. Many of the city’s bars and clubs have live music one night a week. |
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