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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 cafs a popular place to begin an evening. Distinctions between cafs, 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 dancefloors. 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. The average price of a beer in a bar is between ZL5 and ZL8, but wine is more expensive.
Bars: Every week sees the launch of a new caf 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 or www.cracow-life.com 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. 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. Bastylia Bar on Stolarska 3 is a trendy pub with giant screen TV and good vodkas, and they also serve food.
Casinos: There is a branch of Casinos Poland in the Hotel Novotel Bronowice 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. There is also a big casino in Hotel Cracovia on Krasinskiego 34. 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 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: 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. Caryca, ulica Wielopol 15, has smoky, laid-back interiors and smooth sounds, while Buddha Bar & Garden at Rynek Glowny 6 (right on the Grand Square) offers oriental dcor and atmosphere. Frantic (website: www.frantic.pl), also in the Old Town at ulica Szewska 5, attracts a young crowd with its funky dcor: it has two dancefloors and three bars. And Zoom Club, new on the scene for 2005, 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: 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: www.ulouisa.com) is one of the oldest places of its kind in Cracow, and one of the most famous. Indigo, ulica Sw Tomasza 17, is another smoky cellar perfect to listen to jazz music in relaxed surroundings. Stalowe Magnolie (Steel Magnolias), ulica Sw Jana 15, 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: 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. Many of the city’s bars and clubs have live music one night a week. Peweks, ulica Sw Tomasza 11a, is a cult Cracow hangout well worth checking out, while Ludu Dubu, ulica Wielopole 5, is a retro club in an old 19th century townhouse just outside the Old Town. Popular with students, it offers a wide range of music.
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Nightlife