Despite its rich past Krakow (Cracow) is well endowed with modern entertainment. Where once Vladimir Lenin was plotting revolution while sitting in dark seedy cafés you will find now the most trendy restaurants, flashy clubs and hip bars. For drinking, dancing, and clubbing both the Old Town and Kazimierz are natural areas to start your tour of Krakow by night. The Old Town is most popular with tourists as well as students from the nearby Jagellonian University. Kazimiers is the favourite hangout of the local young urban professionals, artists and fashionable crowd attracted by one the best club scenes in Central Europe.

Krakow (Cracow) houses a fantastic selection of pubs and bars, often located in subterranean cellars, which will serve you their finest piwo (beer). Two cellar bars which are relatively free of tourists are Czasem Trzeba Pub and Piec Art. Both bars are very popular with the local student crowd and excellent venues to warm up for a long and wild night. A less academic atmosphere can be found in more upmarket places like Boogie Bar and Cynamon Café where the rich and the beautiful of Krakow tend to go.

 

The number of bars and clubs in Krakow is simply overwhelming and catering for everyone’s tastes and preferences. For the typical Krakowian dungeon experience decent the 500 years old staircase of Faust and enter the magnificent fifteenth century cellars. It is the biggest club on the Market Square (Rynek Główny 6 though entrance is from Sienna street) with over 500 m2 of surface. Variety is the name of the game in Faust. Each room has its own character and distinct atmosphere from a laidback café to a flashy disco. Also the muscial menu can be very different varying from mainstream pop and R&B to edgy drum ‘n bass and hip hop. The beautiful girls spice up the atmosphere but be beware of jealous local guys. Probably Krakow’s most notorious club is Prozak which is always packed with fit local girls flirting and mingling with wealthy foreigners. The house and techno sets in Prozak are often surprisingly original, but the club’s biggest attraction lies not within its music but the vast amount of stunning local ladies. Especially the British staggers invading Krakow every weekend head to Krakow’s meat market number one. Prozak has three dance floors and is located between the Wawel Catsle and the Main Square in the old heart of Krakow (Plac Dominikanski 6). Rewolucja Club on Szewska street 23 is always filled up with frisky students jumping to the beats of pop, R&B and hip hop. One of Krakow’s most pretentious clubs is Art Club Bledne (Bracka street 4) offering an easy going atmosphere and cutting-edge dance music. From Thursday to Sunday you can enjoy many foreign top DJs, special theme nights and a variety of music styles like house, reggae, jungle, jazz, ragga, dancehall and R&B. During day time Art Club Bledne is a tremendous place to chill out in the comfortable sofas.

 

The Little Market (Maly Rynek), just a block away from the Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny) is one of the most picturesque places in Krakow and has also a goof offer of clubs and bars. Uwaga on the Maly Rynek 3 is one of the highlights of Krakow’s alternative music scene. The monthly Gothic nights in Uwaga attract a lot of devoted followers. This also goes for the Electroperversion nights that cater for all kinds of extravagant electro, wave and industrial. More cheerful and cheesy are the New Romantic Nights in Uwaga where many 80’s classics are on the menu. If you are more into (hard) rock be sure not to miss some of Krakow’s numerous dungeon bars like Carpe Diem (Floriańska street 33/entrance at Marka street) and the Tower Pub (Grodzka street 4).

 

Another nightlife institute in Krakow frequented by local posers and gorgeous ladies is Cien Klub. This stylish designed club is down in a basement on Jana street 15. Cien Klub has sophisticated house, techno and interesting DJs on the musical menu but the stunning local babes on the dance floor are the main attraction of this fancy club. The stylish club Frantic on Szewska street 5 offers a similar parade of gorgeous Krakow girls and is ram-packed with locals and tourists from Thursday to Saturday. For cheesy music and an outgoing party scene you can visit Goraczka which is next door to Frantic. Midgard (Szpitalna street 38) is another popular Krakow club with a high number of foreign students and staggers doing their ultimate best to impress the stunning local girls. Also the solid house music, relatively cheap drinks and friendly atmosphere in Midgard contribute to a night of unpretentious pleasure.

 

When you want to avoid the tourist hordes in the main square look and look out for a more sophisticated drinking scene, the Jewish Quarter of Kazimierz is the place to be. Probably the most bohemian venue in Kazimierz is Alchemia on Estery street 5. This ultra-hip place, decorated with old paintings and antique furniture, is popular with artists and art-lovers which go to party in Alchemia after gallery openings. Evenings in Alchemia usually end up by dancing on the tables until the early morning hours illuminated by the light of a huge number of candles around. A more upscale and posh atmosphere can be found in le Scandale on the hip Plac Nowy 9. The cocktail bar of le Scandale has the best selection in town and the outdoor terrace in its art deco garden is one the best places in Krakow to spend the summer evenings.