Krakow Nightlife
Information and Tips About Krakow Nightlife, Krakow Parties, and How to Have Fun at Night in Krakow
| This section serves to provide information for anyone visiting Krakow who is interested in going out at night and experiencing the other side of Poland's cultural capital. Information here is intended to be accurate but with no guarantee. If you find something here that you disagree with or is outdated please let us know. Sections The new tourist Krakow Nightlife districts Door policies and admittance What to drink in Krakow Hazards to avoid Stags vs. Students or the Two Seasons The first thing that may strike any visitor to Krakow, especially our loud friends from the UK, is that they are not alone. Krakow was "discovered" around 2004. Since then tourism, and all of the positive and negative effects that come with it, has changed the landscape of the city. The same applies to Krakow's nightlife. The night replaces families taking photos by the Mariacki Church, guides struggling to talk over the murmur of a school group on a Krakow tour, and couples enjoying walks through the square with loud drunken people, more often than not, tourists (yes we know that does not apply to you but that is the thing about being calm and polite, you are just not as noticeable as your loud and obnoxious compatriots). We don't know how exactly the world (and stags to be precise) picked up on Krakow. Prague perhaps ran out of patience. Cheap flights were definitely a main factor. But then there was the original complacency of Krakow's residents and the excitement of economic development. Poles are in many people's opinion very hospitable and very friendly and this definitely didn't slow down the invasion. Students, as the story goes, once ruled the night. They had the run of things; going where they pleased, not paying any entrance fees, and drinking beer that cost next to nothing. But all that has now changed. Polish students might still hold a majority during the academic year (October-June) but tourists have them outnumbered hands down for the summer months. Why? Where do all the students go? There are by some estimations nearly 300,000 people studying in Krakow with a permanent populations of about 700,000 people. Many of the 300,000 thousand are not Krakow resident's and therefor return to their respective city during the summer and often many weekends as well. This fact lends to parties often being larger on Thursdays than on Fridays during the semester. This means that if you happen to visit between June and September you will find mostly other tourists at parties and clubs. If you want to experience a little more of what Krakow nightlife was back in 2003 and party with more Poles than tourists try to visit during the school semester from October to June. Of course a lot of it depends on where you go. If you are here on one of those infamous stags prepare for considerably less hospitable treatment than you may have been awarded with by your mate getting married 5 years ago. See, he should have listened to his mother. The Two Districts or Did You Know Krakow has More Than the Market Square? Some people come to Krakow and find out after leaving how little they saw of it. There are two main areas of nightlife in Krakow. That being said, if you visit them both you still have only seen about 2% of the city. True though however that 90% of nightlife goes down in this 2%. The Market Square (Rynek Głowny) is the more popular of the two. The Market Square is the big open area at the center of the old town. All around the square and down every street one can find a plethora of places serving including restaurants, bars, cafes, and clubs. What once may have been a quite street during the day with business types sipping their espressos heaves at night with the pulsations of base drum vibrations transmitting from cellars below the earth. The majority of (dance) clubs are located in renovated cellars due to the price of property above ground and noise regulations. The large majority of (dance) clubs are right near the market square. Now, for a slightly more refined, more mature nightlife experience, Kazimierz, the old Jewish district is hard to beat. Over the past ten or so years the area has really been transformed from a dilapidated mess to a unique part trendy part eclectic cafe/bar scene. This area is great for some drinks with friends or some pre-game before hitting the clubs in the square. Kazimierz is only about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the market square (add 1 minute on to that for each drink). So head to the market square for clubs, a younger crowd, and more blatantly drunk people or to Kazimierz for an older, cooler bar and cafe scene. Entrance Policies and Fees or Club Cards Only What the person at the door (the selection) says: "Club cards only." What it means: "I see you are a nice, respectable person who has not had too much to drink but there is about 600 people downstairs and capacity is limited to 500, there is 60% men downstairs already and you came with 6 other men and no women, those white (currently a shade of gray) Nike running shoes don't pass muster here, and your fellow compatriots have made too many bad impressions in the past for me to let you in tonight. My deepest apologies." Why did this happens and what can do in such a situation? If this has happened to you it may already be too late for that particular place. You could attempt to get in by making some puppy dog eyes and asking why (DLA-TCHE-GO, 5% chance) then go on to explain how much money you will spend (-50% chance) followed by waiting patiently avoiding any alcohol induced wobbles for about 10 minutes combined with the puppy dog eyes (20% chacne) next trying to slip in with some other guests (20% chance), and end by trying to "tip" your way in (-50% to 10% chance). Altogether your odds are not great. Better yet try the following tips to increase your chances of getting in to those more hard to get in places. Keep in mind that most of these apply to the boys as girls more often than not will just need to show up. 1. Dress nice. Don't wear any sports clothes or sports shoes. Sport styled shoes are often fine as long as sports could not actually be played well in them. Hats are normally OK but better without. 2. Arrive early. Parties normally get going around 11 pm so early means before 10:30. It is best this way anyway as you will have a chance to find a table. 3. Arrive sober. 4. Don't argue or question the entrance fee. The majority of places that require an entrance fee do so regardless of whether you are from Krakow or not. If you see people getting for free they are likely regular guests so best just not to question it. 5. Don't arrive in large groups, especially large groups of men. Try to keep your groups sizes below 5 persons with mixed sexes. If you are all men try your best to meet some girls during the day who are keen to go out with you. If your group is large and only men because it is a stag best not even bothering to try and instead get a group like Mad Krakow to set you up. Average charges for entrance to a club are between 5 and 20 PLN. You can quadruple that for a strip club which is also known as a night club. How to Drink Like a Pole or How to Breath Fire So now that you have made it in to the club it is time to hit the bar. Well not exactly, not if you want to drink like a Krakowian at least. For some reason the locals often refuse to drink in a place where there is not a large crowd. OK, understandable, they want a happening place, fine. The catch 22 is that they are simultaneously unlikely to stay any place that does not have a comfortable place for their group of 10 to sit. But you are not from Krakow so you have no problem standing by the bar and trying to mingle (remember locals will not be hanging out by the bar so guess who you will have to mingle with). Next point of business, what's on tap right? Polish beer has been met with mixed reviews. We will let you come to your own conclusions about the taste, body, aroma, head, etc. but we will make the point about the large amounts of alcohol in it. Most of the popular brands in Krakow including Żyweic, Tyskie, and Lech register around 6% alcohol. The affects of this with the standard half liter pour can be observed stumbling and making a mess of the street practically 7 nights a week. Some will be shocked to find the poles like to do um, interesting things to their beer like drink it out of a straw (claimed to give you a better buzz) and put syrups in it like raspberry or ginger. Girls seem to be the biggest offenders. Beer has become increasingly popular over the past decade or so but while in Krakow it is best to have a true Polish experience and this means setting down your beer and picking up the shot glass. Although the jury may be out on the quality of Polish beer everyone agrees that Poland knows how to do vodka, possibly better than anyone else in the world. Clear vodka chilled in a 4 or 5 cL glass with a juice or soda chaser is the obvious choice. There are also many specialty vodkas that should not be missed including Wiśniówka (cherry vodka), Zoładkowa (bitter mountain herb vodka), Żubrówka (native Polish Buffalo grass vodka), and Krupnik (honey vodka) to name a few. But if you really want to drink like the young Krakowians you will need to leave the club or bar altogether and go to the nearest 24/7 and pick up a bottle of vodka and a 2 liter of fake orange juice and hit up the Planty (the green area encircling the center) or the river. What Not to Do or A Night Getting to Know Krakow's Police Increasing fun and good times usually goes hand in hand with decreasing the bad times. Here a a few tips on how to minimize the bad times. 1. Drugs are frighteningly illegal. Don't do them and don't try get them in Poland. 2. Drinking on the street (in public) is illegal. Although sometimes you may get away with a warning, better not tempt fate and drink your vodka in your hotel. 3. Don't drink too much and put yourself in a stupid position by trying to walk back to your hotel only to end up in Nova Huta at 4 in the morning. |
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