There is a whole load of entertainment to do in Krakow whether you are a Hen, Stag, Sport group or a group of friends visiting. The first plan of action is to organise a pub crawl, it’s better to use the many services from companies that run Krakow pub crawls to experience the top and trendy hotspots Krakow has to offer. The beer and vodka is fantastic with local breweries supplying pubs and clubs along with mainstream choices. The city has two main areas for evening and late night entertainment, Old Town and Kazimierz. If you are there for at least 2 nights then it is best to dedicate an evening to each zone. The weekend nightlife is full on action, especially with over 30,000 students residing there, very cosmopolitan. You have a choice of a 1,000 different venues offering craft beer, karaoke, live music, live sport transmissions, international DJs, international cuisine and much more as you will discover. Plan an evening of full on entertainment in buzzing Krakow and its nightlife and joining or organising a pub crawl is the smart choice even if it is only for the first night.
Start the evening off with a restaurant visit, a slap up meal will keep you going throughout the night and there is plenty of menus to choose from, traditional Polish to Italian, Indian, Chinese plus other Slavic style cuisine like Georgian and Armenian restaurants with delicious regional recipes. Dedicated event companies provide extra activities such as a strip show or vodka tasting. They can also organise axe-throwing and crazy indoor golf during the pub crawl. If in the tradition of Stag Parties a visit to a strip club can be arranged, always get it organised with an event company, venturing into one on a whim could be costly and embarrassing, the scams like in any popular city are waiting for you. The pub scene in Krakow is unique, as no two pubs in Krakow are the same either in theme, décor or opening and closing times. There are no official closing times, if there are people then they stay open but only if you are drinking. Feel the atmosphere of pubs that become clubs late into the night, choose from cellar bars, cocktail bars, beer gardens and even upper floor bars along with ruin bars which is a trend in Europe of purposely dilapidated furniture and architecture with some of it being original not designed.
Yes, most pubs offering the locally brewed products will give you a taster for you to swill, odour and gargle before ordering your choice. The brewing of beer is a big market in Krakow and for the beer connoisseur it is a paradise. Instead of necking a jar everywhere you go, search out the gems available and enjoy some rather unusual concoctions rather than mainstream cheapies. Some expressions to learn are, for stout (Guinness type) ask for ciemmno which means dark in English, lager is lager wherever you go in the world but ordering a bitter can be tricky as the Polish word for it is czerwony (literally red in English), so say red beer please.
A popular activity to factor in is the Party Bus, take a tour of this enchanting city aboard the mobile club with bars, music and lights and for that daring adventure make use of the dancing poles for the pole dancers extraordinaire. Also, in the same vein Krakow has stretched Hummers and limos for a city cruise pre-dance club entry. The club scene attracts tremendous amounts of clubbers over the weekend and appearances from international DJs enhances your night out. Most clubs run drinks promotions, offer VIP sectors and the event companies should you organise club entry with them will get you in without waiting in the queue as the trendiest clubs always have a queue to get in with drinks and VIP area pre-booked for you. One spectacular event that is an all-male attraction usually, is the Oil Wrestling & Beer Tasting that is great fun for all the group, scantily clad fighter girls who, apparently, invite a lucky person in with them at some point, froth on the beer atmosphere.
Poland’s national drink is vodka, a wide range of flavours await your tastebuds, to explore the culture of vodka add in a vodka tasting activity with various vodkas and accompanied with drinking snacks. Vodka is widely accepted to be clear or colourless but in Krakow you can find some excellent vodkas with added ingredients like cherry, hazelnut and plum to name but a few, and it is delicious. The ultimate taster is vodka with gold leaf in the bottle and even diamonds if you can find it. The vodka production goes back centuries and originally it was produced as a medicine in the days of yore but today it is a very fashionable beverage.
The Old Town has the main square, Rynek, as its most recognisable feature, surrounded by pubs, clubs, restaurants including late night fast food options and further entertainment venues. The streets leading off the square are also full of venues offering all kinds of in-house entertainment as well. The Jewish Quarter known as Kazimierz mirrors the Old Town in entertainment and venues and is an extremely popular place for night time activities, since it is close to the Vistula River you will find the large house boats moored up with pubs, clubs and restaurants available to pass a few pleasant hours aboard. As mentioned in these two compact areas within walking distance of each other boasts of around 1,000 venues and that is why it is best to create a night out for each zone to make sure you get all the entertainment, fun, quality and experience the hospitality of this historic and magical city.
