10 brilliant bars in Kraków, from vodka tasting menus to jazz sessions

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Kraków is a university town, which sets the tone for a lively nightlife, further fuelled by the introduction of tourist bar crawls. Don't let that put you off though, this city has plenty of easy-to-find, off-the-radar drinking spots, where you can savour a range of vodkas or the burgeoning craft beer scene. In fact, there are allegedly more bars per capita here than anywhere else in Europe. Don’t miss the jazz bars, which became popular in Poland in the Twenties and Thirties but forbidden by the communists after WWII, as being 'alien to the working class'. Only in 1956 were they allowed again.

Baroque

The range of cocktails here is among the best in the city with classics such as the mojito sitting alongside the Devil Martini (Tanqueray gin, pineapple mousse, cucumber syrup, chilli syrup) and the Baroque Collins (Wyborowa vodka, Seagrams, elderflower syrup, pomegranate, lemon juice, soda). Purists can head for the 100 plus vodka list. Interiors are elegant with plush seating and mirrors mixed with high-end fashion photographs illuminated by chandeliers. In summer, tables spill out onto a private garden. There is a live band from Thursdays to Saturdays and at the weekends the downstairs turns into a dance club.

Contact: 00 48 12 422 0611; baroque.com.pl
Price: ££
Getting in: Reservations essential

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Harris Piano Jazz Bar

An absolute pillar of the jazz scene in Kraków, Harris Piano Jazz Bar has been pulling the crowds in since it arrived in 1997 with its jam sessions. Most days of the week are dedicated to something different from blues and rock ‘n’ roll on Fridays to classic jazz on Sundays and jam sessions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Some of the greats have passed through the doors of this dimly lit cellar under the cobbles of the Main Market Square so sit back, order a beer and enjoy.

Contact: 00 48 12 421 5741; harris.krakow.pl
Price: £
Getting in: Reservations recommended

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Mercy Brown Bar

This twist on a speakeasy bar (the entrance is hidden) is reputed to be the best cocktail bar in town. Once you have found the doorway within the Smakołyki restaurant, you enter into a scene of 'roaring twenties' elegance with velveteen couches, golden drapes, soft candlelight, chandeliers and frilly lampshades accompanied by Electro swing music. The staff make their own tinctures, there is a range of liqueurs and artisanal drinks and cocktails range from Bubblekiwi (Polish vodka, ginger, kiwi and sparkling wine) to Teatime (gin, jasmine tea cordial and elderflower liqueur). There is live jazz on Sundays.

Contact: 00 48 531 706 692; Facebook page
Price: ££
Getting in: Elegant wear recommended; reservations essential.

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Bunkier Café

This café is attached to a Polish contemporary art gallery, Bunkier Sztuki, and it opens out onto a beautiful garden in the leafy Planty, which encircles the Old Town. Beer is its thing and here they serve unpasteurised draught beer and tank beer - fresh, chilled and very tasty. Food is good and simple; salads, burgers, cakes but their coffee is renowned for being one of the best in town. It has a lovely, easy atmosphere; the kind of place you stop at for an evening drink and stay in until closing time at 1am.

Contact: 00 48 12 431 05 85; bunkiercafe.pl
Opening times: Daily, 9am-1am
Price: £
Getting in: Reservations not necessary

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Alchemia

One of Kraków’s most evocative bars: its old photographs, dim candlelight and antique furniture place you straight in the Kazimierz (former Jewish Quarter) of yesteryear. Its cellar plays host to some of the best concerts in town and it is an important constituent in the annual jazz and klezmer festivals. If hunger gets the better of you, pop next door to Alchemia od Kuchnia where service comes with a smile and surrounded by exposed brick walls you can dine off falafel and other street food gems before returning to the musical fray.

Contact: 00 48 12 421 22 00; alchemia.com.pl
Price: £
Getting in: Reservations not necessary

Stara Zajezdnia Kraków by DeSilva

This old tram depot from 1913, right in the centre of Kazimierz, is now a historical monument on the Unesco heritage list with its ‘Prussian wall’ of a rare wooden framework filled in by bricks. It opened in 2012, completely renovated and now houses the city’s biggest beer hall, a microbrewery, a restaurant and a yard. Flat screen televisions stream sporting events. Many of the beers are innovative from light lager with lime blossom honey to pear wheat beer to lager with pressed apple juice. The restaurant serves modern Polish cuisine with an emphasis on fish.

Contact: Ulica Św. Wawrzyńca 12; starazajezdniakrakow.pl
Price: £
Getting in: Reservations not necessary

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Wódka Café Bar

If you want to immerse yourself in the Polish world of vodka, this tiny little bar is the place to do it. They have more than 100 different flavours from chocolate to chilli, earl grey to blackthorn. Order a sampling selection of six on a board and see how you go. It is inevitably popular with tourists who like the vodka shot culture, meaning the cosy two floored interiors can get crowded – but go early and take the tasting menu if you can, or settle down with a long drink concocted by the mixologists behind the bar, and pace yourself.

Contact: 00 48 12 4223214; Facebook page
Price: £
Getting in: Walk-ins welcome

Mercatino

An emporium of culinary delights, Mercatino is a wine bar, café, bistro and shop all rolled into one. Boasting an unrivalled selection of imported goods from Italy and Sicily, it also has wines, jams, meats and cheeses from Hungary and Poland too. Vast colourful murals serve as a backdrop to the hot and cold tapas, pasta, panini, homemade ice cream, coffee from Sicily and the craft beer from Poland. At the back of the shop is a glorious garden, filled with a stream and a footbridge, gazebos and pergolas. It's perfect for an early evening drink.

Contact: 00 48 726 787 011; Facebook page
Price: £
Getting in: Reservations not necessary

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Piec Art Acoustic Jazz Club

This jazz club opened in 1999 and has managed to remain at the forefront of Kraków’s respected jazz scene ever since, attracting some of the biggest players in the world of jazz to their stage. Live concerts take place most nights within the vaulted brick cellars attracting an artsy crowd. The cocktail bar menu encompasses all the classic tipples of the cocktail trade with plenty of Cuba Libre’s for when the Latin jazz hits the stage and other specialities such as the ‘Bartender fantasy’, an intoxicating fusion of malibu and vodka.

Contact: 00 48 12 429 6425; piecart.pl
Opening times: Daily, 7.30am-2am
Getting in: Walk-ins welcome

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Śledż u Fryzera

Those in search of a late night feed could do no better than coming here for the absolute twin pillars of Polish gastronomy, vodka and herring. The pickled herring is served here in as many different ways as the vodka has flavours and one slips down so easily chased by the other. So popular is this group who launched the very first vodka and herring bar with Ambasador Śledzia that they now have three outlets in town, but this one, in beautiful Stolarska Street, wins the culinary praise.

Address: Ulica Stolarska 5, Krakow, Poland
Contact: 00 48 662 5694 60
Opening times: Daily, 12pm-4am; Fri-Sat, 12pm-6am
Price: £
Getting in: Walk-ins welcome