Hard Rock Cafe Gdańsk on Długi Targ is the two-storey rock memorabilia bar between the Green Gate and the Neptune Fountain, with a 100-cover outdoor patio and a small stage that books tribute and cover acts most weekends.
Tip: Live music nights tend to run Friday and Saturday from 21:00; the upstairs balcony is the calmer table when downstairs fills. Reserve via Facebook.
Address: ul. Długi Targ 35/38, 80-830 Gdańsk
Flisak '76 in Gdańsk's Main Town is the subterranean cocktail bar on ul. Chlebnicka run by the third generation of the Rathnau family since 1976, with the current Greatest Show vintage-circus concept and presentations in perfume bottles and tiny cannons.
Tip: Walk down the stairs at Chlebnicka 9/10, no sign at the door. Cocktails 38-55 PLN; the Clown with gin, strawberry and shiso is the order.
Craft Cocktails on ul. Szeroka in Gdańsk's Main Town is the dim-lit chandelier-and-leather speakeasy of bartender Krzysztof Rathnau, with 280-plus spirits, filtered iced water at every seat and a Bar of the Year programme.
Tip: Book the back banquette for two; the menu rotates seasonally. House Old Fashioned is the move on a quiet weekday before 22:00.
SASSY Rooftop in Gdańsk's Granary Island is the eighth-floor cocktail bar and club above the Nikka Asian restaurant on ul. Chmielna, with a glass-walled terrace looking across the Motława to the Main Town skyline.
Tip: Reserve a terrace table on besassy.pl for sunset; the floor opens 22:00 Friday and Saturday. Cocktails 38-58 PLN.
INK Above in Gdańsk's Granary Island is the top-floor cocktail bar of the Puro hotel on ul. Stągiewna, with the rooftop terrace looking straight at the Crane and the Mariacka spire across the Motława.
Tip: Bar opens 17:00 daily; the corner seats facing the Crane book first. Author cocktails 38-52 PLN, non-alcoholic 25-32 PLN.
High 5 in Gdańsk's Targ Rybny is the fifth-floor open-air terrace of the Hilton, the rooftop pool bar that looks over the Motława, the Crane and the AmberSky Ferris Wheel from one of the city's only true rooftops.
Tip: Lift to floor 5 from the Hilton lobby; the western edge catches sunset over the Old Town. Cocktails 39-69 PLN, oysters by the half-dozen.
Flisak '76 in Gdańsk's Main Town is the subterranean cocktail bar on ul. Chlebnicka run by the third generation of the Rathnau family since 1976, with the current Greatest Show vintage-circus concept and presentations in perfume bottles and tiny cannons.
Tip: Walk down the stairs at Chlebnicka 9/10, no sign at the door. Cocktails 38-55 PLN; the Clown with gin, strawberry and shiso is the order.
Craft Cocktails on ul. Szeroka in Gdańsk's Main Town is the dim-lit chandelier-and-leather speakeasy of bartender Krzysztof Rathnau, with 280-plus spirits, filtered iced water at every seat and a Bar of the Year programme.
Tip: Book the back banquette for two; the menu rotates seasonally. House Old Fashioned is the move on a quiet weekday before 22:00.
Café Absinthe relocated to ul. Korzenna in Gdańsk's Old Town in 2024, the cult absinthe bar with more than ten varieties on the back wall, a Wednesday jazz jam and weekend DJ parties that famously run past dawn.
Tip: Door from 18:00 Wednesday to Saturday; the dance floor opens around 22:00. Absinthe pours 18-28 PLN, cocktails 30-45 PLN.