Lindo Cafe & Bar on ul. Sławkowska in Kraków's Stare Miasto is the rainbow-lit two-level gay-friendly venue just inside the Planty, with a daytime café upstairs and a basement bar that runs weekend DJ parties and art shows.
Tip: Upstairs opens daytime for coffee and brunch; the cellar bar gets going from 22:00 Thu-Sat. Art exhibitions rotate monthly.
Address: ul. Sławkowska 23, 31-016 Kraków
Pijalnia Wódki i Piwa on ul. Floriańska in Kraków's Stare Miasto is the Soviet-themed shot-and-snack chain branch right off the Rynek, with 5 zł vodkas, 8 zł beers and a herring-and-żurek menu that runs to 04:00 nightly.
Tip: Shots from 5 zł and herring from 13 zł; the booths fill after 23:00. Stand at the counter if you want a quick stop.
Cybermachina on ul. Stolarska in Kraków's Stare Miasto is the late-night gaming pub with PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and Mortal Kombat cabinets in separate rooms, plus board games, table football and a cocktail menu themed to the consoles.
Tip: Entry is free with a drink purchase; Fri-Sat the room thins by 02:00. Reserve the basement Nintendo cabin for groups of four.
Hevre on ul. Meiselsa in Kraków's Kazimierz is the three-floor former Jewish prayer house run by the Alchemia team, with curated music programming by day and weekend DJ nights in the painted-ceiling main hall.
Tip: Daytime is for coffee and the painted murals; the music programme tightens after 21:00 Fri-Sat. Book ahead for a table near the speakers.
Singer on ul. Estery in Kraków's Kazimierz is the candlelit corner bar built around old Singer sewing-machine tables that essentially set the template for the cracked-mirror Kazimierz aesthetic when it opened in the 1990s.
Tip: Daytime is for letters and coffee; the room fills up after 22:00 and runs to 06:00 Fri-Sat. The pavement tables are the summer perch.
Mleczarnia on ul. Meiselsa in Kraków's Kazimierz is the indoor-outdoor old-Jewish-living-room bar with sepia photos, doily lampshades and the leafy seasonal beer garden across the street that runs April to mid-October.
Tip: Beer garden opens April; in winter the wood-panelled inside room is the warmer perch. Cash is preferred at the garden bar.
Eszeweria on ul. Józefa in Kraków's Kazimierz is the dark-academia bar in a former Jewish dwelling, with brass candelabras, murky mirrors, incense-filled rooms and a leafy summer garden that runs to 02:00 daily.
Tip: The back garden is the summer pick; the inside salon is the better winter perch. Few tourists find the door, so the buzz stays local.
Pijalnia Wódki i Piwa on ul. Floriańska in Kraków's Stare Miasto is the Soviet-themed shot-and-snack chain branch right off the Rynek, with 5 zł vodkas, 8 zł beers and a herring-and-żurek menu that runs to 04:00 nightly.
Tip: Shots from 5 zł and herring from 13 zł; the booths fill after 23:00. Stand at the counter if you want a quick stop.
Cybermachina on ul. Stolarska in Kraków's Stare Miasto is the late-night gaming pub with PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and Mortal Kombat cabinets in separate rooms, plus board games, table football and a cocktail menu themed to the consoles.
Tip: Entry is free with a drink purchase; Fri-Sat the room thins by 02:00. Reserve the basement Nintendo cabin for groups of four.