Bars and clubs in Warsaw and best district to stay

Hi,

I am coming to Warsaw on th advise 22nd February with a couple of friends.
We have provisionally booked the Praski Hotel whose address is :
61, Solidarnosci Avenue
03-402 Warsaw

We not sure of the best district to stay and having looked at a few sites are no closer to knowing whether to stick with this hotel or find another.

We basically want to be pretty central where everything is going on.
We like to party so somewhere which is fairly close to good bars/clubs or is it quite spread out in Warsaw and we would be having to catch taxi's about anyway?

Somewhere not too far from the airport as our flight leaves early on Sunday (or maybe it's a good thing if it's far away and we miss it! lol)

Could someone also recommend some bars/clubs please. Prefer somewhere not too pretentious. That Cinnamon sounds good but a bit out of our league prehaps and somewhere a bit more down to earth with friendly people and nice girls would be more up our street.

Thanks in advance to any information.

This is a link to a previous thread on hotels in Warsaw. Have a look through Vacations and Travel or use the search function. There is much already written about bars/clubs.

Enjoy your trip :)

Thankyou...i must admit I was being a little lazy! lol

Really looking forward to it...many thanks

Paul

Merged thread:
Best bars in Warsaw?

Cześć everyone,

I'm new to PF and somewhat new to Warsaw / Poland. I was wondering what people felt were the best 'dive bars' in Warsaw, particularly in the center of town.

To clarify what a dive-bar is, I suppose it is more along the lines of a knajpa. It should have cheap beer, good music and be a fun place. Not that I'm looking for a rough joint, it's just that I don't enjoy the club scene, and would much rather just sit and enjoy a cold beer talking with friends than dance to techno / house music.

Thanks for any tips, and cheers.
Tom

Those sorts of places are mostly clustered in one place; the Pawiliony round the back of Nowy Swiat 23 (is it 23? I haven't been down there for ages.) At the farthest, darkest end it seems like a row of shuttered-up abandonned shops with smashed windows, but tug on a door and you'll gain entry into one of a dozen little bars, some with underground drinking dens too.

Other places are dotted around and you need to be sober to remember where they are; a nautical-themed place on Koszykowa (next to the Fish and Chip shop), or a rock bar with comfortable old armchairs on Al. Jana Pawla (next to the Sapaya asian restaurant) are the most recent ones I've visited where you can talk without shouting.

The bar in the Westin Hotel has a nice, laid back atmosphere. Including, both friendly hosts and customers :)

Westin bar is hardly a dive bar. Nice but not that. I'd say: cafe Kulturalna in PKiN, Chłodna 25. Hip and dive concurrently :-)

Choldna 25 fits in the same category as Warszawa Powisle bar; great to look at, irritating clientele, good bottled beer but a steep price for it and it's always warm, and worst of all, sharing a sofa with a drainpipe-jeaned unshaven unlaced-Converse'd student talking rubbish about the high quality of Polanski's early films while waving his arms about, beads and wristbands clacking in the air.

*shudder*

I'm glad those bars are located in places that get no passing traffic whatsoever.

Powisle bar is nice as well, on a sunny day.

Thanks for the tips everyone! Fortunately, I am going to be in Warsaw until summer, so plenty of time left to get to know the city / bar-scene better.

Zed: Thanks, I have heard that it's a good bar, but as for the sunshine, I might have to wait a little while for that! :(

5 Podwale street in the Old Town area is a nice, cheap, laid back place.

Plus it's named after a dead pope too!


Since when has 8zl been a steep price?!


You hit the nail on the head there. But saying "Look, I don't mean to be offensive but is there any chance that you could go and be a pathetic cliche somewhere else?" usually works.

Some of them are 24 hours too.

The dıveyest of all dive bars ın Warsaw has to be Piotrus on Nowy Swıat - more or less opposite Sense and quıte near the pavillions.

LOL, I thought I was one of the few in town who have ever visited Piotrus. This is THE dive :-). No Kieslowski movies being discussed, no Lupa fans either..... If you don't have 3 shots of wiśniówka (and presto!) you will not be able to stay there for more than 2 minutes :-)

It was my local for years - everything from prostitutes to professors. Good food too. Maybe you know some of the regulars?

Pani I is often on a final warning from the alcohol licensing authorities, due to the number of fights and other incidents - nevertheless she tried opening 24h, but it just got too drunken.

A dive bar that might suit the OP is Drink Bar on ul. Wspolna - too classy for me - Piotrus was always my favourite, and Lajkonik and Santos before they turned into posh fashion shops.

Merged: Looking for a friendly bar in Warsaw

Just came back to Warsaw for a visit after 3 years, and the great 'local' bar I made my 2nd home (Metafora on Aleja Jerozolimskie) has closed! So can anyone recomend a decent, friendly bar where you can sit at the bar and chat to friendly welcoming staff?

Thanks in advance

Dave J

Hydro4, in the basement of the building on the corner of al. Jerozolimskie and Nowy Swiat, (the one with the chemist, not Empik) is quite good. The entrance is round the back.

I want to know the best bars and clubs to stay away from if you are not polish because that's where I want to hang out