Editorial
Warsaw knows how to end the working day, and the right bar depends on which side of the river you finish on. Powisle by the water and Srodmiescie in the centre hold the easy early-evening rooms, while Praga across the Vistula runs a little later and a little rougher around the edges. We built this route for the hour the laptops close. These are the eight after work bars in Warsaw we send people to first, each one verified and drawn from our Warsaw research.
Powisle and Srodmiescie hold the bars best suited to the first drink after work, close to the offices and the riverbank. Start here while the light is still up and the terraces are open.
Praga sits across the Vistula, a short tram or taxi from the centre, and it runs later and looser. The bars here suit the second half of the evening. This is where we end.
If you only have one night, start at Warszawa Powisle by the river, walk up to Charlotte on Plac Zbawiciela for a glass of wine, then cross to Praga and finish at Zorza. For the cheap, fast Warsaw experience, Pijalnia between stops is a rite of passage. Most of these take walk-ins, but the Powisle terraces fill fast on warm evenings.
Sofia Reeves maps cities by their bars. She writes the route, not just the list, and has spent years working out where a night should start and where it should end.