Think of Europe’s famous nightlife districts. The Reeperbahn. Soho. Kazimierz. District VII. Navigli. They trip off the tongue. Wojciecha Bogusławskiego in the city of Wrocław, Poland 🇵🇱? Not so much!

Wrocław itself suffers from a name Europe and beyond has difficulty with (it’s pronounced Vrots-waff, basically). It’s always a bit of an obstacle when potential visitors aren’t sure how to say the name of a place!

However, substance is what to focus on and in 2016 Wrocław was endowed European Capital of Culture, coincidentally the year of our first visit. The title was richly deserved because Wrocław (Breslau to Germans) has a claim, rather like Brno, Plovdiv, Vilnius, Novi Sad, etc for being one of the most continually overlooked by Western tourists. Even a slew of cheap flights this past decade has only elevated Wrocław to alternative curio. That is beneath the status the city deserves.

There are a plethora of attractions that will easily fill 4-5 days, satisfying all except perhaps beachgoers.

Wrocław is spectacular, from the restored grand Rynek (market square) with tall painted burgher houses and singular Gothic town hall, to the Odra waterways, wrought iron bridges and cathedral island, to Neon Side, a mini-Blade Runner like passage with preserved neon signs. Hosting one of the largest oil paintings you’ll ever see and in Aula Leopoldina a baroque University hall worthy of any of the core Italian cities. A world class Zoo, huge variety of Museums, a Japanese Garden and, if that wasn’t enough, a UNESCO heritage inscription for its Centennial Hall. Even when you arrive by train you are greeted by their impressive neo Gothic station building with its fanciful turrets and crenelations.

On the lead-in eastwards into the main station, Wrocław Główny, locomotives travel along a lengthy viaduct that runs parallel to Wojciecha Bogusławskiego street. It is under those arches that you’ll find 30+ bars and restaurants stretching on and on west of the station.

In the 1840s the train tracks constituted the border of the city, along which was simply a dirt track, but the construction of a raised viaduct 5 metres above the streets wasn’t under way until near the end of the century. The street was then named Friedrichstrasse which became Springerstrasse, both reflecting the large German population that lived in Lower Silesia at the time who moved/were forced out at the end of World War II as part of the redrawing of the Polish borders. Germans had previously co-existed with Poles in the region and in Pomerania. Wojciech Bogusławski, an enlightenment-era theatre director was given the street in his name after World War II. This is fitting because the street is situated very close to the Capitol theatre, one of Wrocław’s landmarks that today’s number 7 tram plays a special jingle for to acknowledge when it passes by, a nice little touch. At this point though, this street was not notable itself other than its position by the tracks.

To illustrate this, here’s a shot from 1989 where, as you will see, the scene looked quite different to today.

If it was someone’s pipe dream to turn this street into a nightlife hub, that’s all it was. This area became notorious for being Wrocław’s red light district and pick up area. However, in the 1990s after the end of the PRL-era, alongside the usual vice-adjacent businesses, bars began to spring up. Most of those originals are today gone, but there are traces of the era: sex shops remain and old stagers like Pociąg from 2004, the tail end of that era.

Some predecessors like Sielanka, fondly remembered, have bitten the dust but there is no sign of decline – quite the opposite. Today, the district continues to boom with new bars and eateries stretching further and further down the viaduct.

The arched interior of each bar and frequent rumbling sound of trains passing overhead give this row of bars a continuity that is extremely unusual. Style-wise, most have used the space well too, with colour and cosiness avoiding the stark and soulless setup that has been the trend of the last ten years.

It’s such a distinctive feature that the capital Warsaw or even Kraków can’t claim anything like it. There many bars around the continent that occupy similar spaces but it’s difficult to think of one area in another European city that has quite exploited a viaduct to quite the same extent.

This article was inspired by experiencing just how difficult it is to even find a bar in provincial Poland cities like Tychy, Tarnowskie Gory and Kalisz. Arriving in Wrocław was like being reintroduced to another side of Europe. Vitality, energy and a connection between people that isn’t limited to work, church-going and family meals. Most visitors to Wrocław seeking nightlife will understandably stick to the old town, the Rynek (market square) and numerous bars around it, but don’t look past this area or you’ll miss a key feature in the city’s – and Europe’s – nightlife culture.

Bars pictured: Cinema Paradiso, Pociąg, Lamus, Swing Bar, Bałagan, Bialy Vilk, Mistrz i Małgorzata

Other bars on the street (at the time of publication): Rusty Rat, Krambambuli, U Augusta, Siwy Dym, Przy Bramie, Czuła jest noc, Odjazd, Western Pub Saloon, Kraft Daily, Soul Train, Garage Pub, Rumbar, Huśtawka, Kuźnia, The Bear/Beer Bar, Zagrywki, Baza

Did you enjoy this article? Please consider making a Paypal donation to help keep this resource free for all. Hosting costs, travel, time & effort are all paid voluntarily by us, but we greatly appreciate donations from anyone who finds our content valuable and would like to see more like this in the future.