The Best Bar Cities in the Balkans

The original ruin bar and still the best of the concept. A collapsed apartment block converted into a labyrinthine bar with 16 separate drinking spaces, mismatched furniture collected over 20 years, and an atmosphere that has inspired imitations across Europe without ever being equalled. The drinks are cheap and simple. The experience is like nowhere else in the world. Go on a Tuesday when the stag parties are thinner.

Order: Palinka, the local fruit brandy. A shot of plum or apricot is the correct Budapest introduction.

The finest cocktail bar in Hungary and a genuinely world-class operation. The menu is structured like a tasting menu, with cocktails designed to be experienced in sequence. Hungarian ingredients appear throughout: Tokaji wine, local honey, paprika-infused spirits. The room seats 24 and requires a reservation. This is the Budapest that travel magazines have only recently started to notice and locals have known about for three years.

Order: The full tasting flight. It is worth every forint and takes approximately two hours.

A specialty coffee shop by day that becomes a natural wine bar from 4pm onward. The wine list focuses on Hungarian natural producers, with a rotating selection of around 20 bottles available by the glass. The space is minimal and calm, with a crowd of Budapest creative professionals who use it as an unofficial office or meeting spot. The best bars in Budapest operate exactly like this, which is something the guidebooks rarely mention.

Order: A glass of Hungarian orange wine. Ask for something from the Tokaj region.

A candlelit cellar bar in Kazimierz that has been at the centre of Krakow's alternative culture since 1998. The furniture is mismatched and old. The candles are actual candles. The drinks are beer and simple spirits at prices that feel like a different era. Live music appears spontaneously on weekend evenings. Alchemia is the bar that residents point you toward when they want you to understand what Krakow actually is.

Order: Zywiec on draft, the local lager, cold and unreconstructed

A converted barge moored on the Vistula with outdoor seating that runs from April through October. The drinks are simple. The setting is not. The city rises on both banks, the castle is visible from the upper deck, and the crowd is local students who have made this their summer default. Arrive at sunset and stay until the city lights come on. One of the more genuinely pleasant bar experiences in Central Europe.

Order: Cold beer and whatever simple snack they are serving that evening

Krakow's most respected cocktail bar operates in a restored cellar in Kazimierz with exposed brick walls and a menu that takes Polish spirits seriously. Zubrówka appears in multiple iterations. Goldwasser, the historic Danzig liqueur, turns up in ways that make sense. The bar team are young and technically accomplished. Miejsce is the proof that Krakow's cocktail scene has grown past its student bar origins.

Order: Their current Polish spirit-forward cocktail. Ask what uses Zubrówka in a non-obvious way.

A jazz bar and rum specialist with over 200 labels from across the Caribbean and Latin America. The live jazz runs Thursday through Sunday from 9pm. The rum selection is one of the finest in Central Europe and the staff are knowledgeable without being condescending. The room is warm and properly dark. Manzana is the bar you end up in when the rest of the evening has gone well and you want it to continue.

Order: A flight of three aged rums from different producing nations. Let staff select the progression.

A bar decorated with communist-era propaganda posters that manages to be genuinely funny rather than kitsch. The vodka list runs to 60 bottles. The beer is cheap and cold. The crowd is local students and visitors who have found their way here via recommendation rather than TripAdvisor. Open until 4am on weekends, which places it firmly in the category of late-night bars that reward the visitor who can stay awake long enough to appreciate them.

Order: A flight of three Polish vodkas, neat, at room temperature. This is how they are meant to be drunk.