Karlstad Nightlife

The Woolpack Inn is another of the many pubs in Karlstad (we've got the most pubs per capita in Sweden they say!)

It's a nice Pub with a rather large stock of different ales, beers, lagers and so on and a whopping 80 different kinds of single malts (and another 30 whisk(e)ys that are not single malt).

They try to keep an "irish" feel to it. I've never been to Ireland though so how authentic it is I won't be the judge to...

There's no dancefloor here so it's a place to enjoy a good drink or some food with your friends, or perhaps meet new friends. It's also a good stop on a pub crawl.

The Woolpack in is also situated just a stones throw from the railways station (across the street and another 10 metres) so if you're jsut in town for a stop-over this would be a good place to have lunch or a calm pint while you wait for your train or bus.

Dress Code: Are you kidding me?

Harry's is somewhere in between a restaurant, a pub and a nightclub. In the day time it's a perfectly good place to eat or to sit in it's outdoor area and have a beer while looking at people. In the evening it turns into a pub and nightclub.

There are two floors. On the lower floor there's a bar and a black jack-table and loads of tables to sit down at to eat or drink whatever you choose to drink.

On the upper floor there are all of the above, but far fewer tables and instead there's a dance floor where all kinds of music is played, just don't expect a trance/house place, because it isn't.

Harry's has also earned a reputation as the place to which many of the local gay community goes, but here you'll find every kind of person over the age of 23, which is the age you have to be to get in. The majority is over 27 I should say though.

One good thing about Harry's is that they got Wisby Klosteröl, a real ale or something like that from the Island of Gotland on tap. Try it, I love it...do you?

Dress Code: Casual, come as you are

I like this nightclub a lot, the atmosphere is always really good and people are friendly and happy. They have many tables and sofa so its easy to just sit down, have a drink and relax. They also have a small dancefloor and a balkony. During the day they are a restaurant with good food. The name means The Happy Duck :)

This nightclub is located in a building that used to be a big warehouse and its simply huge. 7500m2, 5 bars and 3 dancefloors. They often have famous bands and artists playing and is usually packed with people. The good thing about it is that it never really feels too packed cos its so big and the air never gets too bad since the ceiling is so high up and all. During the day you can come here to play bowling, golf simulator and gocart. They also have a restaurant.

The 2nd largest nightclub in Karlstad, takes around 2000 visitors per night i suppose. It's the biggest in the city center and all kinds of people, mostly (almost everyone) under the age of 40, the major part of the visitors is between 23-30.

There are different dance floors, of which one is called "schlagerbaren" a bar and a dancefloor where the DJ plays all kinds of well-known classics. NO trance, tehcno or house as far as the eye can see. Beware...there are people taking photos with digital cameras and posting on the website of the BMB:p.

Recently they've opened a bar upstairs for all you rockers out there. They play all kinds of rock (and by rock I DON'T mean Bryan Adams or anything such).

The other dancefloors plays different kinds of music, including the above mentioned.

There is a very nice porch where you can sit and relax with you beer and look out over the eastern river branch and perhaps have a chat with some nice guy or girl?
About 100 SEK entrance fee and 20 SEK for the clothes.

Dress Code: No formal dress-code any more. Clean and whole should do.

The Bishop's Arms is a pub located in the same building as the Stadshotellet in central Karlstad. It has a definite "british" air to it and is very cozy. Maybe not the cheapest beer in town though.

It has a beautiful porch with about 30-40 places to sit and have a beer during the summer months. If you chose to sit there you're bound to have evening sun and you're right next to the River.

In front of the pub there is a statue of "Sola i Karlstad", a famous waitress in the 18th century in Karlstad.

Dress Code: Come as you are

If you have had enough of beer and dancing for a while maybe a night at the movies would suit you?

Filmstaden is the largest movie establishment in town with 8 different salons, from about 40 to about 250 seats each. They got all the new films, both foreign and Swedish and all movies in foreign languages are subtitled, not dubbed to swedish, except for cartoons made for children.

The cinema is right next to the City McDonalds restaurant so you won't have to be hungry afterwards either.

My apologies for the photo, it was taken with a veeery bad digicam.

Scalateatern, on Västra torgatan's southernmost tip and neighbour to Pitcher's pub is the more popular theatre of the two major ones in the city. Where Karlstad Teater plays Les Miserables and West Side story in huge models Scalateatern often gives smaller shows, maybe a cabaret or a concert from a famous musician.

This is also the place to go to get tickets to more or less any event you want to visit around Sweden. When Färjestad are playing the hockey play-off in the springtime you would see queues 100 m long for ticket releases.

Dress Code: It's a theatre after all...so SOME degree of dressing would be proper. You wouldn't be sent home for having torn jeans though...