Gay/Lesbian entertainment in Europe
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Masken
You’ll find a pretty mellow, easy-going atmosphere in this mainstream gay bar, with cheap beer and good snacks. It’s mainly a hang-out for gay men, but Thursday is Ladies Night.
reviewed
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B
El Gato Lounge
If it's a louder ambience you're looking for, you'll find the pink party at the mega clubs and gay bars in Torremolinos. That's right, the 'in crowd' goes to Torremolinos for fun!! What had turned into a decayed symbol of a better past is now making a comeback. New bars, restaurants and clubs are opening and the area is becoming one of the major gay holiday destinations in Spain.
La Nogalera (close to Torremolinos train station) is the centre of BLGT - bi, lesbian, gay and transgendered - tourism in the province. Here, the variety of bars, pubs, clubs and discos guarantees a good time. Check out the new and trendy El Gato Lounge, where cool cats chill over a beer and a bi…
reviewed
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C
Love Dance Point
Going into its second decade, Love DP is easily the most Europhile of the local gay venues, hosting gay musical icons and international circuit parties. Hard-cutting techno is thrown in with gay anthems and Turkish pop. This place attracts the well-travelled and the un-impressionable, as well as some straight hipsters from nearby Nişantaşı.
reviewed
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D
Bigudi Cafe Lesbian Pub/Club
The pub admits gay men, but the arty terrace club is mainly frequented by lipstick lesbians and is resolutely off-limits to non-females. The rationale for the barrier is self-defence, which hints at this country’s lesbian state of affairs: invisible, often not by choice.
reviewed
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E
Masquerade Bar
There's no discernible gay quarter in Liverpool, with most of the gay-friendly clubs and bars spread about Dale St and Victoria St in Ropewalks. The Masquerade Bar attracts a real mix of gays, lesbians and bi's looking for a few laughs and a sing-song.
reviewed
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Bar Creation & Club Eden
One of the biggest gay venues in Wales, this bar and club combo stages a packed programme of club nights, drag acts, film screenings and cabaret shows.
reviewed
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Men's Factory
This wildly popular gay club west of Old Town draws plenty of straight club-goers, too.
reviewed
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Circolo degli Artisti
For the sound of the underground, Circolo is one of Rome’s best nights out, serving up a fine menu of fun: there’s Screamadelica on Saturday nights, with Italy’s alternative music oracle Fabio Luzzietti, while Friday night cracks open the electronica and house for gay night Omogenic. Regular grunge-guitar-electronica gigs see big names: think Glasvegas and Cornershop. The large garden area is ideal for chilling out with a beer from the open-air bar, with a barbecue in summer. Admission is either free or a bargain. On Sunday there’s usually a vintage market, sometimes curated by cutting-edge divas the Hysterics Fashion Network.
reviewed
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Astoria
An extremely popular though not particularly salubrious venue, the Astoria's future may be cut short by plans to knock down the building as part of a programme to rejuvenate the area of Charing Cross Rd, to the general displeasure of Astoria's many fans. Still, until the final decision is reached, the venue is busy most nights of the week with indie, pop and rock acts before becoming a club later on in the evening.
The adjacent Mean Fiddler, at No 165 - a far more intimate venue that doesn't get used as much - is facing the same bleak future.
reviewed
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J
Red & Blue
Bills itself as 'the biggest gay disco in Benelux' (that is, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). Saturdays attract hot-blooded gay boys from far and wide, while regular Café de Love parties are for lesbians 'and their male soul mates'. The website also links to the club's mixed-crowd fixtures, such as Studio 54, and We Love Thursdays. On Friday night it draws a mixed crowd to the sounds of house, techno, rap and soul.
reviewed
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Casa Rosa
The 'Pink House' is an essential stop for gay and lesbian travellers to Ghent. The foyer bar attracts a mixed crowd, who can steer you to the latest hotspots. You'll also find a gay and lesbian information office (generally open business hours on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday), and stands with city maps listing nightlife options and various other gay- and lesbian-friendly establishments.
reviewed
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Trash Palace
This cool two-floor space, from the people who revolutionised London's gay scene with indie club Popstarz in the 1990s, has great staff and an alternative yet unpretentious feel. The lines outside can be big at the weekends, so get here early - as with most cool places in London, demand way outstrips supply. There's a small dance floor downstairs with a more relaxed lounge upstairs.
reviewed
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M
Exit Drinks
Right next door to Rocket Bar, but with a distinctly different atmosphere, this is one of the city's favourite gay bars. It's a pretty flamboyant affair, with gilded plush furniture, cocktails and great parties. In the summer months, Exit Drinks moves to Rise Up (Via Ugo la Malfa 95), its outdoor venue, where it hosts regular parties. Check the website for what's on next.
reviewed
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Termix
Termix is one of Prague’s most popular gay and lesbian dance clubs, with an industrial–high-tech vibe (lots of shiny steel and glass and plush sofas) and a young crowd that contains as many tourists as locals. The smallish dance floor fills up fast during Thursday’s best of the ‘80s and ‘90s party, when you may have to queue to get in.
reviewed
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O
Fantom
Poland’s longest-running gay club, Fantom has been on the go since 1994 and stages a huge party every Saturday starting at 10pm. It’s a steamy, full-on experience, complete with sauna, Jacuzzi, sex shop and video lounge; the inconspicuous entrance (a black door with ‘Fantom’ stencilled on it) is in the courtyard behind Między Nami.
reviewed
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Sinners
Sinners is St Petersburg’s gay mainstay – sleazy but fun – featuring male striptease, drag shows and an intriguing on-stage shower show. The décor is leather and chains, evoking a dark dungeon. Three floors include a mirrored dance floor, a balcony overlooking it and a chill-out lounge. The club functions on a card system – you pay for everything when you leave.
reviewed
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Q
Gifts Of The Sea
This divey, smoky bar feels like the underground gay club it once was. The crowd is mostly regulars - older than at most gay bars (or any Moscow bar for that matter). Cheap prices, red tablecloths and dirty, dingy bathrooms give it its retro Soviet feel. Enter through the courtyard behind the restaurant Meeting Place and look for the dark brown door.
reviewed
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Cangrejo
This altar to kitsch, a dingy dance hall that has transgressed since the 1920s, is run by the tumescent underground cabaret figure of Carmen Mairena and exudes a gorgeously tacky feel, especially with the midnight drag shows on Friday and Saturday. Due to its popularity with tourists, getting in is all but impossible unless you turn up early.
reviewed
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Comedy Camp
This gay (but very straight-friendly) comedy club, hosted by Simon Happily, has become one of Soho’s favourites. It’s held in the basement area of one of Soho’s more enjoyable gay bars, Barcode. Comedy Camp features both up-and-coming queer comedy acts as well as more established gay and lesbian comics.
reviewed
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Baronato Quattro Bellezze
Tucked away between Via dei Coronari and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, Baronato is a quirky little find. Late on Thursday nights, drag-queen owner Dominot likes to treat patrons to a few dazzling Piaf renditions to piano accompaniment. A mainly Tunisian menu will sustain you through your cocktail tipples. Reserve a table for the Piaf show.
reviewed
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Scala
On Friday this multilevel former cinema hosts Popstarz, a laid-back gay/mixed potpourri of indie, alternative and kitsch among other, more eclectic nights. On Saturday it’s UK garage night Cookies and Cream. The venue is expansive but excellent, with a glass bar at its centre overlooking the stage but insulated from the noise.
reviewed
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V
Café Hessenhuis
Popular café in the old Hessenhuis building, an historic 16th-century warehouse that was rediscovered by a group of artists in the 1950s and given a total makeover. The café's cool, modern interior attracts a trendy mixed clientele during the day, but evenings tend to be exclusively for gay men.
reviewed
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W
Portas Largas
Once a tasca (tavern), this well-loved Bairro Alto linchpin retains original fittings including black-and-white tiles, columns and porticos. It throws open portas largas (big doors) to a mishmash of gays, straights and not-sures, who prop up the marble bar or spill onto the cobbles with zingy caipirinhas.
reviewed
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X
Tsifri
Formerly known as 911, this used to be a straight bar with a gay night, but it has grown into a gay bar with some straight guests – ‘gay expansion’ as described by one local-in-the-know. Although the place has a small dance floor and a drag show on Saturday night, it is more of a café scene.
reviewed
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Club X
Cardiff's biggest gay club has two dance floors, with a great chill-out bar and covered beer garden upstairs. Wednesday night is student night, with cheap drinks, but Saturday is the big one, with chart hits out front and dirty house in the back room. It's also open on the last Sunday of the month (23:30 to 04:00).
reviewed
