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Atomic Bar
Like hanging out inside a lava lamp, with vintage vinyl sofas and faux-fur chairs in molten shapes, and walls splashed with psychedelic patterns and mesmerising glitter. Settle into rare grooves from the '60s and '70s on Sunday, then let it all bubble up and over the top on gay-friendly 'Drama Queen' Fridays.
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Bar Jamaica
If the Jamaica's bulletin board could, it would surely groan under the weight of notices pinned to it by artists and film makers advertising their latest projects - the inspiration for which probably came from a late night right on these premises. Art students from nearby Accademia di Brera nurse drinks for days on coveted sidewalk seats, but the covered patio is a good bet.
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Bar Magenta
Grab a curbside seat here, and let Milan come to you. Locals drift in for espresso, sandwiches and beer; students show up around to stake out spots near the buffet; models saunter in around , pretending not to be hungry and eating from everyone else's plates. Bartop antics in abbreviated clothing draw perverts and trainwreck-watchers on 'Coyote Ugly' Thursdays.
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Boccascena Café
An 18th century palazzo, with a charming courtyard and clocktower. Actors and artists mill around tables, anticipating or reviewing the evening's entertainment at Teatro Litta. In the Teatro's grand foyer, drinks are presented with a flourish and dramatically lit by mod chrome chandeliers. Unscripted dialogue and much levity ensues; the end is up to you.
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Café Marino alla Scala
Every detail here seems scientifically calculated to distract from the demands of the day: the lavish spread with fresh seafood and organic ingredients, harried but charming bartenders, and a wall-sized video art piece playing in a loop behind a Milanese ensemble cast of business moguls and classical musicians, fashionistas and famished students. Bottle that formula: it works.
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Cantiere dei Sensi
Let fine Italian design and wine go to your head at this showplace bar, where you can actually buy the newfangled wineglass you're drinking from, or that clever plate under your around €25 set-price meal (including appetizer, wine, primo and coffee).
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Cantine Isola
Only octogenarians make use of the sole table in back - everyone else hovers near the bar, balancing plates of bruschetta and holding glasses at the ready for when the in-house sommelier gives the nod to open a fine vintage Barbera. The selection of wines from 400 exceptional vintners is an education in a glass, so you'll leave wiser and drunker.
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Caruso
The living is good and the people-watching even better at this sidewalk café in Milan's most fashionable piazza, with the best-dressed parade hauling designer booty and little dogs along Via Manzoni, gingerly descending Montenapo Metro steps in staggering heels, and pretending not to be flustered by the pulchritude of Emporio Armani Caffé waiters.
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Da Claudio
Fishmonger by day, Claudio is Nobu's archrival by night. Once the floors are hosed down, corks pop and crowds arrive for spumante and a sampler plate of the sliced carpaccio (raw) catch of the day (around €10 ). This Milan-style sushi is drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and lemon atop raddichio, and served with crusty bread instead of rice.
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Diana Garden
Reel around the fountain in the lush gardens of this Art Nouveau palazzo, cocktail in hand: you'll have plenty of stylish company. Even with the crowds here, the staff never forgets a drink order and there's usually a plush seat to be found indoors.
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El Brellin
The ancient mill on the side of the building serves no modern purpose other than to raise the old-world charm of this canalside spot to irresistible levels, and the drinks are reliable even if the buffet is limited to light salads.
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G-Lounge
By day it's a hard-working lunch destination with a view of the Torre Velasca; by night it's a sultry lounge with a distinct flair for caipirinhias (minty Brazilian cocktails), mod Moroccan décor, and groovy chill-out music. Some call versatile G-Lounge a straight-friendly gay bar, others a gay-friendly straight bar - but you can just call it a fun night out in Milan.
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Gasoline Club
Everything seems larger than life in this small-scale disco, from the big dance moves to huge false eyelashes on Gay Tea Dance Sundays. Otherwise, manly attire ranges from designer tees and jeans to black Speedos, while women dress to express. The bar is redecorated annually, in sometimes questionable taste - but the cocktails are beyond reproach.
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Gattopardo
Fashionable Milan worships at the altar of design by day, and at night recharges at this deconsecrated church with candles everywhere and a bar where the altar once was. That mighty chandelier dangling from the cupola is mostly there for looks - but then the same can be said of the staff, and who's complaining?
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Hollywood
Bust out the glitter and limber up, because your gender is in for some bending among the glitterati, especially on 'Pervert' Wednesdays. Yes, this is the very club frequented by soccer players and supermodels, and if you stick around you might witness Milan's next scandal in the making - or be a party to it. What happens in Hollywood, stays in Milan.
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Julien Lounge Bar
Get your nails done at the Julien Room across the street, and have a top-shelf cocktail in this upbeat chill-out lounge while they dry: it's every beauty buff's idea of the perfect lunch break. Girls' nights out begin with a Julien Room blow-out, happy hour here, then Just Cavalli or Old Fashion.
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Kineo
Cross a fashion week runway with a 1930s Cimitero Monumentale mausoleum, and you've got the perfect setting for high-drama drinks and devil-may-care disco. Lights dance around the room clad in floor-to-ceiling shiny black marble, though ultrasoft black leather banquettes make mobilising to the downstairs disco on weekends most challenging.
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l'Elephante
The expert bartender here is happiest when mixing things up and the same can be said of the alternative-trendy crowd, which tends toward lesbian-and-gay-friendly, bi-curious or generically open-minded. The setting is equally eclectic: no two chairs are alike and the snack buffet is plenty varied.
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Le Biciclette
This one-time bike warehouse must have stored up great karma in its prior existence to be reincarnated as one of the best aperitivi bars in Milan. A combination of luck and earliness will snag you a coveted baroque couch with glassed-in bicycle memorabilia underfoot, and first pick of the dishes crowding the bar.
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Light
All extraneous detail has been stripped away from this former woodworking factory, drawing your attention to the exposed brick archways, fuschia walls and the person positively glowing on the spotlit sofa next to you. The illuminated alabaster bar inspires a reverence usually reserved for altars, though you'll hardly see it for the aperitivi crowds around .
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Living
Score an armchair at this former post office before and after a couple of cocktails with your choice of 100 kinds of vodka, they may have to fold you up and mail you home. Enjoy the vast buffet, but don't leave your seat for long - the wait for another cushy spot is longer than post office lines at Christmas.
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Martini Bar
As seen through the bottom of your martini glass, these glossy black marble walls enclose a magical realm of Prince Charming waiters ruled by a gargantuan red jellyfish… oh wait, that's a chandelier, and this is Dolce & Gabbana. Have another and you'll be willing to forgive the tacky neon signage, if only because it won't stay in focus.
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Noy
Only in Milan could a garage find divine inspiration. The almighty bar fills the void where a truck might once have been, and leather armchairs clustered convivially around tables are haloed in light from skylights in the corrugated roof above. Drop by for brunch or aperitivi after a heavenly wellness treatment at Habits Culti next door.
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Nuova Idea
Go club-hopping without leaving this many-splendoured nightlife theme park, Milan's premier gay club since 1975. One room features ballroom dancing with an orchestra and tiaras galore; the next has cages with greased-up gogo dancers plying their trade in nosebleed-inducing heels. At the centre of it all, Milan's most celebrated transvestites are constantly putting Fashion Week runways to shame.
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Plastic
How does Plastic keep throngs at the door six days a week, in a town as fickle about hot spots as footwear? Simple: strong drinks, fresh DJ line-ups each season, dim lighting and low seating to encourage a certain amount of groping. Saturdays are Bordello Night and Sundays are pan-sexual free-for-alls that make Studio 54 seem amateurish - go early, or face ruthless door selection after .
