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Going out

Gay bars

  • Admiral Duncan, in SOHO, with drag shows and karaoke.
  • Arch Clapham, with food, cocktais and drinks. Karaoke on Wednesdays, drag bingo on Thursday
  • BAR Soho: Cocktail bar in Soho. On weekdays daily happy hour form 4 pm till 8pm.
  • The Bridge, Clapham (South London), gay lounge bar. Cocktails happy hour 5pm-8pm.
  • Central Station, near King's Cross Station, famous for its comedy, cabaret, karaoke and burlesque performances. Karaoke on Friday and Saturday.
  • Circa Soho, a gay music bar.
  • City of Quebec, in the northeast corner of Hyde Park. More a traditional pub, with karaoke, quiz and cabaret drag shows. Mature gay clientele at night.
  • The Cock Tavern London, gay bar near Kennington.
  • Comptons of Soho, a classic gay bar in Soho. Sweet Satudays with Heidi Liscious weekly drag show.
  • Dalston Superstore, quite a bit north of the centre. Resto-bar and in the basement parties on Friday and Saturday.
  • Duke of Wellington, a traditional gay pub in Soho.
  • Eagle London, a gay bar in Vauxhall. Open Thursday - Sunday with events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.
  • G-A-Y Bar, pre-clubbing gay bar in Soho.
  • Halfway to Heaven, near Trafalgar Square. LGBT-oriented camp cabaret entertainment bar. Bar upstairs, cabaret downstairs.
  • King's Arms, Soho bar popular with bears.
  • King William IV in Hampstead, said to be one of the oldest gay pubs. Both the lunch and evening menu look interesting. And they are also famous for their Sunday Roast.
  • Ku Bar, in Soho near Leicester Square. More a young cliientele.
  • Little Ku, in Soho.
  • Retro Bar, West End, near Covent Garden. Small indie bar with retro music, quiz shows and comedy nights.
  • Rupert Street Bar, a big bar in Soho with DJs in the weekend.
  • RVT - Royal Vauxhall Tavern, big LGBTQ bar in Vauxhall, with queer comedy, cabaret, bingo shows and party nights.
  • Two Brewers, in Clapham, south of the centre. Cabaret bar with drag acts, quiz nights and karaoke.
  • Village 512, in Dalston, north of the centre. Drag shows, karaoke and other events.
  • Village Soho, gay bar in Soho with three floors. DJs and gogo dancer. Daily happy hour 4pm-9pm. Karaoke on Wednesday, "Fall in Love with Hedi Liscious" on Thursdays.
  • The Yard Bar, gay bar in Soho.
  • Zodiac, in Camden, at Euston Station. Drag shows , performances and DJs.

Gay clubs

The distinction between club and bar is sometimes hard to make as several of the bars above are really more like clubs in the weekend. We've looked largely at opening times.

  • CIRCA The Club, close to Embankment. Wednesday - Saturday. (Circa Embankment on Googe Maps)
  • G-A-Y @ Heaven: Late night (mostly after midnight), with drag acts. At Charing Cross.
  • G-A-Y Late: One of the few bars in Soho serving after midnight. Young clientele.
  • Union Club, Vauxhall. Gay-popular night club. See the FaceBook page for events.

Gay-friendly bars

  • Colours Hoxton, north of the City. LGBT-friendly bar, club and music venue in the Hoxton quarter in London Shoreditch. Drinks and cocktails, DJs, bands and drag shows.
  • Friendly Society, cocktail lunge bar in Soho with mixed xlientele.
  • John The Unicorn, a queer-friendly pub in Peckham in the south-east of London, with craft beers and street food. []https://johntheunicorn.co.uk/)
  • Queen Adelaide, in Bethnal Green, west of Victoria Park. From the onwers of the former Gearge & Dragon bar.
  • The Glory, northeast of the centre. Very queer party pub and performance space with alternative drag and cabaret shows, music gigs and more. Mixed clientele. Popular with hipsters, artists, creative scene.

More clubs like:

  • The White Swan, in East End near Limehouse. Less gay than it used to be.

Cruise clubs

Gay saunas

Regular parties (including theme parties)

Regular gay parties

Cruisy atmosphere

  • HUNTER parties by Brew Hunter: Leather and fetish nights in Electrowerkz. (Tickets and more info)
  • TROUGH London, at various places in London.
  • Hard On @ UNION: Each third Saturday of the month.
  • RUT Club: Leather and rubber party, roughly once a month.
  • Club Collared: Every second and fourth Saturday of the month in The Underground at Central Station.
  • Nude parties:
    • SBN & NBN @ UNION: Stark Bollock Naked and Near Bollock Naked, weekly party on Sunday at UNION. SBN is 2pm-10pm, NBN only 6pm-10pm.
    • Monday and Thursday nights at Vault 139
    • BUFF: Wednesday evening in MA1 Bunker. Ther's a BUFF on Friday and Sunday evenings also but then it is naked, underwear, jocks or shorts dress code.
  • Naked and Underwear or similar dress code
    • See some of the events above that run into naked & underwear later in the evening or on some evenings.
    • Weekdays afternoon at MA1 The Bunker: Need Some Daytime Release
    • Saturday afternoon in The Lord Clyde is "Brief Encounters" which seems to be an underwear party.
    • Tuesday nights at Ted's Place (from May 2023, before on Tuesdays)
    • Wednesday nights underwear at Vault 139

Spanking & SM

  • Boyz and Sirs, every Saturday at 2pm in MA1:The Bunker. Followed by Blackout which adds a crusing aspect but is very open to S&M.
  • ClubCP, meets every Tuesday 6pm-10pm in MA1: The Bunker.
  • Punishment Block, followed by Nipple: Friday evenings at The Lord Clyde.
  • SMGays events usually on the third Wednesday of the month in MA1 Bunker.
  • Collared London, every second and fourth Saturday at Central Station.
  • Gearbound London: Mostly bondage, meeting every fourth Friday of the month at The Underground Club. More bondage teamed and strict dress code.

No longer:

  • Brüt: Ws a party for bears but looks like it ended in the summer of 2022.

Special interest

Reading, groups, ..., to get ready

Gay apps

  • GRINDr is as active as everywhere else
  • Romeo is pretty dead in London
  • Recon looks good to find kinky partners, but in general people don't really "cruise" in the app, maybe due to all the restrictions on free accounts.
  • Whappz has a small but very active community.

Specialised or rather local dating sites

  • NakedMates: Organises events in teh UK and Europe. Likely the organiser of DARE # Yed's Place on the first Saturday of the month.

  • Club Collared is not only the organiser of events in London and Manchester but also a site to meet people.

Clubs

FetLife groups to prepare:

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