Arrive in Lisbon
during daylight and the city is discrete, there’s very little to suggest it is gay
welcoming, but there’s nothing to say that there will be a problem for gay
travellers. In fact I felt incredibly welcome wherever I went and look closely
– people watch – and you will begin to see quite a large gay population.
Lisbon actually has an
incredibly vibrant gay scene and there’s plenty of places to visit, just don’t
attempt – like I did – to try to do it during the day. There’s nothing to see
and you will find it hard pushed to find the gay venues listed. I walked both
the Rato and Bairro Alto, gay map in hand, and struggled to find the bars and
nightclubs for the following nights’ escapades. Yet, by night, the shutters
were flung open, the lights on full glare and the music popping onto the
streets.
By night, the city
comes alive. Bairro Alto is full of party atmosphere and it is now hard to
distinguish revellers from the gay and straight bars. You shouldn’t think of
going out before 9pm, but 10.30pm is a better start to your evening. Grab some
food around 8.30pm and you can casually enter the nights’ events.
All the gay bars were
recognisable in the Rato area. And simply follow the lads from joint to joint.
My itinerary for the weekend nights is below. The great thing about Lisbon is
the cost – it is so cheap for beer and cocktails. The atmosphere is electric,
and welcoming. The people are friendly and chatty with nearly all of them
speaking English. It is also an international city, so you are likely to meet
Europeans from England, France, Spain, Italy, as well a Americans visiting on
cruise ship.
Book flights and
accommodation at least four weeks in advance and it can work out to be a cheap
break:
Flights, EasyJet (my
favourite airline): London – Lisbon; £110 return
AirParks car park:
£26.99
Uneasy Hostel (2
nights): £60
Travelcard: €15,
enough for 4 days
Meals: €12 – 20 for a
good two-course dinner, 1 x beer, 2 x wine, 1 x coffee
Make the most of your
time there, especially if you want to party by hiring an apartment:
Thursday
Chapito, 30 Anos:
multi-use bar, club, social meeting spot.
A circus shop willmake this place stand out. Go through the shop, down the stairs to the large
courtyard – if you’re not in the middle of a circus training session hang
around for some beers. Otherwise, head to the loft house restaurant. Now this
has to be seen. We hung here all afternoon supping on Green Wine, a Portuguese
delicacy J
From the restaurantyou can over look the city and watch the sun set. It’s a spectacular scene and
the colours of the fading evening Lisbon sun fill the sky with purples,
oranges, greens, reds, and pinks, framed by a city with 200-year architecture
(following the great Earth Quake in the 18th Century).
Friday
Bairro Alto
– This is
the place to start. It’s where the city comes together by night and especially
at the weekend.
–
Wonder the
streets, beer in hand and soak up the atmosphere, the music and the people
watching
Les Marais
Rua de Santa Catarina
28, 1200 Lisboa
Open: M-Th 5.30pm-2amF/S 4am, Sun 1 – 11pm
We started in this
sudo-French bar, the gay venue was recently purchased by new owners and had
decided to maintain the name. Which with the gay market is the best idea, since
we all follow maps that could be years out of date. I found this through
Spartacus, after chatting to the owners who promote the bar on Scruff (great
technique).
Shirtless Tuesdays –
gives patrons the chance to receive free shots for taking off their shirt….not
a bad deal!
The barmen were reallovely, and created a fun atmosphere. There really was no dull moment, even
though when we arrived there were only about 8 people in the bar. An hour
later, around 11.30pm, the bar had about 20 people. This is no bad thing, it’s
well decorated, the drinks are good too. It’s brilliant if you’re in a couple
and want to take it a bit easy, or in a group and all want a seat. I can
imagine that on some days this places has a fantastic party.
From here we walked up
to Bairro Alto past
Baliza
Rua de Bica de Duarte
Belo 51-A, 1200-054 Lisboa
Open: M-F 1pm-2am, Sat
4pm-2am Sun Closed
We walked up through
the streets to stop in
Portas Largas
Rua de Atalaia 105,
1200-038 Lisboa
Open S-Th 7pm-2am F/S
7pm-3am
This is a mixed crowd,
I didn’t know what was straight and what was gay – the live music was
infectious, the bar was packed – solid! People were all across the street at
this crossroads. It was a great place to soak in Bairro Alto. Only
recommendation, leave before 1am – it get a bit messy by 2am!
From here, sharp 10 –
15 minute walk to Rato. Aim was Bar 106 but by the time we got here it was
closed, so I went onwards to clubbing
NOTE: Unfortunately onthe night I was in Rato I was attacked by a group of lads who were trying to
mug me. Fortunately, two guys who run the gay bar on the corner of the street,
disturbed them and saved me from harm or loss. (I’ve been told that this
activity is NOT common, but just don’t walk alone if possible) Please visit
their bar:
Ursus Bar
Praça das Flores,
41-43 – Lisboa, 1200-192 Lisboa
A new bar, only
recently opened. It’s got a lot of style to it. While it may seem small it
packs a punch in the ‘cool’ stakes. The hosts are really friendly too.
Trumps
Rua da Imprensa
Nacional 104-B, 1250-127 Lisboa
Open: F/S 11.45pm –
6an
10€ including 2 drinks
The big gay club in Lisbon.
One room uber-pop music, the other more Dance-Pop. The audience is young, think
20’s. The bar staff are sexy. The music in the dance-pop room was excellent,
especially with a live violinist onstage adding his flavour to the tracks. The
people were really friendly and welcoming too.
Saturday
I stopped by Bar Cru(Rua de Sao Marcal 170), but it didn’t appeal to me. Entry charge at 12
midnight was not what I wanted and it felt too early for any of that. So next
stop further down the road
Bar 106
Rua de Sao Marcal 106,
1200-44 Lisboa
9pm – 2am
This place is pretty
smart. People are smoking outside and inside. Shots are being knocked back and
there’s a lot of introductions. Something tells me this is the meeting place –
prior to the clubs. It’s a good starting point.
WoofLX
Rua de Palmeira 44B,
1200 Lisboa
10pm – 4am
Now this seemed moresort of thing, I had stopped by on the way to Trump the night before, but at
3am it was pretty dead. So arriving at 1pm was a good chance to check out the
lads. The barman (later to be the sexy dancer in Construction) handed out free
entry tickets to the club.
It’s a bear bar, and
it has many bears! And cubs! And otters! And admirers! Of course!
Tr3s/ Tres/ 3
Rua Ruben AntonioLeitao 2A, 1200 Lisboa
4pm – 2am
Sports themed bar and
most people were outside, but it was well themed and would make an enjoyable
indoor experience too. Everyone was hanging around waiting for the clubs to get
busy, this was the atmosphere, it was apprehensive, sat in expectation,
impatient, yet chatty and friendly.
Construction
Rua Cecilio de Sousa
84, 1200 Lisboa
11.30pm – 6am
This is the end of thenight, it’s one large two-leveled dance club with a darkroom on the third
floor. The more mature crew hangout here, so generally 30yr+ and there were
quite a few women. It was a fun cruisey atmosphere with excellent music!