So I went to Europe for work and had to see what the gay nightlife was like out there for you all. I used to live in Spain and went on a bunch of Mediterranean cruises, but when you are cruising you don’t really get to go to all the clubs, restaurants, etc… and because I didn’t have this site when I lived in Madrid, I don’t want to recommend a bunch of places that may not be there anymore.
Anyways, when I think of Denmark and Scandinavia, I really didn’t think of it being progressive. Holy crap was I wrong!
Not only do they have Europe’s oldest gay bar, but gay marriage isn’t even considered or thought of as anything out of the ordinary. They are so used to gays getting married and having rights that no one even thinks of it. The same goes with Sweden and I am pretty sure the rest of the Scandinavian countries as well. Not only was I shocked at how friendly the people in Denmark were and accepting they were of gay people, especially for an extremely religious Country (either Christian or Catholic because I know Easter is huge there), but I am ready to tell everyone who wants to see what a gay friendly and gay marriage friendly country is like to just go spend one day in Denmark and one day in Sweden. You will never see it the same again.
Anyways, on to Gay Copenhagen Denmark and Copenhagen Denmark Gay Bars.
So the day started out with me walking around the city. There is some amazing architecture there and some seriously gorgeous old buildings. Once you leave the train station you’ll see some huge spires to the left, if you walk towards them you will be heading to the gay part of the city (The whole city was walkable for me so don’t worry about renting a car, a bike wouldn’t be a bad idea though).
After walking around for a couple hours I decided it was time to get a drink…btw if you want to eat in Denmark, go for a hot dog, oddly enough I saw more hot dog stands in Denmark than I had on any trip to NYC and I have been to NY way to many times. They love their hot dogs like gay men love their sausages….ohh ya, I went there.
So I walked around and instead of doing a Google search for Gay Bars Copenhagen Denmark, I decided to walk the gay area (btw there are no pride flags hanging so it may be difficult to tell where they are and if you are in the right area, but if you find one and get a map, everything will be seriously easy). After walking for maybe 30 minutes I finally found one that had to be gay.
Bar 7
Bar 7 in Copenhagen Denmark is located at the very end of the main gay street. It has a large sign hanging in front of it and is a basement styled club. When I looked through the window towards the far side of the front wall I saw purple and white sequined pillows and two well dressed and in shape guys with bleached hair drinking cocktails and chatting. I then walked by the door and heard some pretty fabulous house music coming from inside and two bartenders in tight black tshirts so I knew I was at the right place.
I sat down and saw all the guys drinking some really cool looking mixed drinks and the girls drinking beer from the tap so I knew I found the perfect place to find out what bars were going to be fun for the night.
Bar 7 is decorated kind of like alternative crazy coffee shop gone club gone gay bar. My favorite part was the lower level dance floor where they have a grand piano that is carved out and the top was replaced with glass and inside is an entire DJ booth with turntables, mixers, etc… The bathroom area is completely done in glam and there are book cases with actual books and random paintings everywhere.
When I went back to my bar stool I still hadn’t had the guts to ask anyone which bars would be fun for the night, but when I saw this really queeny guy walk outside to have a cigarette I followed him because when in doubt, ask a queen.
It turned out that not only did he think it was hilarious that I thought he was gay, but that I also thought Bar 7 was a gay bar. Apparently the gays in Copenhagen dress down and the straight men dress up. It was absolutely hilarious and completely remained true throughout the night. He got a good laugh out of it and then showed me how to find the gay bars.
Jailhouse.
Jailhouse is a small basement bar underneath a sign that says S&M. It is both male and female friendly and has an amazing bar staff that not only dresses like cops, but is overly friendly and extremely attentive. They serve these really tastey and slightly spicy chips with your drinks and the crowd is seriously attentive.
Although Jailhouse is technically a fetish and leather bar, they also feature a decent restaurant with proper servers and decent food. All you do is walk through the bar to the back, go up the staircase and you are all of the sudden in a regular looking restaurant instead of a bar themed like a jail.
The music is house and trendy and fun. The drinks are probably the cheapest in Denmark and because of the great service and friendly customers, Jailhouse gets 4 out of 5 stars on the must visit gay bars in Copenhagen Denmark.
CentralHornet.
CentralHornet is the oldest gay bar in Europe. It has been opened as an actual gay bar for 94 years and is still running strong. CentralHornet is a few blocks away from most of the major gay bars in Copenhagen Denmark but definitely worth the trip just for the history alone.
The bar service there is great and the drinks are huge, especially the beers. The bathrooms are kind of odd since they are unisex and the crowd is really not that friendly. They seem like the type of people who would steal your wallet if you left it out. The pictures on the wall are kind of cool because they go back pretty far and I got to see it decorated for Easter which was also pretty cool.
Because it is the oldest gay bar in Europe and you have to think about the fact that it opened as a gay bar in the 1920′s or 1930′s I think, it is a must have to see 5 out of 5 stars. If it wasn’t the oldest gay bar in Europe, it probably would have gotten a 2 or 3 stars, but hey you cannot mess with something that has lasted almost 100 years…unless its in drag.
Masken Bar
Masken Bar is Copenhagen’s idea of a Twink Bar. It is for college age gay guys and for a nice change, no creepy old guys standing in the corner staring. I’m not really into the twink scene but this was one of the larger drinking bars that I went into in Copenhagen Denmark for the gay bars.
It is two stories and the bar staff is ok but not really anything special. The crowd was all twinks and it was fairly cliquish but still friendly. Overall I’m not really into the Twink scene and I don’t go after the Twinks so it really wasn’t my scene. For me it gets a 2 out of 5 stars but if you are all about the Twinks it is probably a 5 out of 5 for Copenhagen’s Gay Bars.
Men’s Bar
Men’s Bar is Copenhagen’s Men’s Only gay bar. They are basically the leather and S&M bar for Copenhagen’s gay men. It is their version of the Eagle and they actually have ads up for the Eagle in other cities.
The crowd is mixed instead of just leather and bears and the staff and customers are extremely friendly and personable. They get everything from Twinks to Bears and Jocks to overweight alcoholics. It is a good time but be careful in the side room next to the bar, if you look at the bars they all have glory holes in them so I am pretty sure when they night ends you have a great shot (pun intended) at having a good time. Men’s Bar gets a 4 out of 5 from me based on the friendliness of the customers, the bar staff and the drinks.
I went to a bunch of other bars and clubs while I was in Gay Copenhagen but I am getting really tired. Copenhagen in an amazing city and extremely gay friendly. It is a perfect stop for a gay honeymoon in Europe and perfect for gay travel and gay vacations. Make sure you try a Carlsburg beer as well when you are there since that is their local beer and they are extremely proud of it.
Gay Copenhagen Denmark gets a 5 out of 5 from me and I never give that type of rating to a city unless it really is worth it.
