Gay
Bristol
It’s a
great little city, with annual attractions like the International
Hot-air Balloon Festival, International Festival of the Sea, Ashton Court Music
Festival (Europe's largest Free Festival) and
the agricultural Royal Bath & West Show. The city also has a large number
of attractions and historic places of interest. Visit the SS Great Britain (the
worlds first steam ship), the spectacular Clifton
suspension bridge or soak up some culture in the city's museum. If gluttony is
your thing there are some superb restaurants and bars worth investigating and a
vibrant gay scene. There are many gay venues and they're needed, to cope with the large
student population that's generated from the cities two universities. Here are
some event reviews and galleries of the sexy boys who party in the city...
Shopping
is plentiful. Park Street
is Bristol's alternative to London's Carnabie Street, full of hip-homo, funky
fashion and music store's you won't find amongst the usual commercial shops in
Broadmead or The Mall at Cribbs Causeway. Cliften
Village, home of the famous Cliften Suspension Bridge, is also a good place
to head for more exclusive lines and antiques. The area is renowned for its
posh, upper class Victorian style buildings and very popular with the local
students.
The newest store
to hit Bristol
is a branch of Clone Zone.
It sells everything a gay bloke would ever want, this includes a club wear,
fetish wear, sex toys, videos, naughty magazines, books, CD's and gay themed
gift/birthday cards. Its a great store and defiantly worth checking out. You'll
find it next to the Griffin Pub at 45
Colston Street. Telephone 0117 929 7666. Click Here to check out my review.
Another
fetish store in Bristol
is called Religion. You'll find it at 6 Perry Road, Bristol, BS1 5BQ which is very gay friendly and very good for
info on local fetish and S&M events if you like that type of thing. Tel. 0117 9293754. Talking about S&M events, check out the
gay club night Deviant
at Splash on Wednesdays, see below...
The
QueenShilling attracts a much younger crowd of scene queens and students. A
regular big name PA attends once a month on a Friday night and there's
`Shagtag` for the Student night on Thursdays. It entertains a good atmosphere
and can get quite packed, especially on a Saturday night after about 11pm.
Opening times are 7 days a week from about 9pm - 3am for further detail's phone
0117 926 4342 or log onto www.QueenShilling.com
One of the busiest clubs is Vibes;
it's actually the largest gay venue that Bristol
has ever seen, located just along from the Queenshilling on Frogmore Street. The decor inside is
quite classy with a large dance floor and several adjoining rooms - allowing
you to wander around and check on the talent that's about. Check the web site
for further info www.VibesBristol.com
or 
telephone on 0117 934 9076.
Flamingo’s
Nightclub is located on West Street,
Old Market (the other side of Bristol
city centre). The building use to be a bank, you can still see the old vault in
it, which has now been transformed into a cruisy dark room. The venue has a
large open dance floor with two bars in the main room. A third bar and a pool
room with internet point are located in several smaller back rooms. Doors open
from 9pm with an alcohol licence till 2am, however partying carries on much
later. Telephone 0117 941 4024 or check out the web site www.FlamingosBristol.com . On
Wednesday's the club is taken over by a bondage and fetish night called Deviant.
All ages go from 18 to over 80. Special S&M equipment is provided and
you'll see plenty of action from the people using it. The dark rooms are pretty
busy too! Photos and further info on this night can be found on www.DeviantBristol.co.uk.
Castro is a good hard
house, late licence club at the beginning of Old Market Street. Because of it's 24
hour entertainment's licence and hard house / trance music, it attracts a lot
of straight boys and girls but has a good relaxed atmosphere. The venue holds
400 on three floors, each with bar's serving alcohol till 2am but the clubs
open till about 6am. 0117 922 0774.
The Pineapple (37 St George's Road)
is a bar located just down the road from the Queenshilling and a popular venue
to go beforehand. It attracts a friendly young lively crowd. There's a pool
table and a popular karaoke night on Mondays. Normal pub hours apply from 1pm,
7 days a week. Telephone 0117 907 1162. Further info: www.PineapplePub.co.uk
The
longest established pub (1787) in Bristol
is The Elephant on St
Nicholas Street. You can pick up a meal or snack here
from opening time at 11am (midday on Sunday's) till closing time though out the
week. Contact 0117 925 2820.
The
Griffin is another well-established gay pub in the centre of town (Colston Street). It
always has a good atmosphere, attitude free, and attracts a lot of the leather
boys, hairy mary's and big daddy bears. The second bar up stairs entertains a
cruiser atmosphere while downstairs in the back room you can jiggle your balls
on the pool table. Telephone 0117 927 2421.
In the
Old Market area of the city, just around the corner from Splash is a small gay
pub called the Old Castle Green. It's located on Gloucester Lane, West Street and open
normal pub hours. There is also a gay friendly pub, Old Market Tavern just
down the road on Old Market Street.
It's open from 7pm Mon-Sat, Sundays from 12 noon in time for its Sunday lunch.
Both venues have beer gardens, ideal for BBQ's in the summer.
Bristol also has a gay sauna on West Street in Old Market called the “Cottage Health Club” telephone 0117 903
0622.
Just 20
minutes drive away (or 10 minutes on the train) is the beautiful city of Bath
where you’ll find the Bath Tap at 19 St James Parade (tel. 01225 404 344), DYMK
at 11-12 Westgate Street (tel. 01225 330 470) and also a really nice gay sauna
(located just next to the train station): www.TheSuiteBath.com
(01225 465 725).
If
you're looking for somewhere to stay in Bristol,
Click Here for a list of the cities
best hotels, info and rates.
www.ChrisGeary.com
