Lidkoeb opened in 2012 in a former pharmacy in a Vesterbrogade courtyard, run by Adeline and Rasmus Shepherd-Lomborg of Ruby; three floors stack a ground-floor pub, a cocktail bar and a whisky lounge under the eaves.
Tip: Walk through the courtyard gate; the whisky lounge upstairs runs Friday and Saturday only and takes the brown-spirit drinkers off the cocktail floor.
Address: Vesterbrogade 72 B, 1620 København V, Copenhagen
Vela on Viktoriagade runs as Copenhagen's reference lesbian bar and nightclub, a Vesterbro institution with dimly lit booths, poetry and speed-dating nights through the week and a packed weekend dance floor.
Tip: Wednesday and Thursday lean to events and reading nights; Friday and Saturday are dance nights from 22:00. Cash plus card.
Centralhjørnet on Kattesundet has run as a gay bar since 1950 in a tavern that itself dates to 1917, and the room claims the title of the world's oldest continuously operating gay bar with rotating drag shows.
Tip: Open from noon every day; the late drag sets land Friday and Saturday. Cheap beer at the counter; tip the queens.
Oscar on Regnbuepladsen, the Rainbow Square next to City Hall, runs as a non-smoking LGBTQ+ daytime cafe and evening bar with a Friday DJ programme, kitchen running lunch through dinner and a daily happy hour.
Tip: Happy hour daily 16:00 to 21:00; Friday DJs pull the room from 21:00. Pavement seats across the rainbow plaza in summer.
Vela on Viktoriagade runs as Copenhagen's reference lesbian bar and nightclub, a Vesterbro institution with dimly lit booths, poetry and speed-dating nights through the week and a packed weekend dance floor.
Tip: Wednesday and Thursday lean to events and reading nights; Friday and Saturday are dance nights from 22:00. Cash plus card.
Bird on Gammel Kongevej runs as Frederiksberg's reference vinyl bar, a small Nordic-wood room where jazz from the turntable sets the volume, with cocktails poured to match the record on the deck.
Tip: Records are loaded one side at a time at low volume; conversation drops with the needle. Walk-in only, small room.
Brønnum sits in the August Bournonvilles Passage by the Royal Theatre, an old-school cocktail house in a 125-year-old building, six rooms ensuite that grow darker toward the back with a tuned sound system.
Tip: Walk through the rooms from light to dark; the rear salon is the quiet seat. Closed Sundays; weekday nights run earlier than the door suggests.
Eiffel Bar on Wildersgade has poured beer to Christianshavn sailors since 1737, with a 1930s Parisian renovation that left mirrored Eiffel Tower motifs, a golden staircase and the kind of jukebox that runs 80s pop.
Tip: Cash easier than card; the back room is quieter than the bar. Locals after midnight, tourists earlier; cheap pours all night.