London · Walking tour

Soho – Queer Capital

Soho is the heart of London’s LGBT story – not because it came first, but because it is where the community became visible. In one square kilometre: lesbian bars and molly rendezvous, drag palaces and AIDS clinics, a nail bomb and a vigil, and a new generation of queer spaces. Walk it at your own pace; stories unlock as you arrive.

30 stops

1 Piccadilly Circus · 5 September 1990
2 Gay Liberation Front · 1970
3 The London Pavillion – “The Promenade” · 1885
4 The Criterion · c.1905
5 Lyons Corner House – “The Lilypond” · 1930s
6 Bar Code – Archer Street · late 1990s–c.2015
7 Rupert Street Bar
8 Madame JoJo’s · 1958–2014
9 Raymond Revuebar – Walker’s Court · 1958–2004
10 Prowler – Brewer Street · 1984–present
11 Freedom Bar – Wardour Street · 1994–c.2020
12 The Yard – Rupert Street · 1993–present
13 The Duke of Wellington
14 St Anne’s Church, Soho · 1686
15 The Village Soho – Wardour Street · 1990s–2010s
16 Old Compton Café / Balans · 1980s–present
17 Comptons of Soho · 1986–present
18 The French House · 1910–present
19 30 Old Compton Street – Coven · 1993–2026
20 The Admiral Duncan · 1999
21 56 Dean Street & Dean Street Express · 2014–present
22 Gargoyle Club
23 Bar Italia – Frith Street · 1949–present
24 Kettner’s
25 The Limelight · 1985–2002
26 The Colony Room Club · 1948–2008
27 Substation South / Ghetto · late 1990s–2015
28 Candy Bar – Carlisle Street · 1996–2014
29 Soho Square · 1760s–present
30 Danny La Rue’s Nightclub · 1964–1972

Part of LGBT History UK