Lyon feels like one of France’s more understated gay cities: confident, sociable, and more local than showy. The scene is not huge, but it is well established, with bars, parties, and community life giving the city a quietly strong queer identity alongside its famously good food and elegant streets.
One of the clearest current anchors of Lyon’s gay bar scene, XS Bar presents itself as an inclusive safe place with cocktails, afterworks, themed nights and DJ sets. It is compact by reputation, but its own copy leans into a broad gay crowd, from bears and daddies to drag queens and solo visitors.
A small late-night bar on the slopes of Croix-Rousse that survives as one of Lyon’s longstanding explicitly gay bars. Guides consistently describe it as intimate rather than polished, with a relaxed crowd, dancing and a strongly nostalgic 1980s pop bent.
Lyon’s best-supported current gay sauna, Double Side combines classic bathhouse facilities with a strong events rhythm and a central Terreaux location. Its own site highlights sauna, showers, jacuzzi and bar, while recurring themed sessions target naturists, younger visitors and bears.
A central riverside bar that plays strongly into Lyon’s gay night-out circuit, with big terraces, upstairs lounge space and regular DJ-led clubbing nights. It works both as an early evening drinks stop and a later party bar, with a view across to Fourvière. Food boards and brunch-style offers also feature in its own materials.
A central cruising-focused sauna near Hôtel de Ville with clearly published weekly hours and its own event programming. Compared with Double Side it reads as more segmented by daypart, mixing daytime access with selected evening sessions later in the week.
Gay Places is a quietly curated guide to gay bars, clubs, and other spaces around the world. Less directory, more edit, it brings together places with atmosphere, character, and a reason to go.
