Sydney's strip clubs sit in two clusters and two outposts. Three are in the Darlinghurst, Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo strip in the east, two more are in the CBD, and the last two are a drive west — one on Parramatta Road, one out in Sefton. Plan the night around that or you will spend it in a taxi.
Seven are worth going to. They are ranked below, and the short version is that the two most interesting rooms in the city are the two furthest from the middle of it.
The seven best strip clubs in Sydney
Sefton Playhouse
Sydney · Australia
Sefton Playhouse is an adult entertainment venue on Clapham Rd in Sefton, in Sydney's west. It opens at 10am and runs later than most of the city's cl...
Twin Peeks
Sydney · Australia
Twin Peeks is a lingerie restaurant at 134 Forbes Street in Woolloomooloo, just east of Sydney's CBD. Food and drinks are served by lingerie-clad staf...
Velvet Underground
Sydney · Australia
Velvet Underground is one of Sydney CBD's friendliest and most modern Gentlemen's Clubs. Featuring beautiful exotic dancers, private showrooms, a full...
Show Girls
Sydney · Australia
The World Famous Show Girls is a fully licensed strip club in the heart of Kings Cross, Sydney — one of the strip's long-standing names.The bill runs...
Petersham Inn
Sydney · Australia
Petersham Inn is a strip club and sports bar at 386 Parramatta Road in Petersham, in Sydney's inner west, and it presents itself as both at once rathe...
Why this order
We rank on the room, the hours and whether the place is honest about what you are paying for. Scale matters less than consistency, which is why the list does not simply run largest first.
Sefton Playhouse takes first place and it is not close. It has been trading since 1984, it opens at 10am six days a week and runs to 4am, and it puts dancers on stage from midday rather than waiting for the evening trade. Nothing else in Sydney keeps those hours. It has its own car park too, which matters once you are past the point where the city clubs stop being walkable.
Twin Peeks is second and is the most distinctive room in the city. It is a lingerie restaurant in Woolloomooloo, which means a full two-course a la carte meal with the show built into the sitting rather than a stage you happen to be sitting near. If you are taking a group out to eat and this is the evening, it is the obvious pick.
Men's Gallery is third. It is the most consistently recommended club in Sydney and has been for years, it is open seven nights, and at 41 Oxford Street it sits at the top of the eastern strip within walking distance of both Kings Cross and the city. It opens at 7pm Thursday to Saturday and 8pm the rest of the week.
Velvet Underground on Clarence Street and Minx on Pitt Street are the CBD pair, and they are genuinely different rooms rather than two versions of the same one. Velvet is the friendlier and more modern of the two, with private showrooms off a central stage. Minx is the quieter, more expensive end of the market and makes no secret of aiming at the after-work corporate trade.
Show Girls is sixth, on the Golden Mile at 41 Darlinghurst Road, and it is the Kings Cross classic — the room most people picture when they picture a Sydney strip club. Petersham Inn is last only because it is the least like the others: a sports pub first, with 28 screens and a separate club room behind the public bar, and the dancing runs Thursday to Saturday rather than all week.
The geography decides your night
The eastern strip is the dense part, and it is the part most guides get wrong. Men's Gallery at the Oxford Street end, Show Girls on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross and Twin Peeks on Forbes Street in Woolloomooloo are within a walk of each other, and they are three completely different evenings: a seven-night club, a late Golden Mile room and a sit-down dinner.
The CBD holds two, Velvet Underground at 64 Clarence Street and Minx at 72 Pitt Street. That is the pair to combine if you want to stay in the city centre on foot.
The last two are trips. Petersham Inn is on Parramatta Road in the inner west and Sefton Playhouse is further west again. Both are worth the travel, and both are far easier to park at than anything in town.
What to know before you go
- Ask what a dance costs before it starts, and ask whether anything is added on top. A room that will not answer that plainly at the door is telling you something.
- Watch the tab rather than the drink. Bottle service is where a club makes its money and a table can move faster than you expect.
- Sefton Playhouse is the one to know about if you want somewhere open in daylight — it opens at 10am and has dancers on stage from midday.
- Men's Gallery is the only club here open seven nights a week, from 7pm Thursday to Saturday and 8pm Sunday to Wednesday.
- Petersham Inn runs its club room Thursday, Friday and Saturday only. The sports bar is open the rest of the week, but the dancing is not.
- Twin Peeks is a booked sitting rather than a walk-in stage room, so treat it like a restaurant and reserve.
- Three of the seven are walkable from each other in the east, and two more in the CBD. The last two are a taxi or a drive.
The vocabulary is worth having straight before you go, because it is what you will be quoted prices for. The glossary covers a lap dance, a private dance and striptease, and also a hostess bar, which is a different kind of venue and is often confused with this one. If you are travelling on to Victoria, the same list for the best strip clubs in Melbourne is a much more walkable city.
Which is the best strip club in Sydney?
Sefton Playhouse. It has been trading since 1984, it opens at 10am from Monday to Saturday and runs to 4am, and it puts dancers on stage from midday, which nothing else in Sydney does. The catch is the location: it is in Sefton, well west of the city, so it is a drive rather than a walk.
Where are Sydney's strip clubs?
In two clusters and two outposts. The dense part is the eastern strip: Men's Gallery on Oxford Street, Show Girls on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross and Twin Peeks on Forbes Street in Woolloomooloo, all within a walk of each other. Two more sit in the CBD on Clarence Street and Pitt Street. The last two are out west, on Parramatta Road and in Sefton.
Which Sydney strip clubs are open seven nights a week?
Men's Gallery is the one that publishes seven-night opening, from 7pm Thursday to Saturday and 8pm Sunday to Wednesday. Sefton Playhouse opens daily as a venue, from 10am to 4am Monday to Saturday and 10am to midnight on Sunday. Petersham Inn is the clearest exception: the pub is open all week but the club room runs Thursday to Saturday only.
Is anywhere open during the day?
Sefton Playhouse. It opens at 10am Monday to Saturday and from 10am on Sunday, with dancers on stage from midday on weekdays. Most Sydney clubs are evening venues, so if you want somewhere in the afternoon it is the one to head for.
How much does it cost?
It varies by club, by night and by what you order, and venues change it without notice, so treat any figure you see quoted anywhere as an indication until you confirm it at the door. Entry, dances and drinks are three separate costs and the drinks are usually the biggest of the three. Ask about anything added on top before a dance starts.
Which one is best for a group?
Twin Peeks if the group wants to eat, because the meal and the show are one sitting and it takes bookings. Sefton Playhouse if the group is large and wants room, parking and long hours. Men's Gallery if it is a weeknight, since it is the only one of the seven open every night. Petersham Inn if you want a pub night that happens to have a club room attached.
Can women go?
Yes, at all six, and couples are common at each. Some rooms prefer that women arrive with a mixed group rather than alone, which is a door policy rather than a rule, so call ahead if you want to be sure of it.