Gay Tampa: our travel guide to the best gay bars, clubs, hotels & things to do

Bradley's is the place to come to start the night. It's busy here whatever day of the week you come, thanks to the large community of LGBTQ students in Tampa. For example, on Monday evenings they have a 2-for-1 Happy hour on all drinks, on Thursdays an amateur ʂtriþ contest, and on Friday evenings a series of drag shows. Bradley's also has a dance area, which gets busy after midnight.

Bradley's on 7th is located at 1510 East on 7th Avenue. It is open every evening until around 3 am.

“Ybor's City's finest Hole in the Wall”…Reservoir is a cutesy dive bar, more low-key than Bradley's, with a friendly local crowd where everyone knows everyone. Sunday afternoons are the best time to come when they have their 2-for-1 happy hour until 7pm. It's super relaxed and a great place to make new friends, whether over a few rounds of pool or over a heated argument over Monopoly… Lesson learned: never play Monopoly with Seby ever again…!

Reservoir is open every evening until around 3am. It is located at 1518 East 7th Avenue.

City Side is another gay bar in Tampa not in Ybor City. It's a building with 3 bars inside and a stage, which is the focal point of the daily themed events. Check out Drag Bingo on Sundays, the ‘Darts and Bingo Tournaments' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Karaoke on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the hot boy ʂtriþþer show on Friday nights. City Side also has occasional drag shows happening – check their Facebook page for the latest info.

City Side is located at 3703 Henderson Boulevard, outside of Ybor City, southwest of downtown. it is open every evening until around 3 am.

Southern Nights is another staple on the Tampa Seventh Avenue GaYbor scene, the place where celeb drag stars are going to be spotted if they're in town. Previous performers have included Manila, Sharon Needles, Thorgy Thor, Alaska, Derrick Berry and Nina Flowers. It gets super busy here from around midnight onwards, with hot topless guys dancing and performing. This is also the place to come in Tampa for Ru Paul's Drag Race Watch Parties.

Southern Nights is only open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays until around 3am. It is located at 1401 East 7th Avenue.

The Castle is one of the most famous clubs in all of Tampa full of people from all spectrums of life, particularly the punk and gothic community. It always attracts a large queer segment particularly during the larger alternative nights like the e-Rotic Ball, the Vampire Ball, VOID in the Dungeon and Nuclear Night. From the outside, you can't miss it thanks to the pretty dramatic Gothic exterior. Inside includes a saloon, courtyard area and a dungeon!

The Castle is located at 2004 N 16th St and only open on Friday and Saturday evenings until 3am.

Southern Nights has become the city's premier drag bar. They have a drag show on almost every night of the week and host live watch parties of the latest Ru Paul's Drag Race episodes. Whenever a famous Queen is in town, Southern Nights is where she'll be at. They've had some famous faces hosting and headlining some of their weekend parties such as Sharon Needles, Trinity K Bonet, Manila Luzon Miss Vanjie, and Roxxxy Andrews. For more, check out the Southern Nights Facebook page for the latest info about the next party.

Their slogan says it all: “drinks divas dance”. The drag shows at Bradley's are hilarious. They take place in their Diva Dance Room and include the “La Cage Aux Folle” show. On Thursdays, during their amateur ʂtriþþer contests, they'll sometimes have a drag queen hosting the event, which is priceless to watch! For more info, check the Events section of Bradley's website.

City Side has become famous in the Tampa drag circuit due to its famous drag “Miss City Side” pageant Every March, contestants gather to entertain the crowds hoping to be crowned the next Miss City Side. Another prominent drag event at City Side to watch out for is the weekly “Just Slay” competition in which drag queens compete against each other in mini-challenges to win a cash prize.

Ulele (pronounced You-lay-lee) celebrates the fusion of ingredients from Florida waters (lots of fresh fish!) and land once home to many Native Americans, including the young princess Ulele. It’s also one of the most famous restaurants in Tampa located on the famous riverbank. It's always busy – and for very good reason! But you do need to book a table in advance. Their burgers are divine! And instead of fries/chips, try the okra chips.

It's French for “everything in its place” in case you were wondering! This is one of the most impressive, upscale restaurants in Tampa. The reviews are excellent and if you ask any local for a recommendation for a good restaurant, it will usually be Mise En Place! The food is excellent, especially their seafood and fresh fish. We recommend trying the Sous Vide Lobster, Seared Tuna, Pan Seared Foie Gras and the Sautéed Calamari.

THE best restaurant in ALL of Tampa for pizza – yes, we officially called it! We rate Bella’s Italian Cafe as THE best place to satisfy our carb fix. It is located in Bayshore Gardens, a short Uber ride southwest from downtown – definitely worth the journey. The pizzas are divine as are the pasta dishes and, of course, obligatory tiramisu. Service is fantastic – kinda like what we think it would be like having an Italian Nona look after us.

We came to Tampa after visiting Universal in Orlando and were craving a visit to another theme park. Busch Gardens is exactly that! It has some terrific rides to match those over at Universal. It also has an exotic zoo attached to it in which you can do a safari inside a truck and feed giraffes. The exotic animal theme inspires the names of the rides. Some of our favourites were SheiKra, Cheeta Hunt and Kumba. Pro tip: queues can get pretty long and it's worth your while buying your ticket online beforehand, which will allow you to skip the queue.

Ybor City is the historic old city of Tampa, which was nicknamed “the Cigar Capital of the World” in the early 1900s. It is named after Mr Vincente Martinez-Ybor (1818-1896), a Spanish entrepreneur who created one of the largest cigar industries in Cuba, Key West and Tampa. He set up Ybor City as a place to house his workers who were mostly immigrants. Today Ybor City is the touristic “old town” of Tampa, home to the gay scene (see above) and a pretty side of the city to explore on foot. To get the most out of it, we recommend doing a guided Historic Ybor City Food Tour with a local, which includes trying six different foods and drinks.

In terms of our diving experiences, this legit ranks as the most unique! Whilst it's only scuba diving in an artificial tank, no more than 3/4 metres (9-13ft) deep, you get up close up to manta ray, lots of tropical fish AND REEF SHARKS! Yes, sharks!! At one point Seby had a shark swim just a few inches from his face – it was simply spellbinding to watch… Of course, it's 100% safe, led by professional divers who also work at the aquarium and know how to interact with the animals safely. If you want to skip the queues, we recommend buying your Florida Aquarium ticket online beforehand.

The Tampa Riverwalk is a thing in the city that every local will proudly talk about. It's a 2.4 mile path running along the river through the downtown area passing the best restaurants (like Ulele) and museums (like the Museum of Art). There's always a buzz along the riverfront. We loved doing our morning runs here or strolling here at sunset – it's west-facing, so you're in for some impressive sunset views here every evening.

Just outside of Tampa 1.5 hours away from Tampa is the nursery for Tampa Bay's dolphin population where mothers and calves frolic the day away. You can visit as part of a guided 90-minute cruise. It's incredible – the boats will stop within 30 feet (10 meters) of the dolphins who will then swim right up to the boat to interact, pose and play with you! As well as the bottlenose dolphins, you may also see manatees and sea turtles. We like this tour because they guarantee you will see dolphins, otherwise they will let you return for free on the next trip to try again.