London has no single strip club district. Ask in Soho and you will be pointed to four venues within a few streets of each other; ask in Shoreditch and you get a completely different list. The clubs sit in three or four distinct clusters, and the reason is administrative rather than cultural.
Why the clubs sit where they do
Strip clubs in England are licensed as Sexual Entertainment Venues. Since the Policing and Crime Act 2009 amended the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, each local authority licenses them separately and sets its own policy — including how many it is willing to permit within its boundaries, which in some cases is none at all.
London has 32 boroughs. That means 32 separate licensing regimes across a single city, and it explains the map: a handful of long-standing venues in the West End where licences predate the current rules, a cluster in the City fringe, and a scattering of local venues in outer boroughs. It also means the picture changes. Licences come up for renewal, and they are sometimes contested.
Soho and the West End
The oldest concentration, and still the one most visitors mean when they say “Soho”.
- Vanity Soho — Carlisle Street, W1D
- Sunset Strip — Dean Street, W1D
- The Windmill International — Great Windmill Street, W1D
- La Capannina — Bateman Street, W1D
- Platinum Lace — Coventry Street, near Piccadilly Circus
- Spearmint Rhino — Tottenham Court Road
All of these are walkable from Piccadilly Circus or Leicester Square, which is the practical appeal: you can leave a restaurant and be at the door in ten minutes.
Covent Garden, Mayfair and St James’s
The more expensive end, and generally the stricter door.
- Stringfellows — Upper St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden
- Secrets Covent Garden — Parker Street, off Kingsway
- The Mayfair Club — Dover Street, W1S
- The Gaslight of St James — Duke of York Street, SW1Y
- Sophisticats — Marylebone Lane, W1U
Shoreditch, Old Street and Clerkenwell
The City fringe cluster, and the one that has grown most in the last decade. These venues sit among the bars rather than apart from them, and the crowd skews younger and more local than in Soho.
- 23 Paul Street — EC2A
- The Horns — Old Street
- Browns Shoreditch — Hackney Road, E2
- FYEO London — City Road, EC1
- The Griffin — Clerkenwell Road, EC1R
- Metropolis — Cambridge Heath Road, Hackney
- Secrets Holborn — Gray’s Inn Road, WC1X
The East End — Aldgate, Whitechapel and Commercial Road
Less polished, cheaper as a rule, and often open later.
- Whites — Leman Street, Aldgate E1
- Charlie’s Angels — Alie Street, E1
- The Nag’s Head — Whitechapel Road, E1
- Majingos — Commercial Road, E14
West London and beyond
Local venues serving their own neighbourhoods rather than visitors.
- Secrets Hammersmith — Glenthorne Road, W6
- La Confidential — High Street, Ealing
- Charlie’s Club — Leinster Gardens, Bayswater W2
- Fillies — High Street, Kingston upon Thames
What to check before you go
Three things are worth two minutes of your time.
Confirm the club is open that night. Several London venues trade only Thursday to Saturday, and licensing conditions can change at short notice. A phone call beats a wasted taxi.
Ask about admission and house rules at the door, not inside. Entry charges, minimum spends and dance prices vary widely between the West End and the East End, and the difference is substantial.
Check the dress code. The Mayfair and Covent Garden venues enforce one. The East End clubs mostly do not.
Licences in London are reviewed regularly and venues do close. If you find something on this page that is out of date, tell us and we will check it.