Klub Tiffany/Klub Monokel (at Metelkova Mesto)

Ljubljana's defining after-dark gay experience can be found here in this labyrinthine space that remains one of the centrepiece institutions in the "autonomous cultural zone" Metelkova Mesto (aka Metelkova City) — a sprawling series of indoor and outdoor social spaces devoted to alternative art, live music and club life, started in 1993. The gay/straight Tiffany and the lesbian-run Monokel co-exist happily in a sexy building among the former 18th/19th-century-built military barracks that make up much of Metelkova. Tiffany's roots are in the 1980s, when the gay and punk/industrial scenes overlapped in their need for an independent culture. Initially a squat, and called Consulate, the club adopted its current moniker in the late 1990s and, since 2010, has been overseen by performance artist Jernej Skof. Emphasis here is on drinking and music (modern pop and chart oldies), with a guaranteed heaving dance floor as the night progresses. There's a particularly atmospheric and tucked away garden area for breathers and other diversions, opened in 2012. Tiffany is all-embracing but also stages men-only nights, plus drag parties. Monokel, co-run by NinaBelle and Nina Hudej, occupies two adjoining rooms, and the DJs specialise in hard core techno — the same ilk of music heard at the two Ninas' famous central Ljubljana café-bar Pritlicje. [see entry]. Ljubljana's Metelkova is a world unto itself, untouched by corporate hands, and Tiffany and Monokel are its gay jewels within.