The best dancefloors in Sydney

This subterranean William street club has a long legacy of day and night parties to rival any of its Continental counterparts. The Berlin-inspired den regularly host nights with Motorik and local selectors. Also the later you head here, the better. 

Sydney’s much loved mid-sized live music venue doubles up as an awesome after-party when gigs conclude. The Gallery bar is usually free, while ticketed events go off in the main bar.

This hot spot on the 'Pink Mile' of Oxford Street promises pumping tunes and five nights of drag performances every week, with lines often sprawling down the street. Upstairs on Friday and Saturday nights in the former Midnight Shift club, dance parties Fame Fridays and Déjà Vu kick off after drag and dine experience Premiere packs up. 

The basement at Erskineville's LGBTQIA+ haven has got enough sweat and grind about it to make it feel like it deserves to be underground. And the best part is the music. It’s loud, and proud and so early '00s awful that it’s intoxicating. The basement also hosts regular parties from some of Sydney’s best queer collectives: Honcho Disko, Heaps Gay and Girlthing. Between underground affairs, you can have a sip and a bop while drag queens and other fab performers twirl in the ground floor bar.

This six-storey building in the heart of the Cross is home to two club floors, and Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays once again see DJs and dancefloors lighting up under the soft red glow of the famous Coke sign. 

Speaking of Sunday sessions, the dancefloor on Level One kicks off at the tail end of the week at this Taylor Square stalwart. In the basement of the popular gay bar you'll also find a boutique bar and club known as Undergound.

Harry’s snack game is strong – and what better way to work of fried chicken wings than with a post-dinner dance off. The lounge upstairs goes off with DJs from 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights.

Located in Cockle Bay, this large three-storey nightclub with Harbour views attracts locals and tourists alike for mainstream house music and occassional local live music. For the ultimate kick-on party, Morning Glory starts from 5am every Sunday. 

There may be a lot less jelly and nudity all round at this Petersham joint, but the spirit of the former topless bar lingers in the poles built into the bar. Every Saturday night, resident big time DJs The Dollar Bin Darlings & the Bottom Dollar Buddies are spinning house and disco tunes for Hot to Tot. The Oxford Tavern might have put its shirt back on, but it’s still a loose collar kind of joint where good times are the whole point.

At this hundred year old pub in Double Bay, the dancefloors get jumping every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night in the Beer Garden, Canopy Bar and Rooftop with a roster of local DJs getting your feet moving. 

They cut a mean dancefloor at the monster pub at the Newtown crossroads. Every Wednesday, the Marly's ground floor jumps with local DJs. Come Friday and Saturday nights, all three levels get their groove on: in the basement, Picnic touring presents an electric line up of DJs in rave cave Tokyo Sing Song, and upstairs at Cuckoo you can get weird with live music event YAH!

This no-frills dive bar is one of the most beloved clubs on the main gay drag of Oxford Street. People tend to head here for daggy, tipple-heavy nights that – more often than not – end up stretching into the wee hours.

Looking for a dancefloor out west? This Parramatta pub's nightclub space has you covered every weekend evening. Kicking off with RnB and hip hop for Albion Fridays, then, Vibe Saturdays packs DJs, percussion, big beats, and finally, get a taste of Latin/African-inspired music at Tropical Sundays with DJs and guests on rotation every week.

You gotta get up to get down at this huge King Street stalwart. Up on the first floor you’ll find a bar and music venue called Waywards. On Wednesdays, queer-femme night Birdcage has transplanted from the now-closed lesbian landmark Sly Fox and the entire main space becomes a dancefloor. Live music is back to full throttle with dancing at live shows in Waywards on Thursdays and Fridays, and Saturday nights bring dancing to the public bar on street level.

Boogie to your heart's content at this Surry Hills pub with Lust Song Dedications on the first Thursday of the month: DJ Levins will spin some of your favourite power ballads and tender crooners – you dedicate it, they play it. There's also DJs on the decks every Friday and Saturday night.

You'll need to climb a lot of stairs to find this al fresco rooftop haven above the Cross, but the snacks are good and the beer is cold. And wouldn't you know it, it's not a bad spot to put a little boogie in it either. 

Surry Hills' Japanese booze and snack palace can pack a mean d-floor (in addition to a mean karaoke booth). Get litty every Friday and Saturday night with DJs and dancing. 

The ability to squash so many Sydney scenes inside a modest space is one of the Gladdy's most impressive attributes. On an unremarkable Saturday night you’ve got Bondi babes, queer indie kids, footy fans, sneaker freakers, hip-hop heads and what appears to be a crew of nonchalant models all cramming into the concrete courtyard for a good time. On Friday nights 'genreless' weekly party Bloom brings emerging artists and DJs to the decks, and you're in for a knees up on Saturdays and Sunday sessions too.

While Oxford Street has changed a lot in recent years, this subterranean tropical club’s sunken dancefloor still gets pumping. Keep any eye out for regular parties from Dibby Dibby Soundsystem and a 2000s-themed rager called the Naughty Noughties.

This Bondi club gets a solid dancefloor going on the weekend. Featuring a state of the art sound system and live music set up, this crew is still spicing things up in the retail-dominated Bondi Junction.