10 of Europe’s bt statns for LGBTQ+ travellers this Pri season | Gay and lbian travel | The Guardian

Contents:

• 40 BT GAY DTATNS WORLDWI, ACRDG TO TRAVELERS
• THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• GREECE GAY TRAVEL
• AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)
• THE BT GAY BEACH EUROPE

40 BT GAY DTATNS WORLDWI, ACRDG TO TRAVELERS

Many LGBT+ visors may simply pass through the cy on their way to more gay-iendly Greek statns like Mykonos, but they’d be mistaken to skip Athens entirely or only drop to tch a glimpse of the Parthenon on their way to a more relaxg beach town. Bis Santori, which is probably the most popular and touristy island of them all, Mykonos probably holds the tle of 2nd for the general visor but fely tak the lead of the Greek Island gay hotspot. Travelers love the abily to enjoy the cy’s gay nightlife and quat rtrants along narrow stone pathways while also havg accs to betiful regnal beach and parks.

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

One of the most popular annual gay events Chigo is Market Days, brgg travelers om all over for a fun-filled weekend of performanc by LGBTQ+ artists. Montréal is Canada’s top gay travel statn, famo for s inic gay village, French fluence, and unique mix of gay nightlife venu along St Cathere Street East. Explore the chic vib at Bar Renard, watch some sexy dancers at the famo Camp male strip club, or have some seedy fun at a nearby gay sna—Sna Oasis is my favore!

GREECE GAY TRAVEL

Most of the cy’s excg gay nightlife is Le Marais, cludg the well-known Le Raidd, Everyone lov stoppg by Raidd for sexy “shower shows” where you n tch a ltle risqué performance. Explore all the queer-iendly spac the Zona Rosa gay district, pese lol markets, or take advantage of beg the ta pal of the world and book a ta tour!

Rambunct drag bnch rtrants like Hamburger Mary’s, evengs dancg at The Abbey, and pesg quirky ems at gay shops like Block Party WeHo are all classic experienc for LGBT travelers. Along wh an open-md culture, world-class gay nightlife, and tons of handsome men, I don’t blame travelers for cludg Tel Aviv among the bt gay statns. An epic gay rort statn, Torremolos is popular wh Spaniards and other southern Europeans, but gay travelers om other areas of the world typilly often don’t even know about !

The enormo gay nightlife center La Nogalera alive each eveng where you n make new iends, tch a drag show, and dance the night away at gay clubs like Centuryon. London has everythg a gay traveler uld want a cy—bougie hotels, flashy gay nightlife, an epic drag scene, cultural attractns, and world-renowned shoppg!

AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)

It has the largt populatn of gay rints the USA, many of which are packed to the legendary gay neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell’s Kchen, and the Wt Village.

Meanr the world’s first gay art mm, soak up the sun among the massive LGBT crowd Sheep’s Meadow, or head straight to one of the 25+ lol gay sex parti. Handsome men dancg at Klter and the Tanga party always e to md when I thk of Madrid—nowhere else the world have I walked to a packed multi-level gay club at 7:30 PM! Everyone lov beg the Castro, San Francis’s loud and proud gay neighborhood, where you’ll fd dozens of gay clothg stor, nightlife, and rtrants along Market Street.

Stayg at one of Key Wt’s gay hotels is a mt—some of the most memorable experienc are gay pool parti at the Island Hoe or sunbathg the nu your hotel’s sunck area. The most popular gay statn Europe, Sg attracts travelers of all ag wh s whewashed buildgs, of pretty beach, art galleri, lic tapas rtrants, and welg gay bars. It’s one of only five untri to make queer rights equal at a nstutnal level and holds first place on ILGA-Europe’s Rabow Europe Inx, which ranks untri on LGBTQ+ my last vis, a gay gui showed me round the wdg medieval streets of Valletta and Rabat, potg out sential bars and rtrants om Michel-starred Noni to the Monaliza Lounge drag bar, as well as the nightclub Michelangelo lively Paceville.

THE BT GAY BEACH EUROPE

This spir filters down to Dubl’s many LGBTQ-iendly tablishments: two personal favour are iendly bnch spot Social Fabric Café Stoneybatter, one of the cy’s most tertg neighbourhoods, and Street 66 bar, a eful cktail spot before a night at inic LGBTQ+ stutn The southsi is gay-owned Gutter Bookshop (named after the famo Osr Wil quote), and the weekly “big gay dis” Sunday Social at Farrier & Draper; or cross the river for the Outhoe LGBTQ+ muny rource fe on Capel Street and PantiBar, owned by drag queen, activist and performer Panti Bliss. Enjoy bnch at Osr bar and fe, before a beer at one of Europe’s olst gay bars, Centralhjor, which hosts drag and Sunday jazz ssns venu clu Bøssehet Christiania, home to theatre, performanc, exhibns and parti – a well-suated boutique hotel is SP34 (doubl om £133) the Lat Quarter. Nearby Delmoni’s (known lolly as “Del’s”), has been Merchant Cy’s “gay triangle” sce stay nearby, try the good-value Bnswick hotel (doubl om £50), on a street wh venu marked by rabow flags.

Photograph: Nick Maslen/AlamyOn my last vis to Birmgham the rabow flag seemed to be everywhere, and the historic Gay Village, wh s bars, shops and f, is hugely visible, centred largely on Hurst Street.

Start wh bibimbap at the thoroughfare’s Korean rtrant Topokki before drks at Missg, Siwalk or lbian bar The Fox and dancg at the legendary Nightgale Club, the olst gay club the cy, datg back to summer’s hot LGBTQ+ event is Fierce’s Healg Garns of Bab (27 June - 17 July): part of Birmgham 2022 Ftival, ’s an artistic rponse to this summer’s Commonwealth Gam, celebratg “what the Brish Empire tried (and failed) to stamp out”.

Mykonos’s rep as queer heaven dat back to the 1970s, when Jackie Onassis beme a regular visor (she first vised 1961), before blossomed as gay rort the 1980s, wh acmodatn sprgg up for the largely male 2022, you n hang out at tablished hotspots Jackie O, bar Porta or Kastro’s, and stay at the Super Paradise (doubl om £249), handy for the island’s ma LGBTQ+ beach. Photograph: Subodh Agnihotri/AlamyFor many gay men of a certa age, Fland is extribly associated wh leather-clad inic hero Tom of Fland, whose books pict a ggedly sexualised masculy durg a time pre-1971 when homosexualy was still illegal. Now you n take a tour of where thor Too Laaksonen lived his whole adult life, passg the Kansalaistori (People’s Square) ont of parliament, once a clanste meetg pot for gay karaoke fans should check out Mann’s Street, a boozy stutn; other fun spots are Street Pri the Kamppi district, and Kvääristö, a jot for queer women, transgenr, and non-bary people.

You might even be able to jo the Helski Homovaas (Helski Gay Invasn), whose purpose is to “shake up the gay scene” by takg over random straight bars. 5ln people each year, cludg 300, 000 overseas self is one of the most LGBTQ-iendly untri the world: same-sex sexual activy was ma legal 1979, and was the third untry to legalise gay marriage, 2005.

First stop has to be Chue, Madrid’s “gaybourhood” wh bars and venu dotted around Plaza Chue (also don’t miss the recently refurbished Merdo San Antón for tasty food stalls and a rooftop terrace).

If you’re lookg for a tour that specifilly vers every popular LGBTQ+ statn the cy, sign up for Alternative Athens’ Gay and Lbian Athens Nightlife Tour.