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

Contents:

• TOP 10 GAY AND LBIAN VATNS EUROPE
• 14 POPULAR GAY TOUR & VATN COMPANI
• 14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE
• THE WORLD'S BT GAY TRAVEL GUITHE BT GAY STATNS. FD THE BT GAY BARS, CLUBS, SNAS, BEACH AND MORE. EXCLIVE HOTEL REVIEWS, BIG DISUNTS & BOOK ONLE.BANGKOKLONDONBARCELONAMIAMISEOULSEARCH HOTELSLEARN MOREMALTAMALTA IS HOSTG THIS YEAR'S EUROPRI. VIS THIS BETIFUL MEDERRANEAN ISLAND.THE WORLD'S BT GAY TRAVEL GUI
• GAY TRAVEL TOURS & TRIPS
• GAY TRAVEL EUROPE

TOP 10 GAY AND LBIAN VATNS EUROPE

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.

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.

14 POPULAR GAY TOUR & VATN COMPANI

The cy’s olst gay bar The Waterloo dat back half a century, while another classic spot is the Unrground bar, equally fun for drag or karaoke. 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.

14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE

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).

While Lbos isn’t actually that openly gay iendly, for the past several s hors of lbians began visg the island to honor the 6th century BC poets Sappho, born the beach area of Skala Ersos, which has bee a mec for the ternatnal lbian muny.

THE WORLD'S BT GAY TRAVEL GUITHE BT GAY STATNS. FD THE BT GAY BARS, CLUBS, SNAS, BEACH AND MORE. EXCLIVE HOTEL REVIEWS, BIG DISUNTS & BOOK ONLE.BANGKOKLONDONBARCELONAMIAMISEOULSEARCH HOTELSLEARN MOREMALTAMALTA IS HOSTG THIS YEAR'S EUROPRI. VIS THIS BETIFUL MEDERRANEAN ISLAND.THE WORLD'S BT GAY TRAVEL GUI

Schoeneberg is the tradnal center of gay Berl, but the muny extends to numero gay hostels and B&B’s, clubs, rtrants, f, ftivals, monthly parti, and signer boutiqu. Swzerland is ell known as one of the most open md untri Europe, and Geneva is epicenter of gay culture wh numero gay-owned and gay-iendly bars, clubs, hotels, and gutho. Some gay tour pani offer typil day tours and excursns, but many of the pani I mentn below anize gay vatns rangg om several days to more than a week.

While some tours foc on LGBT history and gay neighborhoods of ci, many gay tours are simply about providg experienc where gay travelers n explore new plac together and feel genuely wele. Whether you want to explore the magil landsp of Iceland, the hidn treasur of Lebanon, meet elephants Thailand, or even make the journey to Antarcti, Out Adventur has an epic selectn of gay tours to choose om. Even ls-than-gay-iendly untri, Out Adventur supports the queer muni they vis along the way, notg that we n all still enrich lol liv and learn about their experienc.

Gay tours wh Detours Travel have a “laid-back, no-strgs-attached” approach, meang their excursns offer gay travelers plenty of flexibily along the urse of the trip. Wh affordable vatn packag, helpful ctomer service, and a tstworthy and well-tablished brand, ’s easy to see why Detours Travel is one of the top gay tour pani the world.

GAY TRAVEL TOURS & TRIPS

The IGLTA (Internatnal LGBTQ Travel Associatn) named their Hall of Fame Award for founr Hanns Ebensten regnizg the first gay tour—a week the Grand Canyon 1973. Gay tours of Israel’s Dead Sea, the biggt historic attractns of Rome, or the gay scen of ci like Tel Aviv and Madrid are jt a few optns to choose om.

Every gay vatn anized by Brand g is virtually all-clive, wh unlimed beverag, shore excursns, airport transfers, signature Brand g entertaers, and much more. Bookg wh Zoom Vatns, gay travelers n expect to stay upsle, gay-iendly acmodatns, have accs to a private ncierge, and tour lol attractns via privately anized and secure transport.

GAY TRAVEL EUROPE

Their gay tour packag clu everythg need for a fortable and seamls trip, cludg private airport transfers, daily breakfasts, cktail hours, and plenty of guid excursns.

Coda Internatnal Tours signs small gay group tours statns that appeal to travelers seekg to relax, have fun, and benef om the experience of beg exposed to foreign cultur and people—all wh flair and sophistitn. Coda is the ial gay tour pany for anyone seekg an all-clive travel experience where everythg is refully planned, and the overall experience is maximized. Takg pri servg the LGBTQ+ ternatnal muny Italy Gay Travels’ missn is to brg like-md people together to make long-lastg iendships and credible lifetime memori.

Usg gay tour guis, Cape Town Gay Tours provis spirg, tailor-ma tours, nsirg the exceptnally high standards that clients both serve and expect. Be a day explorg the Pensula to the tip of Ai, a day explorg the Welands, a day the cy and on Table Mounta, a day safari, a week drivg the Garn Route, or a few nights on safari, they’re a gay tour pany wh somethg for everyone.

Learn about the history of the gay and lbian muny Florence as well the love liv of great Renaissance masters like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vci, Botticelli, and Donatello. In Amsterdam, the gay scene is mostly ncentrated around the many gay bars the Reguliersdwarsstraat, and we’ve had many fun parti at the Amstel Fifty Four on Wedndays, the drks night of stunt associatn A.

There are great queer bars such as SilverFuture Nkölln and Faccla Krzberg, both wh their flare and social atmospher that make them great plac for tourists, whilst mega techno clubs and parti (what gui to gay Berl uldn’t clu Bergha?!