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

Contents:

• LGBTQ+ AMSTERDAM – THE 14 BT GAY BARS AND CLUBS
• 14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE
• 10 OF OUR FAVOURE GAY BARS EUROPE
• AND THE GAYT CY EUROPE IS... (DISVER OUR TOP 10 WNERS)
• LGBTQ+ BERL – THE CY’S BT GAY BARS, CLUBS AND SNAS
• THE 10 BEST EUROPE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EUROPE
• THE 10 BEST AMSTERDAM GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS AMSTERDAM
• GAY NIGHTLIFE EUROPE
• GAY FRANCE

LGBTQ+ AMSTERDAM – THE 14 BT GAY BARS AND CLUBS

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.

14 GAY-IENDLY CI THAT LGBT TRAVELLERS LOVE

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. 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.

10 OF OUR FAVOURE GAY BARS EUROPE

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). 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?!

Compared to other plac Mexi, was the cy where I saw the most signs of affectn public between same-sex upl, and there are plenty of gay bars, clubs and parti for everyone. The right to change legal genr has been place sce 2012 and anti-discrimatn laws are full force Rosar and the big pal cy, Buenos love Buenos Air bee has one of the bt gay scen across Lat Ameri, which is heavily supported by the ernment, particular Augt when has s BADiversa week every Augt. The gay scene of Buenos Air is que spread out, but the fol pot is the large, rintial neighbourhood of Palermo, pl a few plac dotted about super ol San Telmo and well-to-do Releta.

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

Hostels Auckland | Cheap flights to AucklandGran Canaria, Canary IslandsGran Canaria, remend by Stefan and Sebastien om Nomadic Canaria is an extremely famo statn throughout the year for European gays. From the 1960s, tourism really started to take off, attractg more and more foreigners and therefore even more tolerant love Gran Canaria bee there is a massive gay scene at Maspalomas and Playa l Ingl the southern part of the island.

Gran Canaria also has several gay pri ftivals happeng throughout the year such as the Maspalomas Fetish Week October, Maspalomas Wter Pri November, Carnivals Febary (both Maspalomas and Las Palmas), Maspalomas Gay Pri May and fally numero bear parti October and another of our favoure experienc Gran Canaria was takg a boat trip (n by Canarias Gay) wh iends to the remote beach lled Gui Gui. Hostels Gran Canaria | Cheap flights to Gran CanariaMilan, ItalyMilan, remend by Luigi & Daniele om Gayly love Milan bee has the bt GLBT scene Italy. Hostels New York | Cheap flights to New YorkRome, ItalyRome, remend by Luigi & Daniele om Gayly is an credible cy wh tonn of amazg plac to take photos and historil s that will take your breath away.

You’ll fd yourself talkg to everyone and, wh the night g, you’ll want to disver one of the most popular Italian clubs: Mucssassa wter and Gay Village Pri tak place every June. Hostels Rome | Cheap flights to RomeLisbon, PortugalLisbon, remend by Gian Lu om Viaggia e of the most amazgly gay-iendly ci I n remend for LGBT travellers Lisbon.

LGBTQ+ BERL – THE CY’S BT GAY BARS, CLUBS AND SNAS

Therefore, public displays of affectn (PDAs) and topics like sex and sexualy are thgs Japane do not talk about, though genr norms are more fluid Japan than elsewhere the LGBT people Japan are jt ‘gay for the weekend’ and often even have a ‘normal’ fay durg the rt of the week. The gay bars n be found Tokyo’s gay area Shju-nichōme, the perfect place to eher fd your special someone or to celebrate your love wh your special someone. To fd the bt gay hangouts, the top neighborhoods clu the U Street Corridor, Dupont Circle or Logan Circle wh LGBT favore spots like Cobalt, 30 Degre, Green Lantern or DIK Bar.

THE 10 BEST EUROPE GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS EUROPE

The cy’s premier fancial district by day, once the sun go down the area is home to lectable street food, rooftop bars and Thailand’s prospero and lively gay village. Gay bars have been around for over 100 years European hotspots; Germany, the UK and France particular have a long history of gay bars and parti for the history books. The bt LGBTQ+ bar Budapt is probably jt what you’d expect, the grty, trendy and dtrial style of our favoure parts of Budapt wh the glam, epic mic and shows of our favoure gay bars anywhere.

THE 10 BEST AMSTERDAM GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS AMSTERDAM

On an afternoon Schöneberg, you’ll jo proud gay upl walkg the same historic streets where LGBTQ artists and activists once began the fight for gay rights, as early as the 1890s fact.

You’ll fd a number of monuments around the cy memoratg the many LGBTQ victims of WWII, wh the Schwul Mm documentg the art, culture and history of Berl’s homosexual muny, which was long centred , Nollendorfplatz is still the place to be if you’d like to see the cy’s bt fetish clubs and leather bars, wh September brgg wh the Folsom Europe BDSM and subculture ftival. As well as s progrsive lols and large gay muny, the cy self is a playground for gay travellers, most notably the Chue neighbourhood where there’s always some kd of event happeng.

The third natn to legalize gay marriage back 2005, Spa’s pal has sce bee a mol for other untri, wh s equaly acts allowg for same-sex adoptn, marriage and legal safeguards agast discrimatn. Drawn through wh waterways and nnected by hundreds of photogenic bridg, Amsterdam is the cy of the cyclist, allowg for scenic ris along the Prsengracht nal and the Amstel River which both bee awash wh para boats durg the annual gay nal pri. At all other tim, you n fd Amsterdam’s gay scene centred on Reguliersdwarsstraat, particularly at the cy’s olst gay bar, Cafe t’ Mandje, a popular late-night meetg pot wh kschy dér datg back to the 1920s.

GAY NIGHTLIFE EUROPE

While explorg the cy, be sure to look for the Homomonument, a se promoted as a livg monument to homosexuals opprsed and persecuted around the world, also learng more of the cy’s LGBT history at the Pk Pot rmatn sk close by.

This uld even be a rult of the cy’s long gay history, as London has hosted a steady stream of gay bars sce the 1700s, wh Soho beg the first gay district Europe. This area surroundg Old Compton Street central London remas the go-to place for 21st century gays, nstantly transformatn wh queer-oriented theatr, fés, sex shops and bookstor on every street. As well as drkg outlets, mil theatre remas alive and well on London’s Wt End, wh gay mils and LGBTQ productns on the regular smaller venu and clubs such as Above The Stag.

Copenhagen, DenmarkWh Denmark beg one of the first European natns to legalize same-sex marriage 2012 (and same-sex unns back 1989), ’s pal of Copenhagen certaly has the crentials to be crowned gay pal of Europe.

GAY FRANCE

Though smaller events like World Aids Day and the EuroGam are celebrated throughout the year, the pnacle event for the gay muny mt be Copenhagen Pri, which actually happens twice a year both June and well as your ual dance clubs, Copenhagen go one better wh a selectn of sophistited gay spots near Cy Hall, while the alternative scene meets nearer Central Statn or Vterbro, the cy’s old Red Light District.

To fd your people, head straight for La Marais, the only official gaybourhood of Paris which hosts the large majory of the cy’s gay bars, clubs, fés and LGBTQ bs. Historilly speakg, Paris has always been a ltle queer, known rmally as the ‘Vice of Sodom’ the Middle Ag and havg legalised homosexualy as early as the French Revolutn back 1791.