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

Contents:

• 14 OF THE BT GAY-ONLY HOTELS & GUTHO THE WORLD
• THE WORLD'S MOST GAY-FRIENDLY BEACH CI AND RORTS
• 6 OF THE TOP GAY-IENDLY RORTS AROUND THE WORLD
• GAY SPA
• GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI
• THE BT GAY BEACH EUROPE

14 OF THE BT GAY-ONLY HOTELS & GUTHO THE WORLD

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.

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.

THE WORLD'S MOST GAY-FRIENDLY BEACH CI AND RORTS

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).

6 OF THE TOP GAY-IENDLY RORTS AROUND THE WORLD

From glisteng swimmg pools Sat Tropez, to dreamy island rorts Ibiza and Sicily, give yourself the gift of travel and geo LGBTQ+ acmodatn wh a stay at one of the fab gay hotels. The Axel Hotel cha has bee the poster child for geo gay acmodatn across the world, and wh the fabulo summer-spired ameni at Axel Madrid, this is THE place to be for summer 2022.

Wh close proximy to Madrid’s happeng - and gay - Ch district, you n spend your days mglg wh the gay lols one of the area’s many bars, before retreatg for the afternoon on the hotel’s inic rooftop.

The boppg island hosts many gay ftivals over the summer, but if you’re lookg to take thgs a ltle slower and enjoy a slice of luxury while Mykonos, check to the geo Rochari Hotel. This relaxg, gay-male-only rort is loted jt 100 meters om the popular Playa Del Inglés Beach, and offers a munal terrace and swimmg pool - flatable unirn clud, enough said!

GAY SPA

Wh a long-standg reputatn as one of the world's most liberal ci, Amsterdam is a welg place for LGBT travellers, wh a host of gay-iendly tablishments jt wag to be explored. Wanr along picturque nals and admire the cy's distctive archecture before checkg out the btlg gay bars the Amstel and Kerkstraat areas, and along Regulliersdwarsstraat. Denmark was the first untry the world to legally regnise same-sex partnerships, so s edgy pal Copenhagen naturally ranks high on any list of gay-iendly statns.

Copenhagen is also home to the olst openly gay bar Europe, and has even named the space next to Cy Hall Tower 'Rabow Square' to honour the ongog battle for equal rights.

The sun-drenched Greek island of Mykonos has long been a popular statn for LGBT travellers, so much so that the tourism dtry now largely revolv around a gay dience.

GAY EUROPE TRAVEL GUI

There's plenty of gay-iendly acmodatn, bars and eatg plac around the island, as well as the famo Super Paradise Beach, a popular hang-out for gay and straight visors alike. The Gay Village area around Canal Street is home to a great assortment of LGBT-iendly bars, rtrants and fés, and the annual Manchter Pri is one of the biggt celebratns of s kd the UK.

THE BT GAY BEACH EUROPE

There's a thrivg gay scene the Schöneberg district, wh plenty of gay-iendly bars and other tablishments lg the streets around Motzstrasse, Fuggerstrasse and Nollendorfenplatz, not to mentn attractns such as the Schwul Mm – one of the world's most important mms dited to LGBT life and culture.

While plenty of rorts wele diverse travelers, some really roll out the rabow rpets—whether they’re part of a gay-iendly brand; home to an out-and-proud LGBTQ+ staff; or part of a fabulo statn.

The brand is a Gold Global Partner of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Travel Associatn (IGLTA), and has been honored for more than a as one of the HRC’s annually ranked Bt Plac to Work for LGBTQ+ Equaly.

Along wh Grand Palladium’s tramark ntemporary sign and range of on-se rtrants and entertament, gay and lbian guts n enjoy ameni like the Zentropia Spa & Wellns and s fully equipped gym, several pools and Jacuzzis, sports facili, and direct beach accs. You will appreciate the qualy of the settg and the unique servic that we offer our gay guthoe: everyday menu for lunch and der, profsnal massag, sna, jacuzzi, a huge pool and a cktails bar! While the ncept of a gay hotel vari a b pendg on the statn and property owner, the one thg they all have mon is a visn of creatg a safe space where LGBT people n be themselv the pany of other LGBT guts.

It’s te there are many gay-iendly hotels that are not necsarily gay-themed or signed for the LGBT muny, but those properti simply n’t provi the same type of unique experience offered by a gay hotel. And even if the cy don’t have a ‘gayborhood, ’ the properti are typilly loted prime lotns where you n easily vis the statn’s most popular attractns and gay nightlife. The ncept of LGBT-specific travel started the ’70s and was pneered by Hans Ebensten, who began takg gay men on tours raftg through the Grand Canyon as well as to Carnival R Janeiro.

Durg those tim, the acceptance of LGBT people wasn’t what is today so many gay travelers really need a safe space if they wanted to travel wh their same-sex partner and not fear judgment or harassment. However, even wh the abundance of gay-iendly, mastream properti, many people still seek out those safe spac and enjoy the experience of a gay-only environment. Even today, gay hotels and gay rorts are still popular ci like Palm Sprgs, Fort Lrdale, Key Wt, Miami, Provcetown, Barcelona, Madrid, Maspalomas, Ibiza, Berl, Lisbon and Bangkok.

Gay-themed hotels – the ncept of the clothg optnal or gay rort beme popular the ’80s and ’90s, but hotels opened after this perd don’t ually follow this trend. Gay-owned hotels – gay-themed and clothg optnal gay hotels are almost always gay-owned, but on ocsn, you will fd a mastream property that happens to be LGBT-owned.

Properti of this type don’t have a gay-theme and most of the guts are likely straight but stayg at one of the properti is perhaps of tert to some travelers who might not be terted the ncept of a gay hotel.

It’s not always obv or easy to know if properti are gay-owned, but here are a few exampl that serve a mastream dience: Cova Hotel (San Francis), The Brown Hotel (Tel Aviv) or Osr Hotel (Madrid).