Europe

GERMANY: Famous for its arty, alternative and hipsters lifestyle as well as for its history as a divided city, Berlin is an all-year-round destination, worth a weekend or full week trip.

The Boutique Hotel Sleep-Inn Box 5 Nijmegen – is a charming Boutique Hotel right in the city centre of Nijmegen. The helpful and heartwarming gay couple Jos and Stephan are the owners of this almost 100 years old Dutch house. The accommodation is a well-made combination of elegant design furniture as a chic luxurious interior in modern style with comfortable beds. We felt home in this old mansion immediately.

London. It’s time for a spring city trip to the British capital with our tips for off the beaten tourist trails. On the to-do list of our 2015 trip was the musical performance “Book of Mormons” with last-minute tickets bye the ticket lottery, the visit of an exhibition at the V&A Victoria & Albert Museum about the artwork of the fashion genius Alexander McQueen and, right at the beginning , a day on the roller coasters at the theme park Thorpe Park.

Our best of the first gay cruise edition by Open Sea Cruises x Axel Hotels. Finally, it was time for our third European gay cruise gaycation around the Mediterranean Sea. The Spanish cruise operator Open Sea Cruises announced in March 2018 their long-term collaboration with the well-known Axel Hotels, a gay hotel chain featuring hetero-friendly accommodations, with the goal to organize a brand new European gay cruise experience for the entire LGBT community with concerts, parties, onboard activities, offshore tours, and more. Starting from Barcelona, the route brought us to France and Spain covering the Western part of the Mediterranean Sea. But what is special about the Pop Cruise by Open-Sea Cruises?

Our 6 Top Queer Films 2018 for Homochrom Filmfest in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. The leaves are turning orange and red, and autumn always means it‘s cinema time again in Germany! To give you the best of 2018 queer cinema, we from Couple of Men had an interesting chat with festival director Martin Wolkner about the program of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund. The queer film festival scene in Germany is second only to the USA (40+ festivals), and homochrom has become the second-largest among the 25 German festivals. But homochrom is also one of the up-and-coming festivals to watch for when they announce their program loaded with insider tips. You will always discover and be surprised by some rare and perfect world cinema which could also have been at the Berlinale or even has been. Yet the biggest surprise of the 8th Filmfest homochrom might be that admission is free to all films in 2018. We would like to give you some suggestions to help you navigate your festival experience. There are many very different queer topics in the 2018 selection, and we give you the 6 best, sexiest, most important or most dramatic movies showcasing bisexual, transgender, intersex, gay, and slightly straight stories.

Our 5 Top Lesbian Films Filmfest Homochrom 2018 in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. It’s autumn, that means it‘s cinema time again in Germany! “Couple of Men” had a nice talk with festival director Martin Wolkner about the programme of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund. It has quickly become the second-largest among a very active crowd of two dozens of queer film festivals in Germany. (Then again Cologne is still the homo capital of Germany, isn’t it?) But the Filmfest homochrom has also been one of the up-and-coming festivals to look for rare film discoveries and surprises. The biggest one yet might be that admission to all films is free this year. So grab your friends and head to the cinema. There’s no good reason to not see the whole festival, but if you have a good excuse and need to choose just a couple, you might like our suggestions. So we wanted to know which of the 2018 selection are the best, sexiest or most dramatic movies showcasing love between two women or girls. Which are the unmissable films of 2018?

Our 5 Top Gay Films Homochrom Filmfest 2018 in the German cities Cologne and Dortmund. It’s October, the Oktoberfest in Munich is over, and the trees are turning all orange and red, while it’s getting cooler. It’s cinema time again, not only in Germany! We from Couple of Men had an inspiring talk with festival director Martin Wolkner about the program of the 8th Filmfest homochrom in Cologne and Dortmund in the western part of Germany. The LGBT film festival has quickly become the second-largest among a very active crowd of two dozens of queer film festivals all around Germany. (Then again Cologne is still the gayest city in Germany, isn’t it?) But homochrom has also been one of the up-and-coming festivals to look for rare film discoveries and gay movie surprises. The biggest one yet might be that the admission to all films is free in 2018. We wanted to know from Martin Wolkner which of the 2018 film selection are the best, sexiest or most dramatic movies showcasing love between two (gay) men. Which are the unmissable films of 2018?

SPAIN: We didn’t know what to expect and what the advantages would be until checking in at the Meliá 5-Star Resort build as a traditional Spanish village in the mountains.

GERMANY: It was time for us to finally travel to Berlin again to spend some days in the biggest city of Germany where we explored the gay neighborhood Berlin Schöneberg, attend the CSD Berlin Gay Pride and tested the 4-star hotel Scandic Berlin Kurfürstendamm.

Our trip to Germany’s capital city for CSD Berlin Gay Pride. It was about time to attend Berlin pride for the first time together. The German capital is considered to be one of the most diverse, queer and alternative cities not only in Europe but worldwide. One reason for sure, why Germany is among the gay-friendliest countries worldwide. It is always a great experience to travel to Berlin in the north-eastern part of Germany, especially but not only for the huge gay pride celebration that is attracting over 500.000 LGBT (travelers) from all over the world!

CANADA: All about our trip to Alberta’s capital city for the Gay Edmonton Pride Festival, the one-week LGBTQ+ event for queer rights, equality, and love #lovewins #loveislove #YEGpride.

FINLAND: A visit to Helsinki and Finland wouldn’t be perfect without sweating in a Finnish Sauna, at least once. What about the “design-sauna-experience” LÖYLY at the Baltic Seashore?

SPAIN: It is time for Málaga, the Spanish city in the south of Spain. Known as a holiday destination for sun lovers, we took the chance to make our opinion about Málaga, the second-biggest city of Andalusia.

AUSTRIA: The recently named “Destination of the Year 2018” by the Australian LGBTI Awards was already for a while now very high on our gay travel bucket list, especially after traveling to other parts of the Alpine state before. And what could be a better reason, besides pride, to travel to Vienna than the annual AIDS Charity event Life Ball? Exactly! Lucky us, we were invited to attend the 25th edition of Life Ball 2018 and to stay at the 5-star hotel Le Méridien Vienna located in the first district right on the so-called Ringstrasse. We as a gay couple travelers couple of men couldn’t have asked for a better gay-friendly place to stay as the Design Hotel was hosting hotel of the Life Ball event just a stone-throw away from all major sights of Vienna and, of course, close by the Vienna City Hall. Join us on our city trip to Vienna in early summer right before Gay Pride and find out why you should book your stay for EuroPride 2019 in Vienna at the gay-friendly luxury hotel Le Méridien Vienna.

AUSTRIA: It is time for one of the most important annual AIDS charity events in the world. It is time for the 25th edition of Life Ball 2018

NETHERLANDS: A Gay City Weekend Amsterdam without a boat tour around the canals and Grachten of Amsterdam? No way!

NETHERLANDS: The Mainport Hotel by Inntel Hotels welcomes its guests with a stylish lobby, modern interior and a special creative touch.

CZECHIA: Full of history, unique architecture and natural beauty is really hard to find anywhere in the world, but easily in Prague.

ICELAND: Welcome to the nature world of Central Iceland around Lake Mývatn, an environment full of volcanic activity, breathtaking natural spectacles and thousands of midges.

A Gay Couple City Weekend Utrecht – Utrecht is the new Amsterdam. Or is it just the little sister of the Dutch capital? Putting this topic on the table on a bar in Utrecht starts an intense controversy about pros, cons, the local pride and the way of living in both cities of the Netherlands. The gay couple spent a Gay City Weekend Utrecht to show you their favorite places on their gay travel: eat and drink at Gys and The Village Coffee, get the best view over the city on the Dom Toren, where to wandering around for hip shops with the Puha Shopping Route and how to go back in time on track with the Spoorwegmuseum.

Sleeping in a Slumber Wine Barrel Taufsteinhütte Central Germany – We have to admit, it was a very special experience to sleep in a wine barrel in the middle of a winter wonderland in the German state Hessen. During our Winter Road Trip from Frankfurt am Main to Nature Park Hoher Vogelsberg we spent a night in the gay-friendly hotel “Slumber Wine Barrel” village at Taufsteinhhütte in the middle of the forest. The view over the Hoherodskopf with its huge with its huge radio tower covered in ice and snow was stunning. Inside the wine barrel, we felt like two hobbits in love sitting in their cozy burrow warmed up by a heater system. The newly built sauna barrel as part of the 10 wine barrel village was perfect for the weather conditions. Just make your reservation for a private session and you will be warmed up after a day in cold nature on the chute with an additional unique view over the forest of the Vogelsberg. A delicious traditional dinner and a substantial breakfast the next morning completed our extraordinary accommodation experience. Enjoy our review about gay-friendly “Slumber Wine Barrel”!

DENMARK: A day in one of the oldest amusement parks in the world should not be missed! The whole city of Copenhagen including Tivoli is changing during “Jul i Tivoli” into an ocean of light! Truly magical, especially as a Christmas present surprise trip.

ICELAND: No-Man’s-Land of Skaftafell National Park: Eternal Glacier Ice, wonderful hikes to unique waterfalls and over thousands of years old icebergs in the glacier lagoon.

ICELAND: Ever heard of the Black Beaches of South Iceland or the small South Icelandic municipality Vík or the national birds of Iceland, the Puffins?

Same-Sex Marriage Austria – For many of you, and even for us, this great news coming from Austria feel like an early Christmas present, especially for the LGBTQ+ community of the European country Austria. The Constitutional Court of Austria decided today that by the beginning of 2019 same-sex couples will be allowed to marry in the alpine country. After Germany this summer, the next European country will get marriage equality, although some time and patience is still needed.

Amsterdam Light Festival Highlights 2015-2014 – Wintertime in Western Europe is quite a difficult time: almost no snow combined with a lot of wind and rain. Additional to shorter days and the lack of light the Dutch capital Amsterdam initiated 4 years ago the annually Amsterdam Light Festival. Artist working on alight project were given the opportunity to dive Amsterdam into light. Do it like the gay couple is doing it and discover the beauty of the city in the dark! Turn the lights on for Amsterdam Light Festival Highlights of 2015 & 2014!

Our Gay Travel Guide Gaudi Architecture Casa Mila La Pedrera – A landmark of pure Modernism. Barcelona is without any doubt the city of Antoni Gaudí, a Spanish Catalan architect of Catalan Modernism. Next to the UNESCO World Heritage Sagrada Familia, one of his most famous creations of Gaudí it the apartment complex Casa Milà. Also known as La Pedrera (the quarry), this civil building was Antonio Gaudi’s last work before dedicating his full energy to built the world famous, Sagrada Familia (estimated finish in 2026). The Casa Milà is one of our favorite buildings in Barcelona and definitely worth the queuing time. Get your ticket and start your discovery with an elevator trip to the roof top of the Gaudí’s building, we enjoyed an amazing view over the city. On our way down we explored fully, originally equipped apartments and learned about the difference of creating this huge piece of architectural art in the middle of Barcelona. Enjoy our photos and the Casa Milà through a couple of men’s eyes.

The 9th edition of the Goldelsen-Cup Berlin Gay Lesbian Volleyball Tournament 2017 – It is time to kick-off our Gay Sports articles on our blog with this year’s Goldelsen Cup in Berlin! The 9th edition of the annual International Gay and Lesbian Volleyball Tournament in Berlin is considered to be one of the biggest European LGBTQ+ Sports Tournaments taking place at the end of November in the German capital. As chance would have it, Karl is a passionate Volleyball player who started his Volleyball career at the age of 12. After he came out of the closet, Karl decided to join the International Gay-Lesbian Volleyball League playing in tournaments all around the world with his Teams from SSL Vorspiel Berlin and SLS “Der Bogenschütze” Dresden e.V..

Where are you from Party The Cruise 2017: As a permanent costume party feature, The Cruise by La Demence organizes the getting-to-know event as one of the first parties of the annual cruise week. There are more than two thousand gay men on board the cruise ship Monarch but we actually have no idea where every single man actually comes from! And there were lot men to take into account! In total 86 different nationalities from all over the world gathered together for one big colorful, peaceful gaycation celebration on board the gay cruise ship!

ICELAND: Lucky us, we had a little extra time during our 21-day Road Trip around Iceland to try a second whale watching tour, this time in Dalvík in North Iceland.

GERMANY: Same-Sex Marriage holds a majority within all parties except the right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) and members of the Christian Democratic Union. We will have Same-Sex Marriage in Germany!

Our Photos Videos (Gay) Pride Week Amsterdam 2017 – The team of this year’s Gay Pride Week of the Dutch capital had a difficult task to solve. Why? Well, since 2016 was the year of the Euro Pride in Amsterdam with a whole month full of activities, events, and more than 560.000 guests from all over the world, the expectations to organize an impressive LGBTQ+ Pride Event were set high. You wanna know how we rate the (Gay) Pride Amsterdam 2017 in our home city? We loved it. And we are talking not only about the world famous Amsterdam Canal Parade.

Our Strong Photos Gay Euro Pride Amsterdam 2016 – Amsterdam during the first weekend in August is like a festival of colors, rainbows and a lot of love. It is the time of the annually Gay Pride with a worldwide unique canal parade of colorful boats along the historic Prinsengracht. This year over 560.000 LGBT people from all over the world celebrated their pride in the Dutch capital, one of the most open-minded, gay-friendly and equality providing cities in the world. The gay couple Karl and Daan enjoyed this warm summer weekend in their hometown, sharing their 33 Strong Photos Gay Euro Pride Amsterdam 2016. Happy Pride 2016 from Amsterdam!

FINLAND: Kept as a secret, the citizens of Helsinki are more than proud to live in their wonderful nature connected city.

FINLAND: The biggest Amusement of Finland is named Linnanmäki located right north of the city center of the Finnish capital city Helsinki. And of course, we had to test it our during our Gay City Trip to Helsinki

Gay Couple Baltic Pride 2017 Tallinn Estonia – We are happy to announce that we will attend this year’s Baltic Pride 2017! The LGBTQ+ event that aims to “increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ people” joins forces with Tallinn Pride. The rainbow colored Gay Pride Festival will take place from July 6th to July 9th. Therefore, the Estonian capital is planning to organize a long list of events throughout the pride week starting with art exhibitions, LGBTQ+ film screenings to the colorful gay pride parade through the capital of Estonia. Together with supporters from the Baltic States, across Europe and from all over the world, we will celebrate the 9th edition of Baltic Pride, that rotates between the three Baltic capitals Vilnius, Tallinn, and Riga. This year, it is Tallinn’s turn to host the gay pride week. But we will have more to explore in the beautiful city of Tallinn. As one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we cannot wait to spend the first week in July in Estonia. Join us on our gay travels to Estonia and see the Baltic Pride 2017 in Tallinn with this year’s festival theme “United” through a couple of men’s eyes.

The First Utrecht Canal Gay Pride 2017 The Netherlands – It is time. Time for the LGBTQ+ community of Utrecht to celebrate the annually Gay Pride Event with their first own, unique and rainbow colored Canal Pride Parade. “The heart of the Netherlands” will turn pink when for the first ever dressed up Grachten boats will ride the old canals of the fourth biggest city of the Netherlands accompanied by proud gay, lesbian, bi, trans and friends from all over the world. Starting at Ledig Erf, the Utrecht Gay Pride Parade on the canals will end at the Zandbrug, just around the corner of the well-known gay bars “Bodytalk” and “Café Kalff”.

FINLAND: Being one of the most powerful but grounded Gay Pride Parades in Finland, Europe and worldwide we attended so far, we could capture our favorite moments of love, diversity, and beauty.

ICELAND: Asking travel guides, books, blogs, and official websites was not really satisfactory concerning the length of our trip, choice of our rental car, the planning of our gay-friendly accommodations and assembling our camping equipment.

ICELAND: Looking back on the fantastic things we experienced during our 21-day camping road trip, it was just the perfect adventure trip in Northern Europe.

Our Gay Couple Biking Trips Amsterdam Forest brings us this time to the green lounge of the Dutch capital, to the Amsterdamse Bos or the Forest of Amsterdam. Located in the South-West of the city of Amsterdam, the man-made nature preserve is home to hundreds of different bigger and smaller animals, beautiful gardens, waterways and of course, wood. All year around the Forest of Amsterdam offers its visitors space to breath fresh air and relax from busy everyday life in a peaceful green environment just 30 minutes by bike from the city center of Amsterdam.

NETHERLANDS: Scar Tissue, a Dutch gay short movie, written and directed by Nish Gara, produced by Martijn Krediet, shows how a casual hook-up between a Syrian refugee and a Dutch man, can end up being more difficult than you would think.