Gay-Friendly Travels

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..

THE CRUISE: The weather could not have been better when the first high heels entered the dancefloor. Blue sky and warm summer sun were promising making the Lady Party a total success, again!

CRUISE: Right after being back from ashore, we slipped into our golden wrestling outfits, put on our disco wigs and golden sunglasses to join the party crowd on the pool deck to “Boogie Oogie Oogie” into the night.

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.

Gay Couple Travel Blogger Benidorm Pride Spain 2017 – Summer is over! No, wait it is not! The Spanish holiday destination Benidorm is inviting the LGBTQ+ community from Europe and the whole world to celebrate one of the last Gay Pride of the Pride season 2017 in the city at the Mediterranean Sea. It will be a whole week full of events, parties, and the rainbow colored gay pride parade in the summer sun of the popular Costa Blanca coast in Spain. For the 7th time, the gay pride will take place in Benidorm expecting more than 15.000 people, especially coming from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. We as gay travel bloggers will arrive September 6th in Alicante traveling further to our final destination Benidorm at the Hotel Meliá Villaitana. Besides the incredible and unique skyline of Benidorm, the Spanish city has a remarkable old town, too. Our plans are to do an E-Bike tour along Benidorm’s coast visiting small coves and beaches and might even go snorkeling! Furthermore, we will make sure to have enough time to test Benidorm’s Mediterranean cuisine, the water park Aqualandia and the theme park Terra Mítica. But our main focus, of course, will be Benidorm Pride 2017 with its three “F”: Fun Friendly Flirty. Join us in Benidorm and on our Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Twitter and experience the Spanish LGBTQ+ Festival in Benidorm through a couple of men‘s eyes!

A stay at ROCKET ROOMS Velden am Wörthersee gay-friendly – Summer time is Pink Lake time! This year for the first time, we attended the 10th edition of the popular Pink Lake Festival in Southern Austria. Therefore, we stayed at the gay-friendly Hotel ROCKET ROOMS right in the city center of Velden am Wörthersee. Our double room with balcony, a rich breakfast, friendly staff and the central location provided us everything we needed for our time in Carinthia. The market town Velden am Wörthersee, well-known for the Renaissance castle Schloss Velden, is located at the Western lake side of Lake Wörth. It is one of the most famous holiday resorts of Austria. Especially in summer time, the warm and turquoise blue water of the lake together with several public and private bathing beaches are creating a wonderfully relaxed holiday atmosphere. When you are looking for a stay in a modern, stylish and hip place in Velden, ROCKET ROOMS Velden are the right choice. Enjoy our hotel review of the LGBTQ+ friendly accommodation in Velden am Wörthersee and see the ROCKET ROOMS through a couple of men‘s eyes.

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.

Gay Couple Biking Tour Fort Island Pampus – Amsterdam during summer time is the best time of the year to explore the city but also the beautiful natural surroundings. But how are the Dutch people doing it? Of course, by bike! This weekend we decided to bike back in the past to learn more about Dutch history and the defense systems around Amsterdam, which have been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We started our tour in Amsterdam center.

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

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”.

CANADA: Visiting a Dinosaur museum was not the first thing that came to our mind when thinking of traveling the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Alberta. But it was a great unexpected adventure.

CANADA: Thinking about Calgary, a public art scene would not be necessarily the first thing that comes to your mind, especially not in Downtown Calgary with all its huge skyscrapers and financial offices. We have been disabused. A variety of sculptures, gigantic graffitis, outdoor paintings and sunny parks with public art are scattered all around the heart of the Canadian city in the province of Alberta. Additional to the outdoor art installations, a multiplicity of public art in most of the foyers and backyards of the modern buildings showcase art pieces from all over the world. During our stay in Calgary right before our road trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta, we became gay city explorers.

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.

The Telus Spark Calgary Star Trek Academy Experience – There is always time for a Star Trek Day, at least for us Trekkies. And so we made sure to visit the Science Museum Telus Spark in Calgary for its Star Trek The Starfleet Academy Experience and day full of fun with Mister Spock, Captain Kirk, Captain Picard and Kathryn Janeway. Entering a perfectly themed world, we completed a phaser training, improved our Klingon knowledge with language lessons and tried to pass the Kobayashi Maru test. But there was more to see! The museum complex just 5 minutes by car north of Calgary Zoo opened in 2011 and is since then a place for interactive exhibits, multimedia presentations and educational demonstrations in Calgary, Alberta, and Canada. Right before our 2-week Road Trip through the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta, we spend some adventurous days exploring Canada’s third-largest municipality and the surroundings sights. The exhibition around the Federation of Planets at Telus Spark is still open until May 4th. Enjoy our photos and story of our Star Trek experience and see the Canadian Science Museum Telus Spark through a couple of men’s eyes!

CANADA: Exploring the Canadian Rocky Mountains around Banff and Lake Louise: Visit and stay at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, the “Castle in the Rockies” at Banff National Park.

Our stay at the Calgary Airport Marriott Terminal Hotel Gay-friendly – After our wonderful road trip through Alberta and the Canadian Rocky Mountains all the way up to Jasper for Jasper Pride Festival, we returned to Calgary the head full of impressions and pictures of stunning nature. Before we started our trip back from Canada to Europe early in the morning, we stayed in the brand new Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel with a unique view over the International Airport YYC, Downtown Calgary, and the snowy tops of the Canadian Rockies. Luxurious interior, access to the M Club Lounge, and the super short way from the Hotel check-out to the Airport check-in made our gay travel In-Terminal hotel experience a great final adventure in Canada in the year of its 150th anniversary 2017. But why booking an In-Terminal Hotel? And did we sleep well although facing the runway of the airport? Enjoy our gay-friendly hotel review with our best photos, info, and tips for your stay in a gay-friendly hotel in Calgary and see the Calgary Airport Marriott Terminal Hotel through a couple of men’s eyes.

Our Fat Tire Biking Calgary Nomad Gear Rentals adventure during our Gay Couple City Weekend Calgary, even in winter time! How is that possible? With a new trend “winter sports” called fat tire biking with spikes for the ice parts on the street. The city of Calgary as gay- and bike-friendly metropole in Alberta, Canada offers quiet some kilometers of well-prepared and safe bikeways throughout Downtown Calgary but also along relaxing scenic attraction along the Bow and Elbow River. Although the temperature on the thermometer dropped down to minus 20 degrees Celsius, we decided to take the opportunity of clear fresh winter air and sun shine to bike around Calgary.

The historic Fairmont Palliser Hotel Downtown Calgary Canada – With over 100 hundred years of luxurious hospitality tradition in one building right in the center of Calgary in Alberta, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel is an institution to experience the glamor of recent decades of Canadian Railway Hotel businesses. Opened in 1914, the remarkable building was designed by Architect Lawrence Gotch of E. and W.S. Maxwell of Montreal. Fans of Edwardian architecture will love the Fairmont building in Chicago School Look, especially from the outside since it was the highest building in Calgary town, at least until 1958. But also from the inside, the Palliser Hotel did not lose a piece of its majestic presence due to several renovation and investments in the past couple of years. The very central location right next to the Calgary tower and in Downtown Calgary at Palliser Square made our stay very comfortable. The gay-friendly staff, the luxurious pool and spa area in the basement, the comprehensive breakfast, and very well equipped rooms made our long gay couple city weekend Calgary right before our Winter Road Trip through the Rocky Mountains to Jasper extra convenient. Enjoy our review of our gay-friendly hotel stay Calgary with photos, stories, and info about the historic Fairmont Palliser Hotel Calgary and see the legendary Canadian over one hundred years old luxury Calgary City Hotel through a couple of men’s eyes.

The Jasper Ice Pride Maligne Canyon Ice Walk Tour with Sundog Tours. – Spectacular and an experience we would not want to have missed! Hiking the frozen Maligne river through the Maligne Canyon in Jasper National Park Alberta Canada was without any doubts one of our gay travel highlights during our Winter Road Trip from Calgary to Jasper. The Canadian Rocky Mountains with their thousand waters, spectacular snow topped mountain ranges, and the hidden secrets of the pure nordic nature life have been a great adventure, especially with high snow and chilly minus 20 degrees in March! Just 10 minutes by shuttle from Jasper Town, Alberta a icy winter wonderland waits to be discovered. Together with our mountain guide from gay-friendly Sundog Tours we hiked to the bottom of Maligne Canyon, the deepest accessible canyon of Jasper National Park where we explored deeply frozen waterfalls, stunning ice caves, hidden ice crystals, and a great place for ice climbing. The 3.5 kilometers long hike has it all. At the end we were able to enjoy a spectacular view from the mountain top of Maligne Canyon. Ask everything you wanna know about wildlife, the nature reserves, and if you will encounter bears during the tour. The rangers and tour guides know what they are talking about. But now enjoy our Ice Pride Walk during Jasper Pride Festival 2017 through a couple of men’s eyes with all info you need to know for your special ice experience!

The Coco’s Café Jasper Best gay-friendly Food Place – We know it, you know it, finding the best breakfast place in town, especially when you are vegan or vegetarian is not always the easiest task to start your day with. Especially, when you are about to start a day full of nature explorations around Jasper National Park and beautiful Rocky Mountains. But if you are looking for a gay-friendly restaurant of café with locally sourced organic ingredients in Jasper Town, we found the right place for you!

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.

Our Best Lesbian Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – In celebration of its 20th edition in 22 years the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is welcoming film and movie enthusiasts from all over the world to see, feel, experience over 120 short movies, documentaries, and motion pictures in Amsterdam. The topics differ from gay, lesbian, transsexual, intersexual, bisexual to all variations in between. But since it is the 20th anniversary of the biggest Film Festival in the Netherlands, the LGBTQ Film Festival will show some great Dutch movies, too. You will be amazed what cultural LGBTQ Life Amsterdam has to offer besides the wonderful Gay Canal Pride Parade every year.

Our best Gay Movies Roze Filmdagen Amsterdam 2017 – This year the LGBTQ Film Festival in Amsterdam is celebrating its 20th edition with more than 120 short movies, documentaries and motion pictures. Additional to the premier of SCAR TISSUE, the gay migration movie with our Daan as one of the main actors, the Amsterdam Queer Film Festival is featuring movies with Gay Men, Lesbian, Transsexual and Intersexual topics from all over the world but of course, with a Dutch focus as it is the 20th edition of the LGBTQ Film Festival in 2017. Thus, for a selection of the Top 10 Lesbian and Mix movies during the Festival, click on our Blog article “Best 10 Lesbian & Mix Movies of the Roze Filmdagen”!

Our Review of the Escape Room Amsterdam Xitroom – Our hometown, the Dutch capital Amsterdam, has numerous Escape Rooms to offer, most of them in English language and therefore an ideal adventure during your gay travels to the Netherlands. The Escape Room “The Professor ” by Xitroom is our this week’s looked-up-in-a-room experience. The team game is located right at the famous Prins Hendrikkade just a 10 minutes walk from Amsterdam Centraal, the main station, the harbor area including Nemo and the Red-Light-District as some of the best-known sights right in the city center of Amsterdam. We could choose between two different rooms beforehand while making the appointment. A cozy waiting area with drinks and snacks and very friendly and helpful staff was waiting for us to lock us up and trying to make it as difficult as possible for us to find our way out. To escape the room “The Professor” on time before the 60 minutes were up, we teamed up with our friend Barbara from Austria. Enjoy our review of the Xitroom Escape Room “The Professor” and see the looked-up world through a couple of gay men’s eyes!

Our Review of the Escape Room Nice France Fox in a Box – During our gay travel for French weekend at the Côte D’Azur visiting the city of Nice, we decided to play the Escape Room by Fox in a Box, a well-known internationally brand. Curious about an Escape Room in France in the English language, we arrived at 29 rue Delille in a beautiful old-town building in Nice. The friendly staff of “Fox in a Box – Nice” made us feel very welcome in their cute decorated waiting/chill area filled with little puzzles to get in the right mood. We decided to play the Bunker, a locked up room experience designed around the story of a nuclear bomb launch. We played the room with just the two of us. The puzzles have been well designed and story driven which made it a lot of fun to do our best. When you find yourself on a rainy day in the French city of Nice make sure you make a quick reservation for the Bunker, Central Bank or Zombie Lab escape room to have an awesome experience during your gay couple city weekend Nice France.

SOUTH EUROPE: Finally, we went on a Gay Cruise – with La Demence 6th edition on the cruise ship SOVEREIGN around the sunny and warm Mediterranean Sea.

A Gay Couple City Weekend Nijmegen – It is time for Nijmegen, the oldest Dutch city is the fifth destination of our Dutch Gay City Tour in a warming late winter sun. We spent a long weekend in the history-charged charming city in Gelderland close to the German border. While wandering and biking around the unique mixture of a traditional Dutch city with a modern touch in architecture, art, hip and cozy places and along the Waal river, we felt home for some days in our gay-friendly hotel Sleep in Box5. An early warm spring sun, a busy shopping crowd in the city center and abounded spots along the river: Nijmegen has it all. Don’t forget to look up the old Dutch houses, check historical Roman archaeological finds at Valkhof Museum, enjoy a beer and dinner at the Honig Factory and discover the world like blind people do. Follow us on our Gay Couple City Weekend Nijmegen on the scout of history in the summer capital of the Netherlands by the Waal river and see Nijmegen through a couple of men’s eyes.

Having Lunch at Surf House Barcelona Food Drinks Beach View. On our way from the narrow old town city streets of the Catalan city of Barcelona to the beach, we got hungry. Sensing the delicious Spanish tapas along the way, we felt it was time for Lunch. Eager to get as quick as possible close to the sand and the Mediterranean Sea, we were looking for a restaurant close to the beach. And there is was right at the corner of Carrer l’Almirall Aixada and Carrer de l’Almirall Cervera, the Surf House Barcelona looked more than inviting. Well, we could even see the sand and hear the Spanish and foreign people enjoying themselves at the beach. How about a fresh bagel, tomato relish sandwiches, ice cold ginger beer and an Oreo-Milkshake?

SPAIN: Teleférico del Puerto Port Cable Car Barcelona is a great way to see the beautiful Catalan city from above from the harbor area all the way up to Mirador del Poble Sec.

A Gay Couple City Weekend The Hague – Big City Vibes of Den Haag. The Hague, Den Haag, Den Hague. The third biggest City of the Netherlands has many names and a very special and very different feeling compared to all the other Dutch cities the gay couple has visited so far. With an urban, metropolitan big city feeling, a weekend break to The Hague is unique, different and seems definite not enough to experience everything on one weekend in Netherland’s Western part. Why? Read now more about our Gay Couple City Weekend The Hague and explore the city through a couple of men’s eyes.

NETHERLANDS: Review of our gay-friendly stay at Loft Westeinde Apartment in the City Center of The Hague during our Dutch City Tour around the Netherlands.

ICELAND: The Hestasport Cottages Varmahlíð North Iceland gay-friendly – or the perfect place to recharge your road trip North Iceland batteries.

ICELAND: What would a trip to Iceland be without a ride on a real Icelandic horseback through unique nature? Right, not a complete 21-days road trip around Iceland.

ICELAND: Thinking of North Iceland and it’s beautiful and impressive Glaciers, we automatically had to think about all the glacier rivers coming from the frozen giants streaming thousands of years old water.

ICELAND: High on our list: the famous Askja Volcano and a swim in its famous caldera, lake Víti. But how do you get there safely through the rough nature of the Icelandic central region?

ICELAND: Our first experience with the Gentle Giants – Whale Watchingin Húsavík with Gentle Giants in North Iceland.

ICELAND: Did you have ever been in an ice cave created by lava underneath a volcano? Have you ever seen naturally grown ice stalagmites and stalactites in 100% darkness and 100% silence?

Happy New Year’s celebrations everyone and may 2017 be a good year for you and your beloved ones! We would like to thank you for your loyalty and support during our past travel months, for your tips, advice, and for all the time we spend together along the travel paths. The past 12 months have been very special to us. Exploring unknown countries, meeting so many, so lovely people and being able to attend Gay Pride Parades in Helsinki, Tel Aviv, and Amsterdam just made 2016 to one of our best travel years we ever had.