Gay Couple Reviews

The year of Canada’s 150th anniversary is the year of our first gay travels to the biggest North American country. Our first trip to Canada brought us to Alberta, the western Canadian province famous for the Canadian Rocky Mountains, incredibly beautiful nature, the world-famous scenic Icefields Parkway and its amazing food scene. But also for the well-known cities Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and, of course, Jasper. The goal of our 14-days Road Trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains in March was Jasper, a small mountain town famous for its annually Jasper Pride Festival with a gay pride parade on the hills of the ski resort Marmot Basin.

Top 10 Gay Travel Christmas Presents 2018 – It is time for the second edition of our annual list of our top Gay Travel Christmas gifts. This year, we found some great gifts like wooden bow ties and clothing made of eco materials that support our intentions for 2019 to find and promote sustainability in gay travel. And, of course, some interesting ideas for your gay travel bucket list that are perfect Christmas presents as well. Did you ever think about celebrating a Gay Pride on a Celebrity Cruise ship? As Gay Travel Bloggers we love to find extraordinary things like souvenirs from around the world but also Gay Travel Christmas Presents from companies in and around our home city Amsterdam.

FRANCE: During our Gay Couple City Weekend Nice in December, we stayed at Art & Spa Windsor Hotel in the city center of the French pearl at the Côte d’Azur.

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.

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.

FINLANDS: Escape the Ordinary. Under this motto, hotel guests can discover the unique accommodation in a former Finnish prison on Helsinki’s island Katajanokka.

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.

Review of our gay-friendly stay at the Marriott Downtown Toronto Eaton Centre. Modern style, a gay-friendly staff, and a perfect location: During our gay couple city trip in the largest Canadian city Toronto, we stayed right in the heart between Downtown Toronto and Church-Wellesley Village, the popular so-called Gay Village. The Marriott hotel offers good service for gay and LGBT travelers including spacious and comfortable rooms, a rooftop pool as well as a whirlpool, a very nice 24-hour fitness studio with a Toronto city view, a rich breakfast buffet and free luggage service. We found all we needed for a gay-friendly stay in Toronto at Lake Ontario before we headed to our next Canada adventure, Niagara Falls. But now enjoy our hotel review of the modern 4-star hotel Marriott Downtown Toronto Eaton Centre and see this centrally located city trip hotel through a couple of men‘s eyes.

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?

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.

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.

Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Alberta Canada gay-friendly – Over 100 years of accommodation history located right at Lake Beauvert at Jasper National Park seems to be perfect as our “home” during Jasper Pride Festival. The Jasper Park Lodge, an over 2,3 square kilometer huge mountain resort in the middle of Jasper National Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site), is an all-year-round 4-star lodge with restaurants, pool, and SPA area all with incredible mountain views. The gay-friendly stuff, a remarkable rustical but comfortable atmosphere and the proximity to nature and wildlife of Jasper National Park in Canada made the Fairmont Jasper Park lodge a perfect basis for a gay travel to the Rocky Mountains and Jasper town.

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

USA: It was not easy to find the right accommodation around Los Angeles and Hollywood, but we managed to spot this beautiful apartment in a quiet area in between both cities.

Zip Lining Snowmobiling TAG Whistler Gay-friendly – We went on our pure adrenalin adventure Zip-Lining and Snowmobiling together with the two tour guides Marty and Thomas on Rainbow Mountain. After a hot chocolate break, we jumped on a ski-doo to experience a twilight snowmobiling tour…

CANADA: The West-Canadian metropolis is known for its multicultural lifestyle and, of course, for its culinary scene with fresh seafood, traditional Canadian dishes and the fine art of the modern cuisine.

Review of The Douglas Vancouver Hotel gay-friendly – An Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott in Canada. Looking for a brand new design hotel in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia with style, we can recommend the 5-star Hotel by Mariott that opened its doors in October 2017. Luxurious and stylish from the inside and outside, the boutique hotel The Douglas offers its guests spacious rooms on 16 floors inside the Parq Vancouver complex right next to the BC Place Stadium. Gay Travelers will find a proper home between the hip Vancouver neighborhoods Yaletown and Gastown just a short walk away from the waterside of False Creek.

CANADA: Right before we hit the road from Lake Louise all the way north to Jasper, we left the Canadian province of Alberta for a 2-days short stay at Emerald Lake at Yoho National Park, British Columbia.

USA: On our road trip along the Pacific Highway number one from San Francisco to Los Angeles, we made a one night stop at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort Spa in Avila Beach.

Review of the Legendary Trunks Exhibition Amsterdam – The name Louis Vuitton stands for luxury and design and is known as one of the world’s most valuable luxury brands. Nevertheless, everything started with high-quality travel equipment and luggage. Those wooden framed travel trunks were the beginning of the well-known LV – brand dating back to the 1850s. It took a Swedish collector many years to collect a beautiful array of these special handmade massive trunks and now they are on the show.

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”!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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?