Gay Travel Europe

NETHERLANDS: A Gay Couple City Weekend in Amsterdam, the Netherlands – the Dutch capital that is the home of choice for gay travel bloggers Karl and Daan.

The Pyjama Park Hotel Hamburg Reeperbahn – is an accommodation with best value for the money for a stay in Hamburg. The German city Hamburg, in particular, the Reeperbahn in St. Pauli, is well known for its nightlife. Loads of bars, clubs, and restaurants next to each other creating an atmosphere until late in the night. Our Hotel, the Pyjama Park Hotel, was located right in the beginning of the Reeperbahn in an old town building above the Pyjama Bar.

A Gay Couple City Weekend Rotterdam: Rotterdam, a city of water, wind, art, architecture and a special atmosphere of independence. During Karl and Daan’s Gay City Weekend Rotterdam the gay couple traveled around the beautiful mix of architecture, water and nature atmosphere of the Major Port city of Europe. From the 5-Star Mainport Hotel Rotterdam the tour went over water with several boat trips, extraordinary good food, an inspirational visit to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, an Escape Room and a lively gay nightlife. Follow the guys on their Dutch gay city tour part 6!

SWEDEN: We stayed in a gay couple owned and operated farm hotel with southern Swedish. Janne and Peter converted the historic cottage and buildings into a quaint hotel and restaurant.

SWEDEN: Kivik with its small harbor is a perfect place to do long walks, drink some local cider and try freshly caught seafood. But Kivik is even more, home to an exceptional person of the LGBTQ+ community.

SWEDEN: The second-biggest city of Scania (Skåne), Helsingborg, is known for its beautiful old town, the ferry connection over the Öresund to Denmark and is, in fact, an important industrial location.

SWEDEN: We got super excited about the offer to join forces with the National Tourism Board of Skåne, also known as Scania, to show you the gay-friendly side of Southern Sweden.

SWEDEN: Embedded in the rough nature of the Kattegat shoreline, we found the gay-friendly and gay couple owned café Ransvik Havsveranda with a special historical significance.

SWEDEN: A journal of our first ever Gay City Trip to Malmö in Southern Sweden during Pride Weekend in 2019.

SWEDEN: Lucky us, we could attend the 25th years anniversary of (Gay) Pride in Malmö during our summer adventure to South Sweden.

SWEDEN: During our Swedish summer adventure to Malmö, we stayed at the gay-friendly bike hotel in the Western Harbor.

SWEDEN: Fans of the vegetarian and even vegan cuisine visiting Malmö and South Sweden should put the gay-friendly restaurant Mineral in Malmö on their gay travel bucket list.

AMSTERDAM: The 10 Best Lesbian Movies 2019 selected by and for the Dutch LGBTQ+ Film Festival Roze Filmdagen in Amsterdam.

Yasss! We as Gay Travel Blogger will attend the 13th edition of the Pink Lake Festival in Southern Austria this August in 2020. Just two weeks and less to go before we will depart to Klagenfurt in the South of the Austrian state Carinthia. We cannot wait to be in the mountains again, something we really miss in Amsterdam! The small town Pörtschach am Wörthersee will turn pink to offer an LGBTQ+ friendly Get-together to celebrate diversity, love, and equality right on the world-famous Lake Wört (Wörthersee) nestled in the Alps of Austria. Together with the European gay-community, we will put on our Lederhosen to enjoy the beauty of the Austrian mountains close to the border with Italy and Slovenia.

AUSTRIA: In the German-speaking South Austrian state Carinthia alone more than 80 different kinds of traditional garments are officially registered, one more beautiful than the other, for women and men, of course.

SPAIN: A vibrant city in Spain full of historical treasures like the Casa Milà (La Pedrera), a lively beach atmosphere, the red cable car cabins and a cultural life with museums, opera, and theater.

NETHERLANDS: Experience Pride Amsterdam 2018 again with our 30 best photos taken from the Amsterdam – NYC & Company Canal Parade Boat.

GEORGIA: Although homosexuality has been legal in Georgia since 2000, it is taboo in large parts of the country with far-reaching consequences for lesbians, gays, and queer people in the country.

AUSTRIA: Already for over 10 years, Carinthia, a state in the south of Austria, is celebrating with hundreds of gay guys, lesbian girls, trans- and bisexual people together with their friends and allies colorful Pink Lake Festival in and around the market town Velden am Wörthersee. The hot summer sun, temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, and great music by a well-known DJ lineup with James Munich and DJane Käry from Frankfurt am Main, transformed the popular holiday region around Lake Wörth for 4 days into a happy, open-minded, and peaceful LGBTQ+ festival.

AUSTRIA: In the wonderful warm month of June, we traveled to the world-famous Austrian city of Salzburg in the northeastern part of the Alpine country. The city, known for its …

he 10 Best Queer Movies 2019 at Roze Filmdagen, the 11-days Amsterdam LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Like the last two years, we teamed up with festival director and LGBTQ+ movie guru Werner Borkes with whom we chose 10 films and documentaries drag queens, intersex topics, about being trans in sports and more you should put on your movie list for this year’s event. The 22nd edition of the Dutch LGBTQ+ film festival features the world premiere ‘Galore’ about our beloved drag queen Lady Galore. In our list of the “best queer movies 2019” includes contributions from the UK, the USA, the Netherlands as well as Italy, Kenya, and Scotland.

The Spartacus Gay Travel Index 2019: Every year, the German publisher of gay travel information and guide books releases the annual Gay Travel Index with a detailed ranking of 197 LGBTQ+ friendly countries worldwide. In the 7th edition, Berlin-based Spartacus gives lesbian, gay and queer travelers information about how gay-friendly a holiday destination is according to several ranking factors and criteria collecting enough information about LGBTQ+ friendliness and livability for locals. Gay travelers can use this information to prepare for their gaycation as well as taking it as a piece of advice for choosing the holiday destination.

AMSTERDAM: This is our list of the 15 Best Gay Movies 2019 selected for the Amsterdam LGBTQ+ Film Festival Roze Filmdagen bringing LGBTQ+ cinema to the Dutch capital city Amsterdam.

With a poster campaign, the travesty artists of the group ‘Travestie für Deutschland (TFD)’ protest against the so-called ‘Homo Cure’. Seven posters with well-known Berlin travesty artists and drag queens have been published on the Internet, sending a clear message, such as “Why fix what is not broken.” The impetus for the action was given by recent recommendations by Protestant Free Churches on homosexual persons to be treated on the basis of their sexual orientation. With its campaign of a protest poster campaign fighting Homo cure, the satirical group wants to draw attention to the conversion therapies that are still not forbidden in Germany. More about this here on Couple of Men.

ICELAND: Leaving the South behind, the gay couple started their way to the unknown East, before heading North along the coast.

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.

FRANCE: Nice is a hot spot at the Mediterranean Sea in between the Film Festival in Cannes and the Luxury destination Monaco for shopping and high-society lifestyle.

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.

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.

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!

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.

SOUTH EUROPE: It was time to go onboard the Monarch for our second gay cruise with La Demence, the well-known party organizer from Belgium. This year it should be a different route…

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.