What’s a gay cruise in Greece like?
We joined the Out Adventures gay cruise through the Greek islands: think Speedos, sunsets, ouzo, and new friends. Here’s what really happens when you sail Greece, gay style! I’ve been …
Gay Travel to Europe
Europe is our home continent where we grew up and have travelled around extensively. When it comes to gay travel, Europe has some of the most gay friendly places on the planet with terrific gay scenes and some of our favorite gay parties.
Read on to find out more about our gay adventures across Europe, from clubbing in the super exclusive super club Berghain in Berlin, partying at Barcelona Pride, enjoying the gay XLSIOR festival in Mykonos, exploring the picturesque canals of Amsterdam and loads more!
How safe is Europe for gay travellers?
Overall, Europe is one of the safest places in the world for LGBTQ travelers, particularly in the West and Northern part of the continent. This is where you’ll find some of the best European gay travel destinations such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Finland, Norway, France, Denmark, the UK and France.
Sadly, parts of Central and Eastern Europe are extremely conservative and homophobic, especially Poland, Georgia, Moldova and Belarus. However, there are some pink havens in East/Central Europe in particular Prague, Vienna, Llubljana, Tallinn, Bucharest, Budapest and Bratislava.
The cities where we’ve felt the safest travelling as a gay couple include Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Sitges, Gran Canaria, Mykonos and London.
Top gay destinations in Europe
Europe offers a wide variety of gay beach destinations to choose from, particularly in Spain with fabulous places like Sitges, Barcelona and Gran Canaria. All of them have a large gay scene with LGBTQ events taking place throughout the year, earning the reputation of being well recognised gay destinations. Another gay holiday destination we love is Mykonos island in Greece, which becomes a gay mecca during the summer months, especially when the XLSIOR festival is taking place in August.
Other very gay friendly cities in Europe for a vacation or a city break include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Manchester, Lisbon, Prague and Berlin. Each one has an incredible gay scene, famous Pride events and lots of exciting parties.
Some of our most popular travel guides about gay Europe include:
- Living our best life in the gay scene of Sitges
- Our gay travel guide to Gran Canaria
- Exploring the Gaixample gayborhood of Barcelona
- Our experience at Barcelona Pride
- Detailed gay guide to the Amsterdam gay scene
- How to maximise your time in gay Manchester
- Enjoying the beautiful and super gay city of Prague
- Our gay guide to partying in Berlin
Gay travel to Europe: the latest posts
Below you’ll find our latest gay travel content about Europe including our city guides, country travel guides and inspiring content detailing our experiences:
Berlin Pride 2026: Events, Parade, Route and Parties
Our experience at Berlin Pride: a wild, fabulous weekend of queer joy, rainbow parades, and unapologetic partying in one of Europe’s gayest cities Every year, we tell ourselves we’ll just …
What are the best gay festivals and events in London?
From Pride parades to queer film festivals and drag extravaganzas, these are the best LGBTQ+ festivals, events, and street parties in London to celebrate, dance, and party the night away. …
Best gay hotels in London for a Slaycation!
From Soho sleepovers to East London hideaways, these are the best gay hotels London serves up – all tried, tested, and full of character. We’ve stayed in a lot of …
Our experience attending Mighty Hoopla London
Mighty Hoopla is 2 days of gay pop fun, taking place in London’s Brockwell Park every June. It is the UK’s largest pop festival and one of the best LGBTQ+ …
How gay friendly is Dubrovnik?
We’ve been several times to the Coastal Queen of Croatia and loved it. Dubrovnik is as beautiful as it is touristy, but we keep going back for more. It’s super …