The LGTBIQ Pride celebration has become a festival of diversity and inclusion that is spreading to more and more countries. Outside Soho, Marais, Chueca or Eixample, the European route through the 'LGTBIQ friendly' neighborhoods allows us to enjoy the Pride festivities until September. We are going on a route through those LGTBIQ neighborhoods that love diversity and that many of them still do not know each other that much.
Beyoglu neighborhood.
BEYOGLÚ (BEYOGLÜ): ACTIVISM AND FUN IN ISTANBUL
It is one of the most avant-garde neighborhoods in Istanbul, hotbed of tourists and night lovers who during the day have been dazzled by the innumerable fashion stores for beautiful people. In Beyoglú you will find all the leisure and LGTBIQ culture of the Turkish city, being Taksim Square the epicenter of the struggle for the rights of the community, a scenario that unfortunately results in dozens of detainees every year.
But the Turkish LGTBIQ collective is reborn every year with more force, and embrace the newly arrived traveler with a good bouquet of rooftops converted into restaurants with impressive views and where the busiest parties in the city are held. As night falls, the surroundings of Taksim come to life in the form of night clubs with shows live, drinks and fun.
Cafe Zahringer on Spitalgasse in the historic district of Niederdorf, Zürich.
NIEDERDORF: COCKTAILS AND TAPAS IN ZURICH
Switzerland is not one of the countries that stands out the most within the panorama of LGTBIQ tourism, but that does not mean that it does not have its importance. In Zurich one of the funniest Pride in Europe is celebrated in June, a celebration where attire and attitude are everything.
LGTBIQ activity is concentrated in the Niederdorf neighborhood, a nice neighborhood in the historic center of the city, perhaps too touristy, but a good place to find all kinds of shops. One of the best meeting points is the Cranberry Bar (Metzgergasse 3), highly acclaimed by cocktail lovers, or the Barfüsser (Spitalgasse 14), which is recognized as one of the oldest LGTBIQ pubs in Europe.
It's easy to find places where you can eat at any time of the day and night, even some taverns with Spanish cuisine for those who cannot live without some good tapas.
Art Nouveau residential buildings in the Vinohrady district, Prague.
VINOHRADY: OF GARDENS AND CAFES IN BEAUTIFUL PRAGUE
Prague Pride is one of the latest, It is celebrated in the middle of August and usually brings together those crazy travelers who make the Pride route throughout Europe. The Czechs are not historically pioneers in celebrating diversity, but in recent years they have gotten their act together and have expanded their range of restaurants and accommodation aimed at the LGTBIQ community.
Prague also has its particular 'Chueca' in the Vinohrady district, a beautiful central neighborhood dotted with gardens and restaurants where people mingle on the street, both in cafes and in the most cosmopolitan restaurants. Praguers like to spend time in their gardens a lot, so you will see a lot of activity at the Riegrovy Sady during the day. As night falls, the clubs gather around Vinohradská street, where you have to stop at the Celebrity Café, at number 40.
Food truck in front of San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome.
ROME: FROM ‘GAY STREET’ TO TRASTÉVERE
One of those that do not miss the appointment along the LGTBIQ route in Europe is undoubtedly the eternal city of Rome. The Pride in Rome is one of the earliest risers and is celebrated in early June although the festive atmosphere lasts throughout the month. The eminently gay street of Rome is located in the outskirts of the Colosseum, the Via San Giovanni in Laterano, a piece of classical Rome converted into the 'Gay Street', a road that in a few meters brings together shops, clubs and restaurants aimed at the LGTBIQ public.
But Rome at this time celebrates diversity to the fullest in Trastevere, the bustling Roman neighborhood where hipster modernity meets, yes, with an earlier curfew. Also From May to September, Rome hosts the Gay Village festival on the outskirts of the city, an event with concerts, screenings, exhibitions and lots of dancing every weekend.
Lisbon.
LISBON: FROM BAIRRO ALTO TO PRINCIPE REAL
The capital of the Portuguese country has been positioning itself every year in LGTBIQ matters. And it is that Portugal is one of the countries that has embraced the collective more and better in recent years, hence, LGTBIQ tourism has multiplied in the last decade (a fact that has put Lisbon in the spotlight).
Lisbon celebrates its “Arraial” with concerts and DJ sessions, transforming the city into a giant stage. But Pride is lived in Lisbon throughout the year, mainly in the axis delimited by two neighborhoods. On the one hand, the Bairro Alto, which is the one that historically saw the birth and growth of the LGTBIQ movement and that, currently, is the first reference in terms of 'LGTBIQ friendly' bars, clubs and restaurants.
They are not very big venues, nor do they need to be, but the drag queens will make your night unforgettable. On the other hand, it is found a part of the neighborhood Prince royal, right next to the Bairro Alto, that little by little has been gaining ground in terms of clubs for lovers of music until the body holds.
Straedet street in Copenhagen.
STRAEDET AND THE RAINBOW STREET OF COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen can boast of being a city in which an "LGTBIQ neighborhood" in the strictest sense is not necessary. The Danes have a fairly open mind, so bars and restaurants are usually very diverse and no differentiation is made. Although it is true that most of the LGTBIQ culture is concentrated in what they call "Straedet", the confluence of several streets near the town hall in the historic center of the city.
In Straedet art galleries predominate, curious antique shops, small independent designer boutiques and small fashion and jewelery establishments of new creators. Pride celebrations are in August between this street and Regnbuepladsen (whose translation is something like the place or the street of the Rainbow), turning the center of Copenhagen into a gigantic open-air disco where you can't stop dancing.
Aerial view of Grachtengordel.
GRACHTENGORDEL, THE CLASSIC AMONG CLASSICS
It cannot be missing from this list in which it is one of the 'LGTBIQ friendly' destinations by definition, the Grachtengordel in Amsterdam. The center of Amsterdam can boast and boasts of being one of the areas in Europe with the highest number of LGTBIQ bars per square meter, because there they know very well how to have a great time without wondering who you share the beer with.
The Grachtengordel also has a great tradition in the fight for the rights of the LGTBIQ community; The first marriage between people of the same sex was celebrated here in 2001 and they also erected a monument that remembers those tortured during the Nazi era for the mere fact of being homosexual.
They celebrate Pride in the first week of August and it is one of the busiest in all of Europe. Among centuries-old houses one can get lost among the more than one hundred bars, shops and restaurants open to celebrate diversity whoever you are. In addition, the accommodation offer is quite wide, which is appreciated.