After a bleak 18 months or so, travel is finally starting to open back up again as restrictions lift, meaning we can all fulfil that pent-up wanderlust at last, complete with decisions as big as where to go and as small as airport parking options.
And at the same time, the options for LGBTQ+ travel are also expanding. Unfortunately, LGBTQ+ travelers still have to be mindful of safety and legislation concerns in some destinations around the world, with homosexuality still illegal in 69 countries.
However, an increasing number of destinations are far more accepting, with established queer communities and local events such as Pride.
We’ve ranked some of these destinations both here in the US and around the world based on factors covering their LGBTQ+ friendliness, as well as things like accommodation options and affordability.
LGBTQ+ score /10
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when it comes to Orlando is theme parks, and with good reason!
But Orlando is also one of the most gay-friendly cities in the country with a large LGBTQ+ population.
As well as being a tolerant and accepting city (with Walt Disney World hosting annual “Gay Day” events”), Orlando has a high number of bars and clubs (40 per 100,000 people) and the proximity to Walt Disney World means there’s also a huge number of hotels in the area (8,941 per 100,000 people).
LGBTQ+ score /10
Palm Springs has one of the highest concentrations of LGBTQ+ residents in the USA, with it being estimated that as many as a third of residents are gay, with the city also electing the country’s first-ever all-gay city council in 2018.
Taking all that into account, it’s maybe not surprising to see it sitting in second place in our rankings, scoring particularly highly for its safety and abundance of accommodation.
LGBTQ+ score /10
Another city with a large LGBTQ+ population is Fort Lauderdale in Florida, which came third in our rankings.
The city has 2,473 hotels per 100,000 people, with lots of LGBTQ+ hotels and guesthouses amongst them.
The city is also home to the Stonewall National Museum & Archives, an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their role in society.
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of cities have a perfect anti-discrimination score
That vast majority of cities in our ranking (80%) gained a perfect score in terms of anti-discrimination when compared on factors such as non-discrimination laws and leadership on LGBTQ equality. That’s certainly promising to see, although leaves the remaining 20% with some catching up to do in terms of non-discrimination.
events
New York is one of the country’s biggest cities so it’s no surprise that LGBTQ+ culture is fully embraced, with a host of events to enjoy throughout the year, especially during Pride Month.
out of 100
Iowa City has long been praised for its progressiveness and is home to a bustling gay nightlife scene and the annual PrideFest event, but it’s also the safest city to visit on our list, with a score of 75.29 out of 100.
per of 100,000 people
New Orleans is one of the biggest cities in the American South to have a significant gay population, and it also has the highest number of bars and clubs per 100,000 people on our ranking. The majority of gay bars and clubs in the city are located near the Central Business District, Mid-City, and Uptown.
per of 100,000 people
Considering that Orlando is home to more than a dozen theme parks, including the world-famous Walt Disney World, it’s no surprise to see that it’s home to such a huge number of hotels, with 8,941 per 100,000 people.
per night
Of the LGBTQ-friendly cities on our list, it was Richmond, Virginia that was the most affordable, with a nightly hotel stay costing just $85 at the weekend.
LGBTQ+ score /10
Across all of the factors, it was Lisbon, the capital of Portugal that came out as the best destination for LGBTQ+ travelers.
Lisbon is a beautiful Mediterranean city with lots of gay bars and clubs dotted through its hilly streets, specifically in the Bairro Alto and Principe Real areas.
The city scored so highly due to Portugal’s perfect 100 out of 100 rating when it comes to anti-discrimination laws, but it’s also packed with nightlife options, with 52 bars and clubs per 100,000 people in the city.
LGBTQ+ score /10
Another Portuguese city takes second place, this time the city of Porto in the north, known for being the home of port wine.
As with Lisbon, Porto benefits from Portugal’s LGBTQ-friendly legislation, with a ban on discrimination against sexual orientation even enshrined in the country’s constitution.
Porto also had the highest concentration of accommodation options of the cities that we looked at, with 2,503 per 100,000 people. abundance of accommodation.
LGBTQ+ score /10
Cologne is home to one of the biggest Pride events in the whole of Europe, and a big part of the reason it takes third place in our rankings is the sheer number of LGBTQ+ events that take place in the city, with 23 annually, including various LGBTQ+ carnivals.
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cities have a perfect score
Eight of the cities on our list gained a perfect score when it came to anti-discrimination, including those in Portugal, Canada, Belgium, and Sweden.
These countries aren’t just accepting of homosexuality, with no laws prohibiting it, but actively seek to prevent discrimination with strict laws to protect people of all orientations from being discriminated against.
events
With 23 different LGBTQ+ events taking place throughout the year, if you visit Cologne at pretty much any point in the year, there’s a good chance there’ll be a party in town!
As well as one of the biggest pride events on the continent, which draws thousands of people, there are other events taking place right through the winter and beyond.
out of 100
Munich is known for its Oktoberfest celebrations but it’s also one of the cities where you can feel the safest.
The capital of Bavaria scored 82.38 when it comes to the safety of its residents and it has some of the lowest crime rates of major cities in Germany.
per of 100,000 people
Lisbon took the top spot in our overall ranking and was also the city with the highest concentration of bars and clubs.
The number of gay bars and clubs in the city has grown a lot in recent years, with lots of places to check out in the popular Bairro Alto neighborhood and neighboring Principe Real.
per of 100,000 people
Porto has a population of just 215,945 people, which likely contributes somewhat to the fact that it’s the city on our list with the highest ratio of hotels to people, with 2,504 places to stay for every 100,000 people.
per night
If you’re looking for an LGBTQ+ break on a budget, the cheapest city when it comes to accommodation was Guadalajara in Mexico, where a weekend stay will cost just $65 a night.
For both our US and Global rankings, we analyzed each place on the following six factors, giving each place a normalized score out of ten for each factor, before taking an average of these six factors for our final score out of ten.
Anti-discrimination
For the USA, we took each city’s score out of 100 according to the Human Rights
Campaign’s Municipality Database, which takes into account non-discrimination laws, municipal services, leadership on LGBTQ equality, municipality as employer and law enforcement.
For the rest of the world, we took the score for each city’s country in the Migration Integration Policy Index 2020’s Anti-Discrimination rankings.
LGBTQ+events
The number of LGBTQ+events according to Wikipedia.
Safety
Safety score out of 100 according to Numbeo, based on survey results.
Bars & clubs listed on Tripadvisor
The number of bars and clubs listed on Tripadvisor per 100,000 people in the city.