• Germany
  • About Germany
  • City Guide
  • My City
  • Calendar
• Amsterdam
  • About Amsterdam
  • City Guide
  • My City
  • Calendar
• Copenhagen
  • About Copenhagen
  • City Guide
  • My City
  • Calendar
• Zurich
  • About Zurich
  • City Guide
  • My City
  • Calendar
• Tours
  • Enlightenment
  • Indulgence
  • Pride
  • Shopping
• Travel Recommendations
  • All
  • Germany
  • Amsterdam
  • Copenhagen
  • Zurich

Fab Four Tours: PRIDE

Bøsse, flikker, schwule — however you say it, gay is great in the Fab Four. And nowhere is that more evident than during the height of summer Pride season. This trip might require some finagling (you know, that whole typical American two weeks off for vacation thing), and most definitely some planning, so let 2011's celebrations be your guide for 2012. Because, over here, Pride's neither just a gay thing nor as commercial as in the U.S. -- it's a party that gets the whole city involved. It's a multilingual taste of the rainbow with, perfect for an extended Euro break.

Electric, unifying, magical -- it's not uncommon to see thousands of people (gay, straight, hipsters, nerds, musclemen, lesbian moms, locals, and visitors both European and international) descend on the designated park, watch performances, trade political ideas, or just mingle with one another.

Start your tour in Amsterdam with a nod to the T in LGBT (or the Q if you're getting really P.C.) with TranScreen (June 1-5), a new five-day film and art festival aimed to shatter gender. Taking place at De Balie cinema, it's just a short walk to new Leidseplein hotspot Bump , a larger pop-y place for the creative set. Since Amsterdam Gay Pride isn't till August 3-7 (highlight: a parade down the Prinsengracht Canal with floats that actually float!), while you're in town give a nod instead to the exhibition of our current gay movement: marriage. Open since April, "Ten Years of Same-Sex Marriage" chronicles LGBT diversity through the lens (literally, it's a photo exhibit) of the last ten years of legal same-sex marriage in the Netherlands.

Next, head to Zurich -- take your time, ride a bike even, you've got till June 16 -- for the three-day Zurich Pride Festival, which combines politics and parties in what is fast becoming Europe's circuit central. If you're in the mood for zome tradizional Zurich zelights (besides the men), tuck into some perch fillet and a bottle of crisp 'n' fruity Riesling at Zunfthaus zur Zimmerleuten, an upmarket haus de cuisine. You deserve it. Just don't indulge too much. It's still Pride season, and after a flirty dip in the lake at the gay section of Tiefenbrunnen Bath, where a winter's worth of gym time comes out on display, it's off to the airport and to Germany.

Even larger than the CSD Pride fest (June 23 2012) in Berlin, the Gay and Lesbian City Festival (June 16-17 2012) set up all around the area Nollendorfplatz/Motzstrasse in the heart of Gayburg offers entertainment, market stalls, and booths dealing with the A to G of political and social topics. Since you're in Schöneberg, keep the gay theme going at the "heterofriendly" Axel Hotel (book it now), and feel free to stay a while—you don't have to be in Bavaria till July 7 2012, when Munich Pride Week kicks off, culminating in an eight-day street festival and plenty of Hofbräu homos. Instead, take the time to explore the neighborhood's bars and backrooms (long-standing Hafen is our fave) and the current craze of the creative class, hipster Kreuzberg in East Berlin. A night at otter-riffic Möbel-Olfe or the muppet-on-acid vibe of Rose's should kick things off right.

If you've made it this far, bravo! Your liver deserves a vacation, too. But you'd be remiss to take a break before fabbing it up in Copenhagen with a tall drink of Pride (August 17-20), Scandinavian-style. The highlight of the long weekend is the parade, naturally, but our bet is on the people: Danish have a thing called hygge (translates to "coziness") and after a summer of partying the idea of settling down into it sounds just about right... If you've already found love, the über-hip First Hotel Skt. Petri (book it now) has a gay wedding package with your name on it. Still flying solo? Nearby Nevermind or Cosy Bar will fix that, stat, sending you back home with a skip in your step. A detox package at Helle Thorup Spa might prove equally as useful in that regard—after a summer of pride, you've earned it.