Gay Belfast Tourism Focus on Scandinavia

Scandinavia hosts several pride festivals each year, making it a popular gay travel destination. The breath-taking scenery and relaxed attitudes towards homosexuality all combine to make Scandinavia a superb place for a queer sojourn this summer, and tying it into gay celebrations will add much more to your experience.

All the Scandinavian capitals – Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo – are easily accessible with direct flights from Dublin on Scandinavian Airlines. Check out their dedicated site for gay travel to Scandinavia: Visit www.flysas.ie.

While Oslo Pride was held last month, Oslo has a lot to offer. Oslo’s gay nightlife is not as segregated as in many other cities, gays and lesbians often go to the same places, and different age groups mix.

Most of the gay scene revolves around the Karl Johans Gate in the city’s centre. The most popular places are Barlicious, a mixed club for the over 20s and Ett Glass, a modern two-floor café-bar-restaurant which serves as a popular meeting point for Oslo’s queers all year round. For those seeking a bite to eat in informal surroundings there’s gay-friendly Bobs Pub (Grønland 1), an unpretentious traditional pub serving hearty Danish cuisine and Elsker, café restaurant (with in-house DJ) for gays and lesbians who want something to eat or drink in a friendly, open-minded atmosphere.

Where to stay: Best Western Karl Johan Hotel.
Where to eat: Elsker, Kristian IVs gate 9
Where to Party: Barlicious, Pilestredet, Oslo

Started in 1998, Stockholm Pride is the largest LGBT event on the Scandinavian calendar. Each year the festival features a diverse program of events, ranging from the high-brow (art exhibitions, debates and lectures) to the frothy (the Viking Bears camp-fire sing-along!), all culminating in the Pride Parade itself, which attracts around 50,000 marchers, and many more spectators who turn to watch the festivities.

Though there’s no gay ‘ghetto’ in Stockholm per se, there are many gay and gay-friendly clubs, bars, restaurants and other establishments dotted around the city (pick up a copy of the local gay map QX for details) However, during Pride the activities centre around two areas: the Sodermalm district and in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s old town. Here you’ll find the Patrician and also Lino Club, an upmarket man-fest with four bars, three dance-floors and more suave Swedes than you can shake a stick at.

Also located in the old town is Torget, a bar restaurant and popular hangout spot after the parade which offers cocktails and a smorgasbord of other goodies. There are many gay hotels around the Old Town but none more illustrious than the Berns hotel, a chic art-deco property that calls itself ‘the Designer Hotel for people tired of Designer Hotels’ whose former guests have included such luminaries as Diana Ross and Marlene Dietrich.

Where to stay: Berns Hotel.
Where to eat: Torget, Mälarttoget 13
Where to Party: Lino Club, Sodra Riddarholmsk 19.

Denmark has a long and proud history of progressive attitudes towards homosexuality: Copenhagen’s first gay bar, Centralhjørnet, opened over 80 year ago, and in 1989 Denmark was the first country in the world to recognise marriage between two persons of the same sex.

Copenhagen Pride offers visitors a myriad of gay activities, including an open-air film festival, a host of circuit parties, and a carnival, with everything happening mainly around The Pride Square Café.

Copenhagen is not a huge sprawling metropolis, which makes finding your way around simple and convenient. Everything is pretty much within walking distance and this is particularly true of Copenhagen’s gay scene. Centered in the ‘Soho’ like area of the old town, the city’s gay scene seems almost geographically designed to provide virtually the entire evening’s spectrum of entertainment and fun within one square kilometer.

On this strip of gay paradise is Masken Bar (StudiestrAEde 33), the hottest mixed spot for gay guys and gals to party during Pride and the rather unimaginatively named Men’s Bar (TeglgardArdsstrAEde 3), the place to go if you’re into leather or men. Or leathery men. Around the corner is the bizarre concept restaurant Jailhouse (StudiestrAEde 12) which encourages customers to enjoy the prison experience of cramped cells, waiters dressed as guards and bars on the windows.

Where to stay: Radisson Blu Royal or for something a bit cheaper try Copenhagen Rainbow Guest House.
Where to eat: Jailhouse, Studiestrede 12,
Where to Party: Masken Bar, StudiestrAEde 33

Gay Belfast: the award winning website for scene news and events for the Belfast gay and lesbian community and those visiting the city. Coming to Belfast? Let Gay Belfast plan your day finds out what's happening each day in Belfast's gay scene. We tell you the best gay bars and clubs in Belfast so you do not waste any time. Check out the Gay Belfast recommended hotels and guesthouses for places to stay.