10 of Europe’s best destinations for LGBTQ+ travellers this Pride season

From Madrid to Mykonos our writer picks the most queer-friendly holiday spots in Europe

It’s 2003 and my boyfriend and I are hovering nervously at a hotel reception in Woodbridge, Suffolk. We can sense the frosty contempt of the fiftysomething male at the desk when we ask for a double, not a twin room. After we check in, we’re both tetchy: I’m annoyed at how we’ve been treated, while my partner believes we should just “accept” it, that “it’s just the way it is.”

Back then, there was little you could do about such blatant prejudice – at least on a day-to-day basis. Some respite could be found trawling through the listings in Gay Times for gay-owned hotels and B&Bs. But, sadly, travel has long remained an issue for LGBTQ+ people, whether in the UK or abroad, where customs, legality and local cultural norms still need to be considered.