Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Travel at the speed of you. Leave the tour buses behind. With The Blue Walk discover new places, have authentic experiences, and reconnect with a simpler way of moving through life. Enjoy leisurely, small-group, walking vacations along beautiful coastlines, village squares, and open spaces of Europe.
Less about history or architecture, our passion is sharing the sights and surroundings of select destinations. Live large on the French Riviera, tour Northern Italy via rail, island hop through Greece.
Discover the meditative quality of walking by large, lovely bodies of water, the expansiveness of taking in the canopy of blue sky. Take time on your own to explore an out of the way gem or sit quietly over a coastal outcrop. It’s your vacation. We create opportunities for unique experiences that touch the heart and mind to be remembered long after returning home.
No hiking boots or backpacks required, just lovely walking trails, coastal meandering, and urban strolling. Based in 4 and 5-star hotels, travel with a friendly group of like-minded people who soon become friends. Our vacations, perfect for couples, multi-generational, friends, and solo-travelers alike, are designed with lots of options to serve a variety of activity levels.
england
Travel London Via Gay Rainbow Unicorn
Let’s be honest, we’ve all dreamt of making the most fabulous entrance into work. This week, at least Londoners will see that dream come true, as they can drop the Tube or buse and take unicorn cabs to work instead.
Yes, you read that right. Gay Rainbow Unicorn-drawn carriages. Taking you to work. Thats a fabulous entrance if we’ve ever seen one.
And it’s as fabulous(ly gay) as it sounds: two horses, decked with rainbow manes and horns, draw a white coach, complete with rainbow pattern on the side.
By Stefanie Gerdes – Full Story at Gay Star News
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Eating Out: London
Looking for something special for you restaurant choice in London? Here’s a selection of our favourite restaurants:
Gaucho – Smithfield
The Gaucho chain of restaurants is a concept that I have never felt a lot of love for. Always too dark and over-priced. But it was a cold Wednesday night and (after a fairly serious work-out at the gym) I had a hankering for a decent steak, so I wandered over to the Gaucho adjacent to Smithfield Market . I ordered a 300g rib eye steak with béarnaise sauce, spinach and a glass of Malbec. All very good. They seem to have improved the lighting, the music was great and the service was professional (if a little lacking in charm). Still over-priced.
Hix Oyster & Chop House – Smithfield
It was a wintry night in Clerkenwell and I felt like some substantial food. I’d eaten at Hix in Cowcross Street only once before, soon after it had opened a few years ago. It wasn’t the most successful meal, but I was feeling generous and decided it was time to give Hix another try. I heaved past the solid door and stood expectantly by the long bar. It took a while for anyone to acknowledge me, eventually it was a fairly surly greeting. “Table for one” I said — the waiter looked at me as if I was crazy. “Pardon?” he said. “Table for one” I repeated — a bit more firmly. I was not in the mood for surly waiters. The restaurant was quiet but he waved me towards the seats at the bar which I was I was fine with. After a little while the surly waiter brought me some menus — they looked tired and tatty, the food menu was laminated. It felt cheap but the prices indicated that it wasn’t going to be. I was looking for comfort food so I ordered the fish fingers, chips and mushy peas with a glass of Bordeaux to wash it down. I asked for a glass of water — it never arrived. The restaurant did get busy — full of suits. The food was okay. Don’t think I’ll give Hix a third chance.
By Gareth Johnson – Full Story at Gay Star News
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Six LGBT Landmarks Celebrate England's Queer History
Six LGBT landmarks across England have been given special status to celebrate England’s Queer History. The locations include the London home of Oscar Wilde and the house where Benjamin Britten lived with his partner Peter Pears.
It comes as a result of Historic England research project Pride of Place, which aimed to record and preserve the history of LGBT people. As an outcome, the grave of pioneering lesbian writer and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards was today granted listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Five other places with queer histories have also had their landmark status bolstered to recognise their unique importance to LGBT history. Among them is London’s Burdett-Coutts Memorial, which commemorates Chevalier d’Eon – an 18th century transgender spy who lived as a woman inside the Empress of Russia’s court.
By Nick Duffy – Full Story at Pink News
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Win a Trip to London – Nomadic Boys
Calling all our North American based readers…drop everything, put on your best British accent and read on!
We’ve teamed up with the awesome IGLTA, Visit Britain and United Airlines to offer you the chance to win your own exclusive holiday to London this fall.
ENTER NOW FOR THE CHANCE TO WIN:
- x2 roundtrip tickets from anywhere United Airlines flies in the US, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean to London
- x5 nights stay at the plush NH London Kensington
- a 2 days London pass for 2 people, which provides free entry to over 60 tours, museums and attractions
- x2 Oyster cards (the London underground or Tube official credit card) with £30 credit
- a tour for 2 at Stonehenge
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London Gay Nightlife
We’ve gained unique insights into Madrid and Tel Aviv in recent weeks. Now, we’re heading to the mighty London with this YouTube video from gay social media app Moovz.
Watch as cute local Marty Hoeft (don’t be fooled by the accent!) meets the people behind iconic LGBTI club nights and venues such as Popcorn, Fire and Ku Bar.
Drag queen, scene queen and DJ extraordinaire Jodie Harsh is just one of the Londoners to be featured in the video.
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London in Under Two Minutes
I was in London for 6 days to do some sightseeing and see some old friends. I haven’t been able to post a blog entry on my London trip so, here’s a video of London in under two minutes.
I have so many good photos and stores to tell about the trip but I’m still in traveling mood right now. And I do still have a jet lag.
Promise, I’ll post all my summer trip photos once I have time to sort out my thoughts and thousands of photos.
By Alain – Full Story at Keep Calm and Wander
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A Perfect Summer Day in London – Globetrotter Girls
After a week by the sea, I made my way up to London, deciding that I can’t leave England without at least a quick pit stop in my former adopted hometown.
Summer was in full swing when I arrived in Friday (a rare thing for London!) and I spontaneously decided to take some time off work and spend my Saturday like most other people this weekend, and like I used to spend so many of my London weekends: in the park (with a run though Hyde Park in the morning and a picnic in Kensington Gardens in the afternoon, where I snapped the picture above), with a bit of shopping (the madness that is Oxford Street seems less crazy when you’ve been away for a while) and last but not least: with a visit to the West End, where I saw Guys & Dolls, currently starring Rebel Wilson, who always makes me laugh, and it wasn’t any different in this musical.
By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls
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Sunny Brighton – Globetrotter Girls
I decided instead of boring you with yet another Polaroid from Berlin, I’d wait another day and share a photo of the place where I’m spending the bigger part of this week: Brighton, England!
When I came here for Brighton Pride last summer, I sure didn’t think I’d be back less than a year later, but as so often… I just never know where my travels take me2 (Remember how I ended up in the Amazon in March? Yeah, I had no intentions to go there either..).
Until last week I had no idea that I’d be hanging out at the beach in Brighton today, but I sure won’t complain about this! Apparently, summer and sunshine only arrived in Britain this past weekend, and I got to enjoy the most beautiful summer day on England’s south coast today.
By Dani – Full Story at Globetrotter Girls
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Gay Manchester
Years ago I had a colleague from Manchester, England with the greatest accent I have ever heard. Her words flowed like lilting waves of melody with vowel variations that made her elocution, quite literally, music to my ears. I savored her every utterance and tried to ask her open-ended questions, later comparing her pronunciations with the lyrical diction of musical legend and Manchester native Morrissey. So when I finally make it to this city at the center of Lancashire County, I am more than ready to relish mellifluous conversation and dive into this famously fun town.
I begin my explorations with the basics, thanks to a highly informative, LGBT-centric walking tour with Andrew Derbyshire of Tour Manchester. As the United Kingdom’s tenth-most populous city with around a half-million resident “Mancunians,” the City of Manchester claims a lot a history that’s greatly influenced our modern world. An expert in his home city, Andrew wastes no time in exposing its roots, starting with the name. Once upon a time in the landmarked neighborhood known today as Castlefield, the Romans built the 1st-century fort called Mamucium (“ma-moo-ki-um”). Translation: “breast-shaped hill.” (This city is growing more interesting by the minute.)
We continue our walk through this storied metropolis that is so brilliantly compact it feels almost like a group of neighboring villages. Every corner we turn offers remarkable architecture that dates back various centuries. For example, the medieval times brought the construction of the brooding, Gothic Manchester Cathedral, whose renovations never diminished its marvelous stained glass and elaborate stonework.
By Kelsey Chauvin – Full Story at Passport Magazine
Northwestern England Gay Travel Resources
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