A recent study by the Female to Male (FTM) trans prosthetics experts at Emisil reveals the friendliest cities across the world for queer and trans tourists. The queer travel market has been booming for a while now. In fact, according to a Conde Nast Traveller report, queer tourists could be spending $568.5 billion on travel by 2030.

As more and more LGBTQIA+ folks explore the world, many global travel destinations have grown increasingly queer-friendly. Yet not all cities worldwide treat queer people the same.

Best Places To Travel for Trans and Queer People

Safety has always been a major concern for queer travelers. Many constituencies across the world are yet to legalize same-sex marriage, and even the ones that have are not always safe for and friendly to LGBTQIA+ tourists.

Only this February did Greece legalize same-sex marriage, but recently, the British Foreign Office issued a travel warning for queer tourists heading to the country. The warning states that people are usually welcome in Athens and on Greek islands like Lesvos, Mykonos, and Skiathos. This only raises concerns about the state of the rest of the country for queer tourists.

To determine the top queer tourist destinations in the world, the experts at Emisil studied information about same-sex marriage and gender recognition laws as well as the safety index and Global Trans Index 2023. They also studied the number of queer clubs and bars listed on Google Maps, which represents larger trends.

The study revealed Lisbon, Portugal, as the best destination for queer and trans tourists, with a score of 9.26. The score represents a high safety rating and a general welcoming attitude toward the LGBTIA+ folks. Portugal also has the highest Global Trans Index out of all countries in the study, with a score of 248. Lisbon hosts many queer events, including Lisbon Bear Pride, Europride 2025, and Lisbon Gay Pride.

Close behind Lisbon is Denmark’s Copenhagen, with a score of 9.22. It has a small yet thriving queer scene, with only 12 queer bars and clubs mentioned on Google Maps. It also hosts multiple queer events throughout the year for both locals and tourists, like Draghouse Copenhagen Presents and Copenhagen Winter Pride.

New York and Amsterdam scored 9.19 and 9.18 on the study. The Netherlands was the first country on this list to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001. New York, on the other hand, has the most queer bars and clubs. While New York’s safety index is the third lowest, the vibrant local queer scene is popular among tourists.

Taipei has a score of 8.84 and has the highest safety index out of all the cities on the list. Close behind is Spain’s Barcelona, with a score of 8.83. The Barcelona Gay Pride and other such events attract hosts of queer folks to the city every year.

Next on the list is Reykjavik, Iceland, with its high safety and many LGBTQ+ events like Rainbow Reykjavík, Reykjavik Bear, and Reykjavik Queer City Walk. It’s followed by Toronto, with a higher safety index than New York but featuring a smaller queer scene.

The two cities that rank last on the list are Tokyo and Paris. This may be a disappointing revelation to many, as both destinations are extremely popular among tourists worldwide. Japan is the only country on the list that has yet to recognize same-sex marriage.

Paris has a lower safety index compared to all other cities in this list but compensates for it with over 30 queer clubs and bars and many LGBTQ+ events like Festival des Cultures LGBT, Marche des Fiertés LGBT (Gay Pride parade), and Paris International Lesbian & Feminist Film Festival.

The German portal Spartacus also published the 2024 Gay Travel Index, which considers the state of the local queer community to determine whether a country is safe to travel to. According to the index, the island nation of Malta ranks at the top of the list, along with Spain, New Zealand, Canada, and Portugal, for being welcoming to and safe for LGBTQIA+ travelers.

According to the study, Estonia made the most strides in the past year, especially since it legalized same-sex marriage. The third position is shared by Uruguay, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, and Norway. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Russia have negative scores on the index for how unsafe and often outright dangerous they are for the community.

For the study, the researchers examined data across 18 different categories, including the state of the local legislation, political scenario, and whether there are episodes of violence against queers.

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Ananyaa Bhowmik | Wealth of Geeks

This article was produced by Media Decision and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.