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New York City is the best LGBTQ+ vacation spot worldwide

The Big Apple is the perfect spot for a gaycation.

Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
New York City Greenwich
Photograph: Shutterstock
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Travelers around the world looking for an LGBTQ+-friendly, fun and safe vacation spot will undoubtedly land in New York City. And there’s data to prove it’s the best choice for a queer holiday. 

A new study from travel agency Planet Cruise has curated the top locations for LGBTQ+ folks to visit in 2023.

The travel site reports a +1,000% increase in searches for “LGBT holidays” over the past 12 months and wanted to help travelers make a choice on where to book their next getaway. The top locations are ranked based on marriage laws, safety, and LGBTQ+ activities for all ages. The list, which includes 15 major cities with legalized same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption laws, starts with New York, naturally. 

The Heritage of Pride banner kicks off the Gay Pride Parade in New York and celebrates the LBGT community
Photograph: By James Kirkikis / Shutterstock

New York is also top of the list for having the most gay bars of any other city (though the list oddly says only 27 exist in the city, when we know there are way more.) In second place is London, followed by Rio de Janeiro, Manchester, Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Brussels. Other top cities include Berlin, Lisbon, San Francisco, Barcelona and Toronto.

This data, however, doesn't take into account all of the unique culture, events and personalities New York City has to offer visitors. Pride month events plus LGBTQ+ events all year round, the most lesbian bars of any American city (and even more sapphic events), gay hookup spots, weekly drag brunches, queer fine dining, historic monuments, an upcoming LGBTQ history museum, and so much more. 

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