The Pride Atlas: 500 Iconic Destinations for Queer Travelers

by Maartje Hensen

Combining immersive photography with expertly researched travel writing, this is the ultimate guidebook for LGBTQ+ travelers—whether you're planning your next getaway, daydreaming from the comfort of your armchair, or seeking to learn about queer culture in other parts of the world.

This swoon-worthy guide to the best places and events the queer world has to offer spans the globe, taking you from metropolitan must-sees, like the birthplace of Pride in New York or the world’s first gayborhood in Berlin, to lesser-known gems, like a trans designer’s clothing store in São Paulo or the first LGBTQ+ bar in Nepal.

Maartje Hensen and a diverse team of international travel writers have put together information on the best drag shows, Pride parades, and film festivals all around the world, as well as resources regarding laws, restrictions, and cultural attitudes—ensuring that travelers can safely enjoy their sojourns and find community wherever they go. Whether you're looking for relaxation, romance, or adventure, The Pride Atlas will help you plan your next gaycation.

SERIOUS EYE CANDY: Bursting at the seams with full-color photographs, The Pride Atlas is a colorful addition to any bookshelf or coffee table. It offers an immersive, take-me-there reading experience, as well as the nuts-and-bolts practical information that will transform armchair travel into actual trip planning.

INCLUSIVE AND INFORMATIVE: Whether you are a drag show fanatic, a gay couple in search of international community, an ally planning an ethical and informed vacation, or a cohort of queers looking for a good time—this is the travel book for you. With information on both festivities for and frustrations facing queer travelers, written by a diverse team of LGBTQ+ travel bloggers, The Pride Atlas is a unique and valuable resource.

Perfect for:
• LGBTQ+ vacation planners and armchair travelers
• Informed, ethical travelers who want to know about LGBTQ+ rights and culture in the places they visit
• A practical and inspiring birthday, graduation, wedding, bon voyage, or special occasion gift for all who love to explore

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

400 pages, Hardcover

Published May 2, 2023

About the author

Maartje (she/they), author of The Pride Atlas, is a queer traveler, photographer, and writer from the Netherlands. She founded a queer travel and lifestyle brand, Once Upon a Journey. After being fully nomadic for three years, they are Amsterdam-based again. Maartje has also founded a photography business specializing in LGBTQ+ stories. Follow her on Instagram at @maartjehensen or online at onceuponajrny.com and maartjehensen.com.

Reviews

[Leia Sedai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautifully designed, informative book for anyone who wants to discover a variety of different LGBTQIA places while traveling. Included are locations around the world significant to LGBTQIA history, yearly celebrations, places to spend a day, or clubs if you prefer that scene. I love the idea of a global travel guide for the queer community, and I hope it is adapted to a pocket travel size or an app that can be continuously updated with new places for travelers on the go.



**Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. **

[Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative travel and photo book showcasing places or events that are queer friendly or have historical significance. Photos may show locations like bars, clubs, beaches while other photos are for Pride events or list whole cities or communities as queer friendly. Times of year are listed if it is important. I thought the majority of photos look like they come from various Pride parades. Those are fun, but I was liked seeing the colorful murals in neighborhoods or monuments. Things that look more permanent than annual celebrations. Roughy 2/5 of the locations are in North and South America, 2/5 in Europe and 1/5 in Asia. The majority of USA locations are in California and New York. I was happy to see Utah’s capitol city (I live in the suburbs) mentioned as extremely LGBTQ-friendly, with statistically more LGBTQ+ couples than Los Angeles. The Atlas does discuss safety for traveling and being aware of countries with restrictive laws.

This book is useful to find places or events you may be interested in visiting. But it isn’t comprehensive enough to for planning trips. For example the coasts are represented in the USA and Canada. But there is almost no information given for the middle areas of either countries. I’m not sure the criteria of how the places are selected as I’m sure there are Pride parades in the Midwest but nothing is mentioned. Even with areas not represented, I was happy to see what is included. Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the temporary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Immy V · Rating 5 out of 5]

My only request is that I want more! Love love love this book and it will definitely help us while looking for holiday locations. I feel like there could be so many more books like this, more musea or memorials. Really hope there's more to come, either in book form or something else.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm just going to say it. This book uses the word "iconic" so loosely. Some places were actual locations of queer history while some were just places where queer events happen once a year and others were entire cities. I wish there had been some explanation as to why these locations were chosen while others were left out. The 500 places broke down into 125 in North America; 73 in Latin America; 183 in Europe; 79 in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; and 40 in Australia and New Zealand. Obviously Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are a lot less LGBTQ friendly than other regions so it make sense that this section was so small. I did find myself growing frustrated by the fact that so many of the U.S. locations were in California and New York and about a quarter of the Europe ones were in the U.K. I was genuinely so happy to find that my Salt Lake City warranted one of the slots, but so many states were not represented (like the entire midwest to the point that it felt like the book was erasing the queer experiences and contributions of those not on the coast. I did appreciate that the book acknowledged that there are still many locations in the world where being queer is dangerous if not illegal and encouraged travelers to do their research to know how to be safe where they travel. I do wish that the book had included a lot more practical information. Also, if you're going to call this an atlas, WHY IS THERE NOT A MAP??? Overall this could be a good resource, but it is not comprehensive enough to plan an entire trip.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A travel guide for those interested in LGBTQ friendly places and events…

Pride Atlas: 500 Iconic Destinations for Queer Travelers by Maartje Hensen is an interesting guidebook to the world at large where one might wish to show off their pride…

Regarding the book itself, each of the 500 entires is essentially a short paragraph. While normally I’d have an issue with this, I imagine space was an issue, so they were going for quantity over quality…and the quality of the book’s production value is clear even if they didn’t devote a ton to word count.

The 500 “destinations” are broken up into two large category across north and South America, Europe (the largest section by far), and the rest of the globe.

The first category are specific locations, businesses, and communities that are LGBTQ friendly or connected via history. While they don’t have their specific addresses, I imagine the atlas writer’s are aware that those can easily be looked up by an intrepid traveller.

The second category is LGBTQ events. While many of these are regional pride celebrations, they also cover a range of weekly, monthly, and seasonal events.

Each entry is helpful by providing two key notes: 1) when the ideal time to go is, and 2) a key reason to go…especially if you wish to take full advantage of the tourism aspect.

In additional to the information, the most valuable aspect of this book are the hundreds of full color photos. While they don’t have photos for every location, what they showcase is the lovely landscape, architecture, and pride culture to be found around the world…

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many have contributed to this title which features 500 destinations that are welcoming to queer travelers. Included are destinations in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and Australia, so pretty much anywhere one could want to go . As the introduction notes, “you deserve to go on the trip of your dreams; to experience radiant queer joy; to be celebrated.” The main contributor to this book wants this experience for all.

Readers would be wise to pay attention to the Travel Tips section. We still live in a world where caution may be needed and preparation and knowledge matter. After this are the many destinations.

Each location has a brief entry. There are also many photographs throughout this title. Overall entries are for a particular experience as, for example, Haircuts for Anyone, in Montreal. In the pages surrounding this entry are other Montreal destinations. All in all, there are 500 from around the world as noted above. Each includes a Best Time to Go and Best for (whom) note.

This book is worth a look when planning a trip. It offers suggestions of many places to explore.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Ezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've followed Maartje Hense and their partner's Instagrams for a while now from both a queer and photographic stand point. They're photos are amazing and so to stumble across this on NetGalley was very exciting. I'm not much of a traveler but I thought this was a great guide and it's made me want to visit so many places for the queer history and community. I started my own list of places I could feasibly go to sometime.

This book does a great job of discussing a wide variety of queer travel spots and I really liked that it lists the best time of year to go as well as the kind of spot it would be since some places and events are a bit more somber than others. And of course the photography is quite good!

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book!

The book has information about various locations that are considered good destinations for the LGBTQ+ community. The book is broken down by continent and seems to focus mostly on events. While some bars, restaurants, etc. are listed most of the destinations have a short description with a time of year to visit and what to expect and a lot of them are pride parade or events that are only once a year. The photos are beautiful and there's information on how to travel safe and to be aware of what laws are in various countries. While there's not a lot of information on each suggested destination this could be a helpful starting point for deciding where to visit.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really impressed by this collection. I was really reassured by the number of queer contributors, and by their travel tips. Safety is one of the biggest issues I have with travelling, so I'm glad there's a spread addressing it and encouraging further research.

As for the locations, the descriptions are great and the photos are exciting. For the size and price of the book, they've covered a surprising number of venues and organisations. Really pleased with this book, will be planning queer trips using this in the future!

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great 2023 addition to global travel books. The Pride Atlas combines incredible photography and information on unique LGBTQ+ facets of cities, town, and countries around the world. The diverse types of travel interest and the balance between the LGBTQ+ parts of the queer umbrella shine bright in this essential guide. In other words, there's something for everyone - quiet, loud, city, country, older, younger, lesbian, trans, nonbinary, gay, bisexual, queer. You're sure to discover a few more destinations to add to your bucket list.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely stunning photo book of the best gay places to visit is extensive! I have so many places I want to visit now, and know just when to go there based on the recommendations accompanying each location. So much colour and happiness depicted on each page makes me feel so glad and proud to be a part of the LGBTQIA community! We really do know how to party!

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book.

This book is heavy with color pictures, which are lovely and bright. Each of the 500 places in this book are rated with a "When to go" (celebrations, holidays, educational) and have a nice write up from a group of diverse traveler writers.

[Guin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a wonderful reference for LGBTQ+ worldwide travel. Beautiful photography throughout this atlas as well as detailed descriptions of each travel destination. It is a great coffee table book as well.

[Caddyshack Project · Rating 5 out of 5]

A visually stunning and comprehensive travel guide that has 500 curated destinations for LGBTQ+ travellers. The content covers North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania with insights into the unique LGBTQ+ culture, history, and events of those destinations.

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book seemed more interesting than it was. While its great to learn about different things to check out and see, 75% of it was just "hey they have a cool pride festival you should go." The descriptions seemed formulaic and chat-gptish.

[Meri Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be using this to plan all future vacations. Thank you.

[CJ Opal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pride Atlas is a must have for queer travelers. It is not only a wonderfully curated list of destinations around the world, it also contains a good bit of queer history in its descriptions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the many places and events listed, and the photography included was perfectly paired. The book also includes a forward about safety when traveling while queer, and an afterword about colonization and how to not be part of the problem when traveling abroad.

I received an advanced digital reading copy from NetGalley.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book highlights specific places and regions. The types of places mentioned are varied. There are plenty of pictures to go along with the different entries.