How to Plan a Gay-Friendly Trip to Barcelona

Barcelona's beautiful beaches and bustling boulevards offer the ideal mix of resort charm and urban sophistication for a flawless vacation.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Travel Clothes
• Internet Access
• Alternative Lifestyle Travel Services
• Travel Services
• Notebooks
• Pencils Or Pens
• Computers
• Notebooks

1. Plan your trip to Barcelona well in advance. Make a list of the kinds of transportation, accommodations and activities you desire or need.

2. Conduct some research about Barcelona via books or the Internet. Look for the abundant hot travel deals offered on Web auction/travel sites.

3. Determine your budget in advance since Barcelona's dining and hotels can stress the pocketbook. (Plan on strolling the streets of Barcelona on foot or taking the city's inexpensive Metro system to cut costs.)

4. Plan your travels during summer when the weather's warm and Barcelona's boulevards bustle with bodies.

5. Consult a gay travel agent if possible, and confirm your reservation before you leave.

6. Check out Barcelona's gay bookstore, Complices, which offers a wealth of helpful tourist literature.

7. Cruise Barcelona's lively las Ramblas - one of the city's most famous boulevards, which teems with flower vendors, parrots and street performers. Take a glance at Gaudi's avant garde architecture, the nearly complete World Trade Center or Barcelona's miles of beautiful beaches.

8. Hop a quick half-hour train ride to Barcelona's gay-friendly resort neighbor Sitges. Bronze your body and tear it up during Sitges' Morning Party, August 31 through September 4.

Tips & Warnings

• Some Web sites and books offer information for travelers with HIV or AIDS (necessary vaccines, food to eat and not to eat, where not to drink the water, and so forth).
• Carry a passport, extra cash, traveler's checks and several credit cards on your person at all times.
• Beware pickpockets - especially while strolling along las Ramblas. Keep your wallets and purses in safe hiding.
• Though rare, skinheads in Barcelona are very homophobic. Avoid all conversation with them.
• Carry a written prescription and doctor's letter if traveling with medications or medical supplies.