Whether you’re perambulating through Paris, weaving your way around WeHo or traipsing through Tokyo, its always fun to learn a bit about local history and culture as you wander. Around the world, regularly scheduled walking tours provide opportunities to get some local inside info on your destination and meet some locals and fellow travelers. Today, its surprisingly easy to sissy that walk: International operators like Gaily Tour and Get Your Guide can help you book private guides for LGBTQ+-focused walking tours, and local companies around the world now offer regularly scheduled, modestly priced ($25-$75) queer-themed walking tours. Here are a few favorites:
San Francisco
One of world’s oldest continually operating queer walking tours, San Francisco’s Cruisin’ the Castro was founded in the crucible of the AIDS epidemic, in 1989. Regularly updated to reflect the evolving community’s tragedies and triumphs, the tour has actually helped shape San Francisco’s queer memory: Kathy Amendola, who has owned the company since 2005, participated in the founding some of the San Francisco’s landmark queer memorials, including the Pink Triangle Park and Rainbow Honor Walk, both stops on the tour. From the site of Harvey Milk’s camera shop to the rainbow flag that has become a symbol of community worldwide, the tour spotlights over a dozen sites over two hours and tells stories spanning from the Gold Rush to the Summer of Love to today’s youth activism.
New York
It’s been said that Michael Venturiello is a walking encyclopedia of queer history. In fact, it might be more accurate to refer to him as a walking Google search, since the founder of New York’s Christopher Street Tours actually has a day job with the information behemoth. To Venturiello, who has degrees in literature and higher education, his tour company, founded in 2018, is a natural extension of his academic studies, which culminated in a thesis on the impact of the Stonewall Riots on college students. The rare queer tour company to be operated by a millennial, Christopher Street promises fresh perspectives, inclusive of issues facing the community today. Sites on the regularly offered public weekend tour in Greenwich Village include the Stonewall Inn, the New York AIDS Memorial and the LGBT Community center.
Chicago
No advanced planning is needed to experience the self-guided Legacy Walk in Chicago’s famed Boystown neighborhood (Lakeview is the area’s official, more inclusive, name). Along a full half mile of North Halsted Street, a series of 25-foot-tall rainbow-accented steel cylinders tower above the streetscape, marking queer pride of place with two bronze memorial plaques affixed to each pylon; the plaques feature portraits and biographical texts honoring a major queer hero in world history, from Frida Kahlo to James Baldwin. Each National Coming Out Day, new plaques are introduced, with the collection rotated on and off the pillars over the years. As of 2022, plans were underway to open a visitors’ center where those plaques not on the street at any given time will be displayed. While independent visits are free, guided tours are also available on request for a minimum of 6 guests at $40 apiece.
London
Looking for an educational deep dive of a tour rather than a broad overview? London Walks, a phenomenally well-organized outfit that leads dozens of highly researched themed tours every week offers The London of Oscar Wilde, which takes visitors to some of the legendary gay wit’s frequent haunts and career landmarks. Stops include the St. James Theater, site of the world premier of The Importance of Being Earnest; the Royal Arcade, where Wilde and his friends first purchased the green carnations that they turned into a secret symbol of queer solidarity; and the Old Bailey, where Wilde’s infamous trial took place.
Vancouver
Glenn Tkach was already a seasoned Storyteller (aka tour guide) for Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours, helping curious visitors discover the secret histories of western Canada’s gleaming green city when, in 2017, he proposed that the company let him develop a tour of local LGBTQ+ landmarks. Thus begin planning for The Really Gay History Tour, a two hour amble that takes guests beyond the city’s famous nightlife scene on Davie Street, delving into the development of queer rights in the city and country. Tkach introduces heroes such as North America’s first openly gay church minister and a transgender political whistleblower; explains and debunks the story of Patient Zero; and leavens the easy stroll with plenty of lighthearted humor and banter about some of the city’s most colorful characters.
Madrid
While most queer walking tours focus on history, Madrid’s City Secreto offers a convivial outing that’s very much steeped in the here-and-now: Here being the city’s gayborhood, Chueca; now being between 9pm and midnight Thursdays through Saturdays, when Madrillenos are gearing up for their legendary wee-hours nightlife. The company’s in-the-know guides are ready to usher you into the festivities with intimate groups of no more than 10 participants. Sure, you’ll get a dose of education, but you’ll do it while slipping into a pair of speakeasy-style bars unfamiliar to most tourists and pausing at a tapas bar where you can sip a vermouth and quiz your guide on how to get the most out of a long night on the town. You’ll even get passes to a dance party at the end of the tour.
New Orleans
“I do not offer a ‘family friendly’ version of the tour,” notes Quinn Laroux, the glamorous proprietor and guide of Nola Drag Tours, a dishy meander around New Orleans’ French Quarter that offers a healthy mix of laughter and learning. In addition to the ups and downs of the city’s queer history—from its rich drag and sex work traditions to the tragic UpStairs Lounge arson killing—Laroux dips a painted toe into voodoo, jazz and race relations, always with an LGBTQ+ perspective. A longtime activist with a degree in Sociology, Laroux has said she views the drag aspect of her tours as a “Trojan Horse” to help educate the public on queer history.
Rome
For queer travelers visiting a new city for the first time, learning about local LGBTQ+ history may not be a top priority. But its always great to take tours where you can feel free to ask questions about any topic that crosses your mind without reproach from fellow travelers or guides. That’s especially true in a religiously conservative destination like Italy’s capital, where The Roman Gay is ready to help you see the city from a pink perspective. A staff of queer guides lead a full range of walking tours of sites including the Colosseum and the Vatican (Yes!) and focused on topics including Italian fashion and cinema.
