That's because Connecticut — the location for at least 22 holiday films by Hallmark, Lifetime and others — is promoting tours of the quaint Christmas-card cities and towns featured in this booming movie market; places where a busy corporate lawyer can return home for the holidays and cross paths with a plaid shirt-clad former high school flame who now runs a Christmas tree farm. (Spoiler alert: they live happily ever after.)

“It’s exciting — just to know that something was in a movie and we actually get to see it visually,” said Abby Rumfelt of Morganton, North Carolina, after stepping off a coach bus in Wethersfield, Connecticut, at one of the stops on the holiday movie tour.

Rumfelt was among 53 people, mostly women, on a recent weeklong "Hallmark Movie Christmas Tour," organized by Mayfield Tours from Spartanburg, South Carolina. On the bus, fans watched the matching movies as they rode from stop to stop.

To plan the tour, co-owner Debbie Mayfield used the “ Connecticut Christmas Movie Trail ” map, which was launched by the wintry New England state last year to cash in on the growing Christmas-movie craze.

Mayfield, who co-owns the company with her husband, Ken, said this was their first Christmas tour to holiday movie locations in Connecticut and other Northeastern states. It included hotel accommodations, some meals, tickets and even a stop to see the Rockettes in New York City. It sold out in two weeks.

With snow flurries in the air and Christmas songs piped from a speaker, the group stopped for lunch at Heirloom Market at Comstock Ferre, where parts of the Hallmark films “Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane" and “Rediscovering Christmas" were filmed.

Once home to America’s oldest seed company, the store is located in a historic district known for its stately 1700s and 1800s buildings. It's an ideal setting for a holiday movie. Even the local country store has sold T-shirts featuring Hallmark’s crown logo and the phrase “I Live in a Christmas Movie. Wethersfield, CT 06109."

“People just know about us now,” said Julia Koulouris, who co-owns the market with her husband, Spiros, crediting the movie trail in part. “And you see these things on Instagram and stuff where people are tagging it and posting it.”

The concept of holiday movies dates back to 1940s, when Hollywood produced classics like “It's A Wonderful Life," “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Christmas in Connecticut,” which was actually shot at the Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California.

In 2006, five years after the launch of the Hallmark Channel on TV, Hallmark “struck gold” with the romance movie “The Christmas card,” said Joanna Wilson, author of the book “Tis the Season TV: The Encyclopedia of Christmas-Themed Episodes, Specials and Made-for-TV Movies.”

“Hallmark saw those high ratings and then started creating that format and that formula with the tropes and it now has become their dominant formula that they create for their Christmas TV romances,” she said.

The holiday movie industry, estimated to generate hundreds of millions of dollars a year, has expanded beyond Hallmark and Lifetime. Today, a mix of cable and broadcast networks, streaming platforms, and direct-to-video producers release roughly 100 new films annually, Wilson said. The genre has also diversified, with characters from a wider range of racial and ethnic backgrounds as well as LGBTQ+ storylines.

The formula, however, remains the same. And fans still have an appetite for a G-rated love story.

“They want to see people coming together. They want to see these romances. It’s a part of the hope of the season,” she said. “Who doesn’t love love? And it always has a predictable, happy ending.”

Hazel Duncan, 83, of Forest City, North Carolina, said she and her husband of 65 years, Owen, like to watch the movies together year-round because they're sweet and family-friendly. They also take her back to their early years as a young couple, when life felt simpler.

“We hold hands sometimes,” she said. “It's kind of sweet. We've got two recliners back in a bedroom that's real small and we've got the TV there. And we close the doors off and it's just our time together in the evening.”

Connecticut's chief marketing officer, Anthony M. Anthony, said the Christmas Movie Trail is part of a multipronged rebranding effort launched in 2023 that promotes the state not just as a tourist destination, but also as a place to work and live.

“So what better way to highlight our communities as a place to call home than them being sets of movies?” he said.

However, there continues to be debate at the state Capitol over whether to eliminate or cap film industry tax credits — which could threaten how many more of these movies will be made locally.

Christina Nieves and her husband of 30 years, Raul, already live in Connecticut and have been tackling the trail “little by little."

It's been a chance, she said, to explore new places in the state, like the Bushnell Park Carousel in Hartford, where a scene from “Ghost of Christmas Always” was filmed.

It also inspired Nieves to convince her husband — not quite the movie fan she is — to join her at a tree-lighting and Christmas parade in their hometown of Windsor Locks.

“I said, listen, let me just milk this Hallmark thing as long as I can, OK?” she said.

While Sydney’s Oxford Street and Melbourne’s Collingwood tend to dominate LGBTQIA+ travel lists, Lismore rarely appears on glossy itineraries. Yet for decades, it has been a hub for queer people seeking a slower, more alternative lifestyle in the Northern Rivers region – and in recent years, that history of activism and mutual support has helped shape a uniquely welcoming environment for LGBTQIA+ residents and visitors.

Lismore sits on Bundjalung Country, about 45 minutes’ drive inland from Byron Bay and roughly three hours’ drive south of Brisbane, positioning it at the heart of one of Australia’s most culturally diverse regional areas. Since the 1970s, the wider Northern Rivers has attracted people interested in counterculture, environmentalism and alternative living; LGBTQIA+ people were among those who settled here, contributing to the area’s reputation for progressive politics and community organising.

That history is visible in the city’s queer infrastructure. Tropical Fruits, a not-for-profit LGBTQIA+ social club based in Lismore, has been running parties, community events and an annual New Year’s Eve festival since the late 1980s. The organisation describes itself as a “safe, social environment for the diverse genders and sexualities of the Northern Rivers,” and it owns a dedicated clubhouse and warehouse space that hosts workshops, working bees and smaller gatherings year-round.

For queer travelers, Tropical Fruits’ New Year’s Eve festival has grown into a major regional pilgrimage: thousands of LGBTQIA+ people from across Australia travel to Lismore for several days of parties, cabaret, camping and community-focused events over the New Year period. The festival’s themes often centre on queer pride, futurism and social justice, and organisers regularly highlight inclusion for transgender people, First Nations LGBTQIA+ communities and people with disability in their program and accessibility planning.

Outside of New Year’s Eve, Tropical Fruits has developed a reputation for maintaining sober-friendly spaces, inclusive dress codes and explicit zero-tolerance policies on racism, transphobia, homophobia and harassment – conditions that can be especially significant for LGBTQIA+ travelers who may feel less comfortable in mainstream nightlife environments.

Unlike coastal tourist hotspots where LGBTQIA+ visibility can feel seasonal, Lismore’s queer presence is part of the city’s everyday fabric. In 2013, local residents painted a rainbow crossing in the town centre as a statement of support for LGBTQIA+ people; although it was later removed on safety grounds, the controversy prompted Lismore City Council to formalise processes for public art and consider ways of celebrating diversity more visibly.

The city has also hosted Rainbow Region Dragon Boat Club, a team founded with a focus on LGBTQIA+ inclusion that competes in regional sporting events and explicitly welcomes transgender women and non-binary people. Local health initiatives such as ACON Northern Rivers maintain a presence in Lismore, offering sexual health services, HIV prevention, counselling and community development programs tailored to LGBTQIA+ communities across the region.

This day-to-day infrastructure means that queer visitors are not just parachuting into an annual festival; they are stepping into a regional city where local cafes, bookshops and markets are accustomed to LGBTQIA+ customers and rainbow families. Several small businesses proudly display rainbow stickers or “Safe Space” signs in their windows, signifying support for LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

Lismore’s compact city centre makes it easy for visitors to explore on foot. Older brick buildings and arcades house art galleries, op shops, tattoo studios and vegetarian cafes that reflect the area’s alternative leanings. Many venues host small-scale live music, zine launches and poetry readings that attract a mixed crowd of students, artists and queer locals.

The Lismore Regional Gallery, one of the longest-running galleries in regional New South Wales, has a history of showing work by LGBTQIA+ artists and curating exhibitions that foreground gender diversity and queer perspectives. Past programs have included collaborations with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras visual arts platform and screenings of films exploring regional queer life.

Across town, the weekly Lismore Farmers Market showcases local produce, much of it organic and grown on small farms in surrounding valleys – a scene where queer stallholders and customers mingle among buskers, herbalists and coffee carts. For many visitors, this casual, integrated environment – rather than exclusively LGBTQIA+ venues – is part of the appeal.

Lismore’s emerging status as a queer-friendly base cannot be separated from its recent history of crisis and repair. In early 2022, catastrophic flooding devastated the city, with water levels in the central business district reaching record heights and thousands of residents displaced. Among those affected were LGBTQIA+ people and community organisations, including Tropical Fruits, whose clubhouse and storage facilities were damaged.

In response, LGBTQIA+ networks mobilised quickly. Tropical Fruits launched fundraising appeals and working bees to repair its clubhouse, supported by donations and volunteer labour from across Australia’s queer communities. National organisations such as Equality Australia used their platforms to highlight the specific vulnerabilities of LGBTQIA+ people in disaster-affected regional areas, including housing insecurity and access to inclusive services.

Local media documented how queer residents played leading roles in mutual aid efforts, helping to coordinate food deliveries, temporary accommodation and mental health support for those affected by the floods. This response reinforced an existing culture of solidarity and helped ensure that LGBTQIA+ people remained part of the city’s long-term recovery planning, rather than being treated as an afterthought.

For LGBTQIA+ travelers, this story of resilience can be an important part of choosing where to spend time and money: visiting Lismore now often means supporting queer-led reconstruction efforts by staying in local guesthouses, buying from small businesses and attending community events that are helping the city rebuild.

Travelers arriving from Sydney or Brisbane often remark on the immediacy of Lismore’s community life. Queer-friendly spaces are less about big, dedicated nightlife districts and more about overlapping networks: activists who also run cafes, drag performers who work in local health services, or farmers who DJ for Tropical Fruits parties.

Several factors contribute to a sense of welcome:

- A long-established LGBTQIA+ presence, visible through Tropical Fruits, health services and activism, means queer travelers are not treated as novelties or “just tourists.”

- Regional demographics skew towards artists, students and people involved in social movements, many of whom explicitly support gender and sexual diversity.

- Public discussions about inclusion – from the rainbow crossing debates to council diversity policies – have made LGBTQIA+ visibility part of mainstream civic life.

- Local Indigenous organisations, including Bundjalung cultural groups, have participated in Tropical Fruits events and broader pride activities, acknowledging the role of Sistergirl and Brotherboy communities and intersecting identities.

This creates an environment where transgender people, non-binary people, intersex people and queer people of colour can find more than tokenistic “rainbow branding.” Instead, many report feeling that their identities are broadly recognised within the spectrum of difference that already defines the city’s social fabric.

For visitors, Lismore also functions as a practical and culturally rich base for exploring the wider Northern Rivers, including Nimbin, the lush hinterland and coastal towns like Ballina and Lennox Head. While Byron Bay is the best-known coastal destination, Lismore’s inland location offers access to national parks, waterfalls and small villages without the same level of tourist crowds or accommodation costs.

The city’s bus connections and car rental options make it feasible to combine a stay in Lismore with day trips to beaches, rainforest walks and neighbouring markets – returning each evening to a town where rainbow flags and queer events are visible.

Despite its long queer history, Lismore remains largely absent from international LGBTQIA+ travel guides, which tend to focus on larger cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or on Daylesford as a rural getaway. Some domestic travel features have highlighted Tropical Fruits as a notable regional pride event but stop short of positioning Lismore itself as a year-round queer-friendly destination.

That is slowly changing. Tourism bodies have begun to reference Lismore and the Northern Rivers as part of broader campaigns promoting inclusive travel in New South Wales, pointing to the region’s arts festivals, food culture and alternative communities. Social media content from Australian LGBTQIA+ travelers increasingly features Lismore’s street art, flood recovery murals and Tropical Fruits events, often framing the city as an authentic, community-oriented alternative to more commercial coastal scenes.

For now, this relative lack of mainstream visibility is part of Lismore’s appeal for some queer travelers. It offers a chance to experience queer life that is integrated into a regional Australian city – to attend a drag show in a local hall, shop at an op shop fundraiser run by a community group, or join a riverside vigil marking Transgender Day of Remembrance – without feeling like you are passing through a curated “rainbow precinct.”

For LGBTQIA+ visitors, engaging meaningfully with Lismore’s communities can mean seeking out local-led events and being attentive to the city’s post-flood realities. Many venues are still in various stages of repair, and some residents remain displaced or economically affected. Choosing queer-owned or queer-supportive accommodation, buying from markets and small shops, and donating to community organisations like Tropical Fruits or local Aboriginal-controlled services are tangible ways to contribute to a city that has welcomed many LGBTQIA+ people over the years.

It is also important to recognise that Lismore sits on unceded Bundjalung land. Many local events now open with Acknowledgements of Country, and some Tropical Fruits programs have included First Nations-focused panels and performances. Queer travelers can deepen their experience by engaging with Indigenous-run tours, arts spaces and cultural projects that highlight intersections between queerness, Country and decolonisation.

Lismore does not offer the density of LGBTQIA+ venues that you find in bigger cities, nor is it a resort town with luxury rainbow packages. What it does offer is something quieter but arguably more enduring: a community where queer life has helped shape the character of a regional city, and where pride is expressed through mutual aid, local art and everyday visibility as much as through parade floats.

For queer travelers seeking an emerging, culturally rich destination outside Australia’s usual circuits – a place where a New Year’s Eve party in a showground shed can feel as momentous as a capital-city parade, and where rainbow flags fly alongside flood-recovery posters and climate action banners – Lismore is increasingly hard to overlook.

As interest grows, destinations also hop on board and adapt to meet the demand as people trade human knowledge for AI-planned travel. Artificial intelligence has steadily moved from a behind-the-scenes tool to a central companion for modern travelers.

AI reshapes the traveler experience

Once used mainly for basic customer-service chatbots, artificial intelligence now anticipates traveler needs, personalizes recommendations and streamlines planning in ways that were previously impossible. Increasingly, travelers rely on AI not just for convenience but for reassurance that their trips will run smoothly from start to finish.

Younger generations, accustomed to instant digital solutions, drive this shift as they turn to AI platforms for itinerary building, budget tracking and real-time destination insights. In fact, a growing majority of millennial and Gen Z travelers say they trust AI-generated trip suggestions as much as, or more than, traditional travel agents.

By removing guesswork and reducing the time spent on logistics, AI empowers travelers to focus more on the experiences themselves. The rising demand pushes travel companies to redesign their services around predictive technology, offering journeys that adapt to user preferences, respond to real-time disruptions and deliver a more personalized sense of control.

Travelers bet everything on AI to cut costs

One of the upsides to using AI is saving money. As the economy tightens, travelers opt to cut costs without canceling the trip. Intelligent platforms can scan flights, hotels and rental options to find the best deals. By analyzing pricing trends and predicting when rates will drop, AI tools can alert users to the optimal time to book, helping them save hundreds of dollars without spending hours hunting for bargains.

AI doesn't just help with headline prices; it also uncovers hidden fees. From recommending hotels with free amenities like breakfast or shuttles to flagging airlines with lower baggage fees, AI helps travelers avoid unexpected expenses that can quietly inflate a trip's cost.

Even the most casual travelers are exploring AI, using it to hunt for itineraries. The result is smarter, more efficient travel planning that gives users more experiences for less money.

Tourism boards jump on the rise of AI

For well over a century, Mammoth Lakes has been a top California tourism destination. Travelers planning a trip to Mammoth can now rely on Sierra, an AI travel genius that provides instant answers to any travel or tourism questions about the area. The tool gives custom travel tips and itineraries in 50 languages, and leans into the history, culture and community of Mammoth Lakes. Exploring the rugged terrain starts at your fingertips.

Tourism New Zealand uniquely leverages AI, becoming the first playable destination to integrate with the Minecraft universe. A full New Zealand now exists in Minecraft, and users can seek answers to their New Zealand travel questions through the game.

Tourism New Zealand reports a significant impact since the integration. Over 200,000 unique visitors have leveraged the tool. The use of AI is clearly a key for tourism markets.

The future of global tourism in an AI-powered world

Clearly, AI is set to transform global tourism, and 2026 marks a major shift as we see more tourism boards joining in. Future AI tools could design entire trips, optimize itineraries in real time and suggest eco-friendly routes or accommodations, helping travelers reduce costs and environmental impact. That's only on the traveler's side. In the transportation industry, it assists travelers in moving more efficiently.

However, reliance on AI raises concerns: privacy issues, fewer opportunities for human connection and potential shifts in tourism jobs. Striking the right balance between human involvement with machine intelligence will be key to this new frontier of AI for travel.

Embrace the future of smarter travel

As AI continues to evolve, it's clear that the way we plan, book and experience travel will never be the same. The possibilities are only beginning to emerge. While challenges like privacy concerns, accuracy and shifts in traditional travel jobs remain, the benefits of AI for travel point to a future where exploring the world is easier, more accessible and more exciting than ever.

Kimberly Stroh is an Atlanta-based family travel writer and the founder of Savvy Mama Lifestyle. Since 2015, she has been sharing expert travel tips, destination guides and parenting insights tailored for modern families.

Newcastle’s transformation is not accidental. Over the past decade, investment in the arts, hospitality, and public spaces has coincided with a visible growth in LGBTQIA+ community life, from regular drag nights and inclusive sports clubs to an annual pride festival that now draws visitors from across New South Wales. Unlike Sydney’s tightly defined “gaybourhoods”, Newcastle’s queer culture is woven into its everyday streets: small venues, beachside gatherings, and community-led events that make the city feel welcoming rather than overwhelming.

For much of the 20th century, Newcastle was known primarily as a steel and coal town, dominated by the BHP steelworks and one of the world’s largest coal-exporting ports. When the steelworks closed in 1999, the city entered a period of economic and cultural reinvention that opened space for new creative and social communities, including LGBTQIA+ people, to reshape its identity.

Today, visitors arrive to find a compact CBD whose heritage buildings house independent galleries, creative studios, and bars, many of which explicitly promote inclusive values. Newcastle Museum highlights the city’s industrial and maritime history, while nearby streets like Hunter Street and Darby Street feature public art, cafes, and shops that contribute to a more progressive and youth-driven atmosphere.

Tourism and official visitor guides describe Newcastle as relaxed, friendly, and increasingly attractive to artists, students, and young professionals, demographics that research has shown often correlate with more visible and accepted LGBTQIA+ communities in Australian urban areas. While these reports rarely single out queer people explicitly, they document social changes—such as support for diversity and growth in creative industries—that correspond with the inclusive culture many LGBTQIA+ visitors encounter on the ground.

Newcastle now hosts a dedicated pride festival, Newcastle Pride, founded in 2018 as a not-for-profit organization to celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in the Hunter region. The festival program has included a Fair Day, parties, drag performances, and community events across multiple venues. In 2019, Newcastle Pride partnered with the City of Newcastle to stage events in civic spaces, signaling growing institutional support.

Beyond the main festival, local venues regularly host LGBTQIA+-focused nights. The Hamilton and Islington precincts, known for pubs and live music, have seen drag shows and queer-focused events programmed throughout the year. Community organizers and performers from the Hunter region have also collaborated with Tropical Fruits, the long-running LGBTQIA+ social group based in nearby Lismore, which is known nationally for its New Year’s Eve parties and regional queer gatherings.

According to Tourism Australia’s LGBTQIA+ travel guidance, regional hubs such as Newcastle are part of a broader pattern in which Australian towns outside the major capitals are building their own pride events and queer spaces, supported by anti-discrimination laws and a generally welcoming legal framework for LGBTQIA+ people. New South Wales law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in areas such as employment, education, and provision of goods and services, protections that apply equally in Newcastle as in Sydney.

The city’s beaches and ocean baths form a major part of its appeal. Newcastle Ocean Baths and the Art Deco-style Merewether Ocean Baths are widely featured in tourism materials as iconic places to swim and socialise year-round. While official guides do not designate specific “gay beaches”, LGBTQIA+ locals and visitors use these public spaces alongside everyone else, benefiting from a casual coastal culture where same-sex couples and gender-diverse people can generally enjoy the water and promenades without drawing undue attention.

Newcastle’s arts scene is a key part of what makes it feel culturally rich for LGBTQIA+ travelers. The Lock-Up, a contemporary art space housed in a former police station and jail, is known for hosting exhibitions and events that explore social justice, identity, and experimental practice. Its programs have included works by queer and gender-diverse artists, aligning with a broader commitment in Australian contemporary art to platform marginalized voices.

The nearby Newcastle Art Gallery, one of Australia’s leading regional galleries, houses a collection of modern and contemporary Australian art, including works that engage with sexuality, gender, and social change. While the gallery’s cataloguing does not sort works by artists’ sexual orientation or gender identity, curatorial texts and exhibitions have addressed LGBTQIA+ subject matter as part of Australian cultural history, which offers queer visitors a point of connection.

Nightlife for queer visitors is less about a single “gay bar” and more about an ecosystem of inclusive venues. Small bars and live music spaces in the city centre and along Hunter Street often display rainbow symbols and host drag, cabaret, and themed dance nights. This dispersed model echoes Tourism Australia’s observation that outside the biggest capitals, LGBTQIA+ social life in Australia is often integrated into broader community spaces rather than confined to standalone venues.

Sport is another surprisingly important element of Newcastle’s queer-friendly environment. The city has a strong sporting culture, particularly around rugby league and surfing. Across Australia, LGBTQIA+ inclusion in sport has been a public focus, with organizations such as Pride in Sport working with clubs nationally to improve participation and visibility for LGBTQIA+ people. Local clubs in the Hunter region have taken part in national inclusion initiatives, such as rainbow rounds and policies against homophobia and transphobia, which contribute to a safer environment for LGBTQIA+ players and fans.

For travelers who enjoy connecting through movement, Newcastle’s cycleways and coastal walks, including the Bathers Way, provide accessible outdoor activities that are popular among both locals and visitors. Public health and tourism material notes that these shared spaces can foster social interaction and community building, which many LGBTQIA+ travelers value when exploring new cities.

Any queer-focused exploration of Newcastle is also an opportunity to engage with the city’s deeper cultural layers. The area is the traditional Country of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples, whose connection to land, water, and sky is central to local identity. Aboriginal cultural tours and interpretive signage around the coastline and Blackbutt Reserve introduce visitors to stories of creation, navigation, and resilience that predate colonial industry and contemporary tourism.

Across Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities include diverse understandings of gender and sexuality, including sistergirl and brotherboy identities among some Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal peoples, although these specific identities are more commonly documented in northern and central regions rather than in Newcastle itself. National LGBTQIA+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organizations, such as Black Rainbow , highlight the importance of culturally safe spaces for First Nations LGBTQIA+ people and advocate for intersectional inclusion in cities across the country.

While Newcastle’s tourism materials focus primarily on broader reconciliation initiatives and cultural heritage, the presence of First Nations-led arts and community programs contributes to a more nuanced understanding of inclusion, one that queer travelers can seek out by attending exhibitions, performances, or community events led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

For international visitors familiar with Sydney’s Mardi Gras or Melbourne’s Midsumma, Newcastle offers a different pace and scale. Tourism Australia notes that while major cities remain focal points for LGBTQIA+ travel, regional centers like Newcastle provide more relaxed environments where many visitors feel comfortable showing affection in public, accessing services, and engaging with local communities. This comfort is shaped by Australia’s nationwide legal recognition of marriage equality in 2017 and federal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status in key areas of public life.

Newcastle’s relative affordability compared to Sydney, combined with its beaches and university presence, has attracted students and creatives, including LGBTQIA+ people, from across New South Wales. The University of Newcastle promotes equity and diversity initiatives, including support services for LGBTQIA+ students and staff, which contributes to a visible youth queer culture in and around the city. Campus-based queer collectives and events often spill into city venues, reinforcing the sense that Newcastle is an emerging node in Australia’s broader rainbow map rather than a peripheral outpost.

National queer travel guides frequently highlight Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, and specific regional destinations such as Daylesford and the Lismore region as LGBTQIA+ hotspots. Newcastle appears less often in these lists, despite having an established pride festival, inclusive arts institutions, and visible community activity documented by local government and community organizations. This gap between on-the-ground reality and destination marketing is precisely what makes Newcastle feel like a hidden gem: queer travelers can experience a living, evolving community rather than a fully commercialized scene.

For LGBTQIA+ visitors seeking a blend of coastal landscapes, contemporary Australian culture, and everyday queer life, Newcastle offers:

- Accessible transport: regular trains from Sydney and an airport with domestic connections.
- Walkable urban cores: a city centre and adjacent suburbs that can largely be explored on foot or by light rail.
- Inclusive events calendar: from Newcastle Pride to gallery openings, live music, and community markets where diversity is visible and welcomed.
- Legal and social protections for LGBTQIA+ people embedded in state and federal law, reinforcing a general expectation of respect and safety.

For queer travelers used to the intensity of major festivals, Newcastle’s appeal lies in slower rhythms: morning swims in historic ocean baths, afternoons spent with contemporary art and coffee, evenings listening to live music or watching drag in venues where regulars greet each other by name. It is a city still in the process of defining itself, which means LGBTQIA+ visitors are not just spectators but potential participants in an evolving, locally-rooted queer culture.

I flew to South Caicos after several days on Providenciales, and the shift wasn't subtle. That short hop feels more like crossing into a different version of the territory: the plane door opens onto wide salinas, low mangroves, fishing skiffs easing back toward the docks and donkeys wandering wherever they please. Instead of the hum of new development, the island's older bones hold most of the attention.

A smaller island that has set its limits

Only a small percentage of visitors travel past Providenciales, and South Caicos reflects that choice. The airport is a single, utilitarian building where luggage is rolled out beside the runway, and the drive to the resort moves through open land and quiet roads. On my arrival, a cluster of donkeys stood squarely across the road, slowing cars in a way no traffic ever does.

Salterra is the island's lone full-service resort, but it doesn't dominate the coastline. Its low buildings spread along the shore rather than rising above it, and the layout gives more room to the water and wind than to amenities. Afternoon activity follows the fishing fleet, which returns with conch and lobster, not a beach club's schedule.

Island and water

Beyond the docks, the coastline stretches for long, unbroken distances where you're more likely to share the water with eagle rays, turtles or small sharks than with other snorkelers. Kiteboarders come for the strong, steady wind and the wide, shallow bays, and the calm surface makes it easier for beginners to learn. Much of the shore forms around rock shelves instead of manicured sand, leaving the landscape sharper, quieter and more natural than what most visitors associate with Turks and Caicos.

What travelers find here

Many people come for that sense of space. Suites at Salterra open toward a coastline that stays mostly empty, and nights fall dark enough to show the Milky Way when the weather cooperates. Residents I spoke with said they want tourism to remain measured. South Caicos has watched other islands scale up quickly, and the preference here is to grow slowly and keep development low to preserve the island's character. The resort's footprint reflects that mindset with added jobs but limited buildup.

Most visitors split their time between the water and exploring the island. The inland salinas create long, open paths that let you wander without crossing crowds, and the stillness gives the island a different kind of appeal than its larger neighbors.

Reaching South Caicos

Getting to South Caicos still requires a short inter-island flight from Providenciales, and accommodations remain limited by design. Salterra serves as the central base for overnight visitors, a scale that helps the island avoid the crowding common in busier parts of the Caribbean.

South Caicos continues to change, but at a slow and intentional pace. Its coastline is still wide open, its roads stay quiet and the island remains one of the few places in Turks and Caicos where daily life outweighs tourism. For now, that balance holds, and it's what gives the island its appeal.

Mandy is a luxury travel, fine dining and bucket-list-adventure journalist with expert insight from 46 countries. She uncovers unforgettable experiences around the world and brings them to life through immersive storytelling that blends indulgence, culture and discovery, and shares it all with a global audience as co-founder of Food Drink Life. Her articles appear on MSN and through the Associated Press wire in major U.S. outlets, including NBC, the Daily News, Boston Herald, the Chicago Sun-Times and many more.

Tourism Australia’s national LGBTQIA+ guide highlights that queer-inclusive experiences are no longer confined to Sydney or Melbourne, noting that regional centres and “towns in the bush” across the country increasingly fly the rainbow flag alongside the capital cities’ scenes. While Townsville is not singled out in that national tourism guide, local government policies, events, and community infrastructure show how this port city fits into that broader shift.

Townsville sits on the land of the Wulgurukaba and Bindal peoples and has grown into the largest urban centre in North Queensland, with a population of more than 190,000 people according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Its economy and identity are shaped by nearby Magnetic Island, the Great Barrier Reef, and the presence of James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science, giving the city a younger, research-focused population than many regional centres. This mix of students, scientists, Defence personnel, and long-term residents underpins a quiet but growing LGBTQ+ community.

The City of Townsville has adopted inclusive policy settings in recent years, including signalling support for LGBTQIA+ residents through community grants and participation in pride activities. While Queensland’s best-known tropical queer party is Tropical Fruits in nearby northern New South Wales, national tourism promotion notes that LGBTQIA+ festivals and events now dot the country beyond capitals, including in regional Queensland. Townsville’s role in this patchwork has grown as local advocates build visible spaces for gender-diverse and sexuality-diverse communities.

The regional advocacy group QUEERSpace Townsville describes itself as a peer-led social and support network for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and questioning people and allies in the region, offering regular meetups and events designed to combat isolation. Townsville also hosts Headspace Townsville and Open Doors Youth Service outreach , which provide mental health and social support specifically for LGBTQ+ young people, reflecting a broader statewide commitment to inclusive health services for gender and sexuality diverse youth. These groups are primarily for locals, but their visibility matters for visitors who want to understand the community they are stepping into.

For many travelers, the first encounter with Townsville is The Strand, a palm-lined waterfront promenade that runs for 2.2 kilometres, facing Magnetic Island across Cleveland Bay. Families picnic on the grass, joggers loop past oceanfront pools, and at sunset couples of all genders and identities can be seen strolling or sitting on the seawall. While it is not a designated queer enclave, the casual public affection visible here reflects broader social changes in Queensland since the state equalised the age of consent and later legalised marriage equality, reforms documented by the Queensland Government and national press.

Townsville’s inclusive shift can also be read through its cultural infrastructure. The Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, housed in a heritage building in the city centre, has hosted exhibitions exploring gender, identity, and contemporary Australian photography, aligning with a national trend of regional galleries partnering with LGBTQ+ artists during pride periods. Townsville’s Civic Theatre program has featured touring queer-themed works and drag performances as part of broader arts festivals, reflecting how queer culture is threaded into mainstream programming rather than siloed.

The most visible annual celebration is Townsville Pride Festival, a community-driven event that includes a march, fair day, and associated social events. While much smaller than Brisbane Pride or Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Townsville Pride is significant for North Queensland: media coverage by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has documented rainbow families, transgender people, and First Nations queer community members taking part, with organisers emphasising the importance of visibility in regional areas.

For queer travelers, planning a trip around Townsville Pride offers an immediate entry point into local networks, with community information stalls, performances by local drag artists, and family-friendly activities that reflect a broad understanding of queer community rather than a focus solely on nightlife.

One of Townsville’s most distinctive qualities for visitors is the combination of First Nations culture, reef-focused science, and tropical everyday life. The city is a key gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and reef tourism operators based at Townsville’s Breakwater Marina run day trips to nearby islands and reefs. For queer travelers seeking nature-based experiences in inclusive settings, Tourism Australia notes that many reef and outdoor operators across the country are accustomed to welcoming LGBTQIA+ guests, especially in areas with high international visitation.

Back on shore, the Museum of Tropical Queensland hosts exhibitions on maritime archaeology, Pacific cultures, and the natural history of the tropics, offering insight into the broader region. The museum has produced education resources that acknowledge the diversity of contemporary Queensland communities, including LGBTQ+ families, in line with state curriculum guidelines about inclusion. While not explicitly a queer venue, its framing of social diversity supports a sense that queer lives belong within the region’s story.

First Nations culture is foregrounded at events such as the Townsville Indigenous Music and Cultural Festival and through public art that recognises Wulgurukaba and Bindal connections to land and sea. National LGBTQIA+ organisations and researchers, including Black Rainbow and Rainbow Mob , have long highlighted the importance of recognising Sistergirl and Brotherboy identities and the intersecting experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ people. While these organisations are not specific to Townsville, their work is directly relevant to the many First Nations queer people across northern Australia who travel through or live in the city.

This intersection of Indigenous culture and queer visibility is sometimes reflected in Townsville Pride programming, which has included acknowledgements of Country and participation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members, as noted in local media reports. For visitors, engaging with First Nations-led tours and cultural experiences around Townsville and Magnetic Island offers ways to understand how gender, sexuality, and kinship are understood in this part of Australia.

Unlike Sydney’s Oxford Street or Melbourne’s Fitzroy and Collingwood, Townsville does not have a single, densely packed “gay village”. Tourism Australia notes that across Australia, many smaller cities and regions express queer-friendliness less through specific precincts and more through scattered inclusive venues and mainstream spaces where LGBTQIA+ people feel comfortable. Townsville follows this pattern.

The city’s Palmer Street dining strip and the laneways around Flinders Street host cafés, bars, and small restaurants that draw a mixed crowd of students and office workers. Local guides and social media posts by QUEERSpace Townsville highlight particular venues that are popular with LGBTQ+ locals for casual meetups, though these businesses generally promote themselves as inclusive rather than exclusively queer.

Nightlife for transgender people, lesbian women, gay men, bisexual people, and queer and questioning locals often centres on drag and cabaret nights hosted in mainstream pubs and clubs rather than dedicated LGBTQ+ bars. Townsville-based drag performers regularly appear at Pride events, ticketed drag brunches, and special nights at venues such as the Seaview Hotel on The Strand or inner-city bars, as documented through event listings and local news coverage. These events attract a mix of queer and non-queer audiences, creating spaces where visibility and celebration sit within the broader nightlife.

For visitors, this means that connecting with Townsville’s queer community often happens via Facebook groups and event-based nights, rather than by simply walking into a rainbow-flagged bar. This model reflects national trends in regional Australia, where LGBTQ+ social life pivots around pop-up events, sports clubs, and arts nights, as observed in community mapping projects by Australian LGBTQ+ organisations such as Equality Australia.

For many LGBTQ+ travelers, especially transgender and gender-diverse people, the question of whether a destination feels safe and respectful in everyday interactions can be as important as the availability of nightlife. Research published by the Australian Human Rights Commission has documented that discrimination persists in Australian public life, but also that legal protections at federal and state levels now prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and intersex status in areas such as accommodation and services.

Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 was amended to include protections for gender identity and sexuality, a framework that applies in Townsville as it does in Brisbane or Cairns. Local health providers, including Townsville Hospital and Health Service, have publicly stated commitments to inclusive care for LGBTQ+ patients, aligning with Queensland Health guidelines that encourage training and policies specifically addressing the needs of transgender people, intersex people, and sexuality-diverse communities.

For queer travelers, this legal and institutional backdrop helps underpin the more subtle social signals encountered on the ground: staff using correct pronouns, rainbow stickers on clinic doors, or gender-neutral language on forms. While not unique to Townsville, the presence of a major hospital, university health services, and youth-specific LGBTQ+ organisations in the city provides reassurance to those who may need access to affirming care while far from home.

A 25-minute ferry ride from Townsville lies Magnetic Island, a mountainous island national park dotted with beaches and small villages. While not marketed specifically as a queer destination, it has become a favoured weekend escape for many North Queensland locals, including LGBTQ+ residents of Townsville. Tourism and Events Queensland describes Magnetic Island’s bays, walking tracks, and koala habitats as a “laid-back tropical getaway” close to the mainland, with small-scale accommodation and a focus on nature.

National LGBTQIA+ travel guides to Australia highlight that for many queer visitors, inclusive experiences are found in the attitudes of staff and fellow guests in such nature-focused destinations, rather than in explicit branding. Magnetic Island’s casual dress codes, secluded coves, and small café culture offer space for couples and groups to relax without intense scrutiny, reflecting a broader Australian beach culture that tends to be informal and, in many cases, quietly accepting.

Staying on the island and day-tripping into Townsville for Pride events, drag shows, or gallery openings can create a balanced itinerary: reef and rainforest by day, queer community by night.

Townsville does not compete with Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane in terms of dedicated queer nightlife or the density of LGBTQ+ venues. Tourism Australia’s LGBTQIA+ guide lists those cities, along with regional hubs like Daylesford and Lismore, as the country’s most high-profile queer destinations. That absence from mainstream LGBTQIA+ travel lists is precisely what makes Townsville interesting for travelers who want to understand how queer life unfolds outside the well-documented urban scenes.

Several factors contribute to its growing appeal as a hidden gem:

- Authentic regional queer community: The existence of organisations such as QUEERSpace Townsville, Townsville Pride Festival, and youth support services indicates a sustained, grassroots community rather than a purely tourist-oriented scene.

- Intersection with Indigenous and tropical cultures: Townsville’s role as a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and as a centre for Wulgurukaba and Bindal Country creates a layered cultural environment where conversations about land, climate, and identity intersect in distinctive ways.

- Emerging arts and drag scenes: Regional galleries, theatres, and hospitality venues are increasingly incorporating queer artists, drag performers, and LGBTQ+ themed nights, mirroring a nationwide trend of regional arts sectors embracing diversity.

- Inclusive everyday spaces: From The Strand to Magnetic Island, many of the city’s most beautiful locations function as shared community spaces, where rainbow identities are visible but not segregated from the rest of local life.

For queer travelers who value connection with local communities, interest in First Nations culture and reef environments, and a preference for subtle, everyday inclusion over big-city spectacle, Townsville offers a compelling, under-the-radar base in northern Australia.

As national tourism bodies continue to encourage LGBTQIA+ visitors to look beyond the usual capitals, places like Townsville demonstrate how regional cities are quietly reshaping what queer travel in Australia can look like: less about dedicated gay strips and more about woven-in visibility, community care, and the freedom to be yourself in the tropics.

Korea's comforting winter table

"Seollal," the Lunar New Year, is one of South Korea's most cherished holidays. Unlike Christmas, which can be celebrated more casually, Seollal is steeped in tradition and togetherness. Celebrated over several days in January or February, it's a time when loved ones gather to honor their ancestors, share meals and play Korean games.

A central dish during Seollal is "tteokguk," a rice cake soup that symbolizes good fortune and the transition into a new year of life. Around it, tables overflow with "galbijjim," tender braised short ribs; "jeon," golden savory pancakes; and "bulgogi," beef marinated in Korean BBQ sauce. Families honor their elders with bows, exchange envelopes of New Year's money and savor the comforting flavors of home.

Mexico's month-long fiesta foods

In Mexico, Christmas is more than a single day. It's a season of joy that runs from Dec. 12 to Jan. 6. The festivities begin with Las Posadas, lively processions that reenact Mary and Joseph's search for shelter. From there, the country moves through Christmas Eve, midnight mass and finally Three Kings Day.

Families prepare beloved dishes like tamales filled with pork or cheese, and pozole, a hearty stew simmered with hominy and meat. To give a modern twist, some cooks add taco sauce for extra flavor while keeping the dish lighter. Sweet "buñuelos," crisp fritters dusted with sugar, pair perfectly with cups of cinnamon-spiced ponche. The season ends with Rosca de Reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread filled with dried fruit to mark the arrival of the Three Kings.

Brazil's tropical feast

Brazil's Christmas is a vibrant mix of summer warmth and Catholic tradition. Families often spend the day outdoors at beaches, by the pool or in backyard gatherings. On Christmas Eve, many attend midnight mass before exchanging gifts and enjoying a festive dinner.

At the center of many tables is Chester-style chicken, a tender, meaty bird. It can be roasted with Cajun seasoning for a smoky, spicy touch or prepared traditionally with white wine and garlic. Feijoada, the country's iconic black bean and meat stew, often pairs with "farofa," toasted cassava flour for crunch. Sweet panettone and "rabanada," Brazil's version of French toast, round out the meal, while tropical fruits and chilled salads add color and freshness to the summer celebration.

Nigeria's Christmas rice

In Nigeria, Christmas comes alive with firecrackers, dancing and feasts that last into the night. At the heart of the celebration is jollof rice, often referred to as Christmas rice. This smoky, tomato-based dish is a staple in West Africa and is typically served with chicken or goat. Tables may also feature pounded yams, rich stews and golden, doughy fritters known as puff-puff. On Christmas Eve, many families host all-night parties before gathering for church services on Christmas morning, blending festivities with faith and tradition.

The Philippines' 2-tiered feast

Few countries celebrate Christmas like the Philippines, where the holiday season begins as early as September. The highlight of the season is "Noche Buena," a lavish Christmas Eve feast featuring "lechon," a whole roasted pig with crispy golden skin and tender meat as the centerpiece. Families serve it with "pancit," stir-fried noodles that symbolize long life, and "queso de bola," a red-waxed Edam cheese that adds a festive touch.

At midnight on New Year's Eve, families gather once again for "Media Noche," a meal to welcome the new year. A long-standing tradition during this time is to eat 12 round fruits, one for each month, to invite good fortune. Each gathering fills the home with laughter, music and the unmistakable warmth of Filipino hospitality.

A taste of Christmas magic in Germany

Germany captures the magic of the holidays with its world-famous Christmas markets. Some date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, a testament to the country's deep-rooted traditions. Stalls glow with lights, and the air fills with the scent of roasted nuts and "glühwein," a hot spiced wine that warms visitors on cold winter nights.

On Christmas Eve, many families enjoy a simple meal of carp with potato salad and sauerkraut. Christmas Day brings a more elaborate feast: roast duck or pork served alongside red cabbage and "kartoffelknödel," soft potato dumplings. For dessert, "stollen," a fruit bread dusted with sugar, and "lebkuchen," German gingerbread cookies, sweeten the season's celebrations.

A world of holiday flavors

Most Americans celebrate Christmas, but the holiday's traditions take different forms around the world. From Seoul's comforting soups to São Paulo's seaside feasts, holiday cuisine captures how different cultures honor family, faith and the new year. Wherever it is celebrated, this season is about gathering with loved ones and enjoying food that warms both the heart and soul.

Kristen Wood is an award-winning photographer, food writer, recipe developer and certified functional nutrition expert. She is also the creator of MOON and spoon and yum, a vegetarian food blog, and the author of "Vegetarian Family Cookbook," "Fermented Hot Sauce Cookbook" and "Hot Sauce Cookbook for Beginners." Her work has appeared in various online and print publications, including NBC, Seattle Times, ABC, Elle, Fox, CBS, Forbes, Chicago Sun-Times and more.

Despite little to no daylight — plus months of frigid temperatures — people who live in northern Europe and above the Arctic Circle have learned how to cope mentally and physically with the annual onset of the winter blues, which can begin as early as October and last into April for some.

The winter solstice will occur Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won't be over for a while yet.

The Associated Press spoke to experts in Norway, Sweden and Finland about the winter blues. Here's how they suggest looking for light, literally and figuratively, during the darkest months of the year:

Dr. Timo Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the dark winter affects our circadian rhythm.

With limited daylight, our internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly and it throws off our sleep. We may sleep longer in the winter, he said, but we don't wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.

Partonen recommended trying a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up your bedroom and ease you awake.

In addition to being more tired, we're more likely to withdraw from others socially in the wintertime. We're more irritable, Partonen said, and more prone to fights with friends.

It's important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.

And since keeping up with exercise is also key to combating the winter blues, consider inviting a friend along for a workout.

It could also help keep off the wintertime weight gain — typically 2 to 5 kilograms (4 to 11 pounds) a year, Partonen said — that's fed by cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.

Millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression. Also known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, patients typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. A milder form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical experts, and there’s also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.

Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. Sunlight is loaded with the blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains’ alertness centers are activated and we feel more awake and possibly even happier.

Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.

In severe cases, people need clinical support and antidepressant medications. Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests light therapy for people with SAD as well as those who have a milder case of the winter blues.

“It’s not like it’s a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it,” Benedict said. “There are possibilities to affect it.”

A routine of morning light therapy, using devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light, can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.

The light therapy helps to kickstart your circadian rhythm and increases serotonin in your brain, Benedict said.

Research supports using a light that’s about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness, for 30 minutes every morning. Special lights run from $70 to $400, though some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. Your insurance company might cover at least part of the cost if you’ve been diagnosed with SAD.

Partonen recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon.

Yale has tested products and offers a list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics has a consumer guide to selecting a light.

And don't forget to, well, look on the bright side. It's crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it, according to Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Tromsø, also known as the Arctic University of Norway — the world's northernmost university.

Prioritize a positive outlook as a survival strategy and learn to appreciate the change in seasons. It's a typical Norwegian way of thinking, she said, that can make all the difference when there's very little daylight for months.

“It's part of the culture,” she said.

And don't forget to take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, she said. Inside, channel hygge — the Danish obsession with getting cozy — and snuggle up on the couch with blankets and a movie.

But don't hibernate all winter. After the film finishes, head outside with a thermos for fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break. Even during cloudy days, a quick walk in the fresh air will help, she said. And if you're brave enough, do a cold plunge like many people in the Nordics.

Solhaug tries to jump into the frigid waters off the coast of Tromsø, an island 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, at least once a week, adding that it makes her feel revitalized during the long winter.

“Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness,” she said.

After all, as many Nordic people say, there’s no such thing as bad weather — only bad clothing.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb, too, had some tips for how to tackle Nordic winters. When asked in an interview with The Associated Press last month how to survive the cold season, he had some very specific advice.

“Take an ice bath and then followed up by a sauna and do one more ice bath, one more sauna, then a shower and go out there. You’ll manage,” Stubb said.

Rijeka’s queer‑friendlier environment did not appear overnight. It grew out of a longer local tradition of left‑leaning politics, worker solidarity, and experimental art that has often set the city apart from the rest of the country.

Rijeka sits on Kvarner Bay in the northern Adriatic, historically shaped by Austro‑Hungarian, Italian, and Yugoslav rule before becoming part of independent Croatia in the 1990s. This layered past is visible in the Habsburg‑era palaces along Korzo, the main pedestrian promenade, and in the remnants of heavy industry that once made Rijeka one of Yugoslavia’s key shipbuilding centers.

That industrial identity also fostered a strong working‑class culture and a tradition of protest. Rijeka was one of the first Croatian cities to see mass anti‑fascist mobilization during World War II, and later hosted important punk and alternative scenes in socialist Yugoslavia. Contemporary queer organizers in the city frequently reference this legacy of resistance and non‑conformity when explaining why they feel comparatively safer being visible here than in some other Croatian urban centers.

In 2020, Rijeka served as one of the European Capitals of Culture, a European Union initiative that highlighted the city’s experimental arts institutions, from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art to a network of independent cultural centers housed in former industrial spaces. The official program included explicit LGBTQ+ themes and collaborations with local queer organizations, further legitimizing their presence in the city’s cultural mainstream.

For queer visitors, one of Rijeka’s most important assets is the presence of LORI Association , a local lesbian and feminist organization founded in 2000. LORI is one of the oldest LGBTQ+ organizations in Croatia and is based in Rijeka, where it has long provided counseling, educational programs, and public campaigns against homophobia and transphobia.

LORI has also been central in organizing Rijeka’s contribution to May 17th International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia , staging public actions, exhibitions, and discussions in city spaces. These events, often held in collaboration with the City of Rijeka’s Department of Culture, signal an official openness to LGBTQ+ visibility that is still uneven across Croatia.

While Croatia’s most widely reported Pride events happen in Zagreb and Split, Rijeka has hosted smaller but symbolically important queer public gatherings and community festivals over the last decade, including film screenings, panel discussions, and cultural programs under banners such as “Smoqua – Festival of Queer and Feminist Culture.” Smoqua, founded in 2017, combines workshops, performances, and exhibitions with regional and international guests; organizers describe it as a space for “feminist, queer, and artistic reflection” in the Adriatic context.

These initiatives mean that, although Rijeka does not yet have the density of commercial gay bars or clubs seen in larger European capitals, it offers a community‑based infrastructure where queer travelers can plug into local networks anchored by activism and arts rather than nightlife alone.

Croatia has made several formal advances on LGBTQ+ rights in the last decade, including the introduction of life partnerships for same‑sex couples in 2014 and subsequent provisions allowing non‑married same‑sex couples to foster children. However, rights organizations have documented ongoing discrimination, periodic anti‑Pride incidents, and challenges for transgender people in accessing legal gender recognition and adequate healthcare.

Within this national context, Rijeka stands out for several reasons:

Firstly, surveys and anecdotal reporting by Croatian LGBTQ+ groups describe Rijeka as having a relatively high level of everyday acceptance, especially among younger residents, compared to some inland and smaller coastal towns.

Secondly, city officials in Rijeka have consistently partnered with civil society on anti‑discrimination campaigns, including support for educational workshops in schools and cultural venues. This institutional backing gives queer cultural events a sense of security and continuity.

Thirdly, Rijeka’s identity as a historically multicultural port—with Italian, Slovene, and other minority communities still present—has contributed to a civic narrative that values diversity. Scholars of Croatian urban history note that this pluralism often translates into greater openness toward gender and sexual diversity as well.

For queer travelers, much of Rijeka’s appeal lies in its scale. The city center is compact and walkable, with Korzo at its heart, lined with cafés where couples of all genders can sit together without attracting undue attention. From here, side streets lead to the port, the main market, and cultural landmarks like the imposing St. Vitus Cathedral and the 19th‑century National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc, which has hosted productions by openly queer and feminist directors.

Climbing the steps behind the city brings visitors to Trsat, a hilltop neighborhood crowned by a medieval fortress and a Franciscan monastery. The views over Kvarner Bay and the islands of Krk and Cres are a reminder that Rijeka is at once an industrial port and a gateway to some of the Adriatic’s most coveted beaches. In warmer months, local residents—queer and straight—head to pebble beaches along the city’s eastern shoreline and to nearby coastal towns like Kostrena and Opatija for swimming and sunbathing.

Rijeka’s food culture reflects its mixed heritage. Seafood risottos and grilled fish share menus with Central European comfort dishes and Italian‑influenced pastas. Independent cafés and bars in the center and around the artsy “Benčić” complex—home to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Children’s House—often host exhibitions and DJ nights that attract a young, alternative crowd, including many LGBTQ+ locals.

Unlike major queer capitals where clubbing dominates the experience, Rijeka’s emerging appeal lies in its cultural programming.

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka has mounted exhibitions engaging with gender, sexuality, and body politics, including works by regional queer artists. Film screenings organized with local NGOs have featured documentaries on LGBTQ+ activism in the Balkans and beyond, often followed by discussions with activists and scholars.

During the European Capital of Culture year, several projects directly addressed queer histories and identities, such as performances exploring same‑sex desire in Yugoslav popular culture and installations highlighting the marginalization of LGBTQ+ people in post‑socialist transitions. Organizers report that these events drew mixed audiences and sparked public conversations about gender and sexuality that continue to resonate in the city’s cultural scene.

The Smoqua Festival of Queer and Feminist Culture has quickly become a key date on the local calendar, typically taking place in autumn. Programmes have included drag performances, zine‑making workshops, self‑defence classes for queer and feminist communities, and lectures on topics ranging from non‑binary identities to regional transfeminist movements. International guests from neighboring Slovenia, Italy, and Serbia underscore Rijeka’s position as a meeting point in the northern Adriatic for feminist and LGBTQ+ networks.

These culture‑driven spaces are particularly valuable for transgender people, non‑binary people, and other gender‑diverse travelers who may not feel fully at ease in more conventional gay nightlife environments. Workshops and discussions foreground intersectional experiences, including those of migrants, Roma people, and disabled queer people, reflecting a broader commitment to inclusivity.

From a logistics standpoint, Rijeka is accessible by bus and train from Zagreb and by ferry or catamaran from several Adriatic destinations, with a nearby airport on the island of Krk serving regional flights. Accommodation options range from small family‑run guesthouses to contemporary hotels along the waterfront.

Human rights groups note that while legal protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity exist in Croatia, the lived experience of LGBTQ+ people varies by region. In Rijeka, local activists emphasize that displays of affection such as holding hands are generally possible in central areas without major incident, especially during daytime and around cultural venues. However, they still advise caution late at night in less busy parts of the city, similar to guidance offered for many European destinations.

Transgender people traveling to Croatia may face particular challenges, including inconsistent understanding of gender diversity in medical and bureaucratic settings. In Rijeka, LORI and partner organizations sometimes facilitate referrals to LGBTQ‑affirming professionals and can offer up‑to‑date local guidance for those who reach out in advance via their website .

Rijeka rarely appears on mainstream LGBTQ+ travel lists, which tend to focus on cities like Berlin, Barcelona, and Amsterdam. However, some specialized travel features on “hidden” queer‑friendly destinations in Europe and the Adriatic region have begun to spotlight Croatia and the Kvarner area—often emphasizing the role of grassroots organizations and smaller festivals over large commercial Pride events.

Within this broader trend, Rijeka stands out as:

- Welcoming: A city administration that partners with LGBTQ+ groups, visible queer and feminist festivals, and cultural institutions hosting gender‑ and sexuality‑themed projects all contribute to a sense of safety for visitors.

- Emerging: Rather than a saturated party destination, Rijeka offers an evolving scene where new queer‑inclusive events and collaborations appear each year, many still small enough that visitors can meet organizers and artists personally.

- Culturally rich: From its European Capital of Culture legacy to ongoing experimental art, theatre, and music, the city offers depth well beyond sun and sea, with queer perspectives increasingly woven into this fabric.

For LGBTQ+ travelers seeking a European destination where they can explore both queer community life and local history without the pressure of a hyper‑commercial scene, Rijeka offers a compelling alternative. Cafés on Korzo instead of mega‑clubs, conversations at a feminist zine workshop instead of all‑night circuit parties, a swim in Kvarner Bay after a day at the museum: it is in these quieter combinations that the city’s appeal reveals itself.

And as local organizers continue to build festivals, alliances, and safe spaces, Rijeka’s position as a hidden gem on the queer map of Europe is likely to strengthen—still under the radar enough to feel intimate, but increasingly connected to a broader Adriatic and European LGBTQ+ network.