There are lots of great LGBTQ+ friendly places to travel to in the U.S., and while this certainly isn't an exhaustive list, these gay-friendly travel destinations have gay resorts, LGBTQ+ specific events, gay and lesbian bars, and communities that are welcoming to tourists who identify as LGBTQ+. They range from the tamer, family-friendly locales of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to party havens celebrating summer and freedom on Fire Island, New York. You'll also find historically significant cities like San Francisco, and the Midwest resort towns Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan. Each city offers fun experiences and things to do. Check out our list and start planning your perfect getaway.
1. Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is not only a popular travel destination for the people in the LGBTQ+ community for the gay resorts (some with clothing-optional pools and hot tubs), bars and events, but it also is a beautiful location with outdoor activities like those at nearby San Jacinto State Park and Joshua Tree National Park.
Bike Palm Springs Rentals and Tours rents bicycles, tandem bikes and electric bikes for personal use, and they offer tours of celebrity homes and mid-century modern neighborhoods. Shops carrying clothes, arts, home décor and gifts are located in Downtown Palm Springs, and the Arenas District has restaurants and gay bars. Visit Palm Springs says the district is “the largest concentration of LGBTQ establishments in the Coachella Valley.”
Annual events at Palm Springs include White Party, an LGBTQ+ plus dance party that features performances by DJs and music artists. Club Skirts Presents the Dinah is billed as “the biggest queer, lesbian, non-binary event in the world” and includes pool parties, DJs and live performances. Greater Palm Springs Pride is a major event every November that organizers project to bring in 200,000 attendees over the 3-day event.
About an hour from Palm Springs is Joshua Tree National Park, which has hiking, self-guided driving tours, ranger-led programs and rock climbing. The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway takes visitors on a 10-minute, 2.5-mile ride up to Mount San Jacinto State Park which has beautiful views, hikes and camping. Note: According to Aerial Tramway, the tram cars as well as Valley Station and Mountain Station are wheelchair accessible, and California State Parks marked the Panoramic Point Interpretive Trail as accessible.
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2. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Rehoboth Beach in Delaware is a popular spot in the summer for Washington, D.C., residents ranging from families to politicians and staffers as well as LGBTQ+ travelers. Many people trace the gay history of Rehoboth to an art league made up of women in the 1940s. Organizations like CAMP Rehoboth, founded in 1991, have worked to create good relationships between the LGBTQ+ community and the government, local media and other Rehoboth residents.
Just north of Rehoboth Beach is Cape Henlopen State Park. The beaches here are popular among lesbian and queer women. This state park offers more than just beaches, though. There are hiking and biking trails, bird-watching opportunities and an observation tower. Another popular spot is Poodle Beach, frequented by gay men.
Restaurants fuel the nightlife in Rehoboth. You'll find places like the AAA Three Diamond Blue Moon Restaurant that features drag shows and a popular Sunday brunch — don't forget to make reservations. Purple Parrot Grill features drink specials, a biergarten on summer weekends and karaoke. Other fun things to do in Rehoboth Beach include the mile-long boardwalk that features casual restaurants, shops and views of the ocean and plays put on by Clear Space Theatre.
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3. Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a gay-friendly destination located in Massachusetts — bounded by Cape Cod Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other — and while June through August is peak season, there are events and activities to do year-round. Events include Single Women's Weekend, an event for lesbians, in May; while Women of Color Weekend in June features workshops, parties and more for LGBTQ+ women of color. June also contains Pride weekend. Carnival in August is a week with a parade, parties and costume contests. Fantasia Fair (formerly Trans Week) occurs in October and features workshops, brunches and lunches.
It's not just events that bring people to “Ptown.” People enjoy live performances and plays, and with nearly the entire town surrounded by ocean, the beaches are a popular spot, including Race Point Beach and Herring Cove Beach in Cape Cod National Seashore. The national seashore also has plenty of trails, and Art's Dune Tours offers several guided tour options to venture out onto the sand dunes.
The town is pedestrian-friendly, so those who would rather bike than drive can rent bicycles from shops like Ptown Bikes, which offers “pay as you go” rentals to explore the area at leisure. Within the town, there are also art galleries full of local artists' works and shops that sell a variety of items including jewelry, clothing, souvenirs and sweets. There are plenty of amazing accommodations to choose from, but some of our AAA inspectors' favorites are the AAA Three Diamond Anchor Inn Beach House for its prime downtown location and the Three Diamond Crowne Pointe Historic Inn & Spa for the architecture, gardens and service.
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4. Fire Island, New York
Fire Island is a gay haven that's a short 20-minute ferry ride from Long Island by Sayville Ferry Service. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the hotels and timeshares are booked, and the restaurants, bars and nightclubs are packed. There are parties, events, performances and drag shows. Though most of the shoreline is not officially nude beaches, many of the beaches are unofficially clothing optional.
Fire Island can trace its LGBTQ+ history back to the 1930s. Between Cherry Grove and The Pines — the two most popular gay hangouts — is the Carrington House, once owned by Frank Carrington, a theater director. He hosted many LGBTQ+ guests while he resided on the island, including openly gay author Truman Capote. The organization Art Project of Cherry Grove, founded in the 1940s, ran a theater and played a big role in the community's culture contributing to Fire Island being known as “America's First Gay and Lesbian Town.”
Today, much of the island is a mix of gay and straight people, but The Pines is mostly gay men while Cherry Grove is a mix of queer women and gay men. These areas on the east side of the island are home to parties and wild nightlife all summer long for those staying for a day, a weekend or longer.
Events include Invasion of the Pines on July 4 when drag queens in Cherry Grove hop on a water taxi and “invade” The Pines. The tradition started in the 1970s when a man dressed in drag was denied service at an upscale restaurant in The Pines. Pines Party is a weekend in July or August featuring DJs, pool parties and beach parties. LezVolley is a volleyball tournament for queer women, and in addition to the tournament, there is an after-party for players and spectators.
5. San Francisco, California
San Francisco has a rich LGBTQ+ history full of successes and tragedies. Community activists fought for decades for visibility and equality, and today, San Francisco is one of the most welcoming U.S. cities to LGBTQ+ people. The city's first Pride parade was in 1972 after the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York. In 1977, San Francisco citizens elected Harvey Milk to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the first openly gay elected official in California, though his life was tragically cut short in November 1978 when he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. In 1985, San Franciscan George Cleves started the AIDS Memorial Quilt to remember those lost in the AIDs epidemic. In 2004, the San Francisco government began issuing marriage licenses. Over 29 days, more than 4,000 same-sex couples were married before being stopped by the courts due to the order defying California state's then ban on same-sex marriage.
The Castro District, a gay neighborhood, has a thriving nightlife including Twin Peaks Tavern and Midnight Sun both open since the 1970s. There is also lots of shopping for clothing, décor, souvenirs and more. Other landmarks in the Castro include the Rainbow Honor Walk, which has bronze plaques embedded in the sidewalk honoring LGBTQ+ pioneers and the Castro Theatre, which has a beautiful art deco interior and hosts the Frameline Film Festival. There's also the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives. (Read more about this museum in 7 Great LGBTQ+ Attraction to Visit in the U.S.)
The Castro District certainly isn't the only part of San Francisco with fun things to do. Chinatown, the oldest Chinatown in the U.S., is full of history, sights and yummy restaurants. Locals and visitors alike enjoy seeing the sea lion colony that lives at PIER39 in Fisherman's Wharf. In Golden Gate Park, visitors can enjoy fine art at the de Young Museum and the blossoms at the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybring Arboretum.
San Francisco is also home to more events than can be named in a single article. Pride weekend in June has the Trans March on Friday, the Dyke March on Saturday and the Pride Parade on Sunday. The Fresh Meat Festival, featuring live performances from queer performers, is also in June. The Castro Street Fair in October was started by Harvey Milk in 1974. Today the fair features artists, local vendors and live performances.
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6. Saugatuck/Douglas, Michigan
Saugatuck and Douglas — a little more than a two-hour drive along the coast of Lake Michigan from Chicago — form a thriving resort destination that prides itself on being an inviting place to all. The settlement was started in the mid-19th century, and it originally thrived as a logging town, then when those resources were exhausted, industry shifted to fruit orchards. Things began to change in 1910 when some artists from Chicago founded the Summer School of Paintings on Ox-Bow Lagoon. Today, you can find several art schools and galleries flourishing, inspiring its Art Coast nickname. Since around the 1950s, the towns also have been known as a “gay haven,” which led some to feel safe enough to live openly long before it was widely accepted in the U.S.
There are a lot of LGBTQ+ owned businesses to patronize. The Dunes Resort hosts events, including karaoke nights, dance parties with DJs, drag shows, Sunday tea dances, and themed weekends such as trans pride; weekends for lesbian, trans and queer women; holiday celebrations; and more. In the morning you can grab a coffee from Outside Coffee Co., have lunch at Pizza Mambos, and for dinner, enjoy a romantic meal or indulge with friends at Coast 236 Restaurant & Bar.
For a taste of the outdoors, climb up 302 steps to Mount Baldhead and be rewarded with views of the towns below and Lake Michigan on your descent. You also can head to nearby Oval Beach and enjoy some time on the white sugar sand. Did you know that Saugatuck/Douglas is considered one of the best beach towns in the U.S.? And don't miss hiking trails at Saugatuck Dunes State Park. In town, there are specialty shops, boutiques and art galleries in downtown Saugatuck and on Butler Street. Stay, shop, play and eat in this Midwest LGBTQ+ friendly destination.
7. San Diego, California
Bright and sunny San Diego offers two neighborhoods Hillcrest and North Park (sometimes called the gayborhoods) that cater to the folks in the LGBTQ+ community; plus the city itself, a top vacation destination in the U.S., is welcoming to LGBTQ+ residents and travelers. You can opt to stay in AAA inspector-recommended hotels like the Paradise Point Resort & Spa, The Sofia Hotel or Pendry San Diego.
In July, the city hosts pride events such as She Fest that celebrates LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people and the Spirit of Stonewall Rally that features LGBTQ+ speakers as well as a pride parade that culminates in a festival at Balboa Park. Watch a drag show with your meal at the restaurant Lips. For a party of another kind, opt for Gossip Grill, an LGBTQ+ woman-owned restaurant and bar that caters to queer women.
If you want to bask in San Diego's beautiful weather, there are 33 beaches to choose from. Black's Beach, specifically the north side of the beach, is a favorite among many gay men. To get there, you have to hike through Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve or La Jolla Shores. Be aware that Black's Beach is unofficially clothing optional (though officially nudity at beaches in San Diego is unlawful).
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Plan Your LGBTQ+ Travel with AAA
As a AAA member, you have access to exclusive member benefits like discounts on car rentals through Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty. You can also get access to onboard spending credit or savings on your cabin on select cruises (check out our article on LGBTQ+ friendly cruises), and you can receive benefits on vacation packages with AAA Vacations®. Whether you work with a AAA Travel Agent or book on your own, AAA is there to help you plan the perfect vacation no matter if you travel domestically or going to LGBTQ+ friendly international destinations.