Newsletter 261: Gay Colombia, Istanbul Tour Guides + Barcelona Group Trip & More!

To Medellin with a Lot of LGBTQ+ Love

Medellín is the hottest place to be in 2025! Over the past few decades, the city has left behind its dark past and transformed into Colombia’s most popular destination for travelers—and showing off its LGBTQ+ colors in the process. The best way to enjoy the diverse pleasures of the City of Eternal Spring is with an LGBTQ+ tour by Queer Scout. Choose your ideal experience, whether it’s braving Medellín’s wild nightlife on their NightOUT Medellín tour, exploring the world of street art on their Queer Graffiti tour, or relaxing on a boat out on a serene lake on their Gay Guatapé Boat Tour. Or why not venture out of Medellín and embrace the full Colombian experience with LGBTQ+ tour operator OUT in Colombia? As experts on the country, they offer both trips from Medellín to Santa Marta and Medellín to Cartagena, as well as weekend group trips or private group trips for bachelor parties, birthdays, and pop-up parties. Hear more about them on our re-streamed podcast on YouTube.

Out in Colombia love hearing from their guests! Check out their reviews on TripAdvisor, WeTravel, or Google and find out why so many travelers choose OUT in Colombia over and over again.

SPONSORED BY OUT IN COLOMBIA

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Find Your Crew with the MeetMeOnboard App

Cruise ships bring out the best in people. There’s something about being at sea that allows everyone to be their most authentic selves—a true gift for LGBTQ+ individuals. MeetMeOnboard is a free app designed to help you make connections aboard cruise ships, even before you step on board. Simply download the app, then join a cruise you have already booked, or let the MeetMeOnboard team guide you through the booking process. . From there, you’ll be able to see all your fellow LGBTQ+ ‘Cruisemates’ who have signed up for the same cruise, giving you the chance to connect and chat with them before your adventure begins. On our app, any cruiser can host or join LGBTQ+ events, such as boarding day meet-and-greets, group excursions,  meals, or maybe even a sneaky martini happy hour or two. Download the app now and find your community with MeetMeOnBoard.

SPONSORED BY MEET ME ONBOARD

Come Spain on Our Parade in 2025

Calling all gays for our 2025 7 Days in Spain group trip! After the successes of the last three years, on May 14-20, 2025, we’re heading back to Barcelona and Sitges for the fourth time. Barcelona is a stunning city beautifully sandwiched between mountains and sea - with all year-round sunshine, hunk-filled beaches, instantly recognizable monuments with stunning architecture (like Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral), vibrant gay nightlife within areas such as Eixample (or Gaixample as the locals call it) and fabulous restaurants serving delicious tapas realness. On our trip we’ll see all this and more on a dynamic range of tours. Then there’s Sitges, the seaside town with a lot of personality, where the gays go to unwind. Together we’ll explore its restaurant/bar-filled cobblestone streets, seafront promenade and gorgeous beaches – including a cheeky nudist one!  O and they’ll be wine, lots of wine. 

LAST CHANCE SPECIAL OFFER FOR SOLO TRAVELERS

The price of the trip is $2,195 per person. Solo travelers who book by January 31, 2025 can also get a private room for the same price, with no additional single supplement.

Following the Rainbow Road - The Seven Most Beautiful Sites of Peru Beyond Machu Picchu

Peru and Machu Picchu have become almost synonymous. It's true that the ancient Inca ruins of legend are every bit as breathtakingly beautiful as you’ve heard. They belong on your bucket list, and their place as one of the new(er) seven wonders of the world is forever cemented. That said, the sheer number of tourists herded into and out of the ruins every day has started to rival the number of llamas in Peru—80% of the world’s, by the way—and this can’t help but take away from Machu Picchu's original sense of mystique. The good news is that Machu Picchu isn’t Peru’s only beauty queen out there—reigning though she might be. The country is filled with stunning sites, calling out for a little more attention from the beauty. From locations sporting everything from rainbow mountains to desert penguins, here are our top seven picks – best visited on a bespoke tour with View Signature Travels.

Gay Travel Guide to Miami

There are few places in the States more iconic than Miami. Miami is where— to use a cliché—North meets South. Latin American culture makes sweet love to that of urban Northern America. It’s glamorous yet inclusive, edgy but accessible. By day, Cadillacs blasting reggaeton cruise along the palm-tree-lined Ocean Drive, with Miami Beach full of speedo-wearing hunks on one side and rows of Art Deco-style hotels on the other. By night, the streets hum with the sounds of bars and terraces packed with people from all over the world out to have a good time. Miami is about more than just the beach and nightlife, though: it also has culture and art incorporated into its very bloodstream, evidenced by its superabundance of street art, galleries, and the aforementioned Art Deco buildings.