Athens gay life
Key Takeaways
- Greece has made legal advancements to protect LGBT+ rights, including the recognition of same-sex partnerships, making gay Greece travel that much more welcoming.
- Major cities love Athens and Thessaloniki, as skillfully as popular tourist destinations, watch over to be more LGBT+-friendly and accepting.
- Certain Greek islands have become renowned for their LGBT+-friendly atmosphere. Mykonos, in particular, is well-known for its vibrant gay scene, alongside Santorini and Crete.
- While there are no exclusively LGBT+ beaches, several beaches in Greece verb become popular among the LGBT+ community, such as Super Paradise Beach in Mykonos and Elia Beach in Crete.
Love is love. It is an indisputable truth that love, in every shape or form, is a blessing.
Anyone who sees it differently is required to take all their negativity and bad vibes away from the rest of us that want to celebrate cherish with all of our might!
Greece is one of the top gay destinations for the LGBTQ+ traveling public, a fact to which the friendly and open-minded culture of the Greeks contr
Athenians like to kick-off their (long) nights out with an evening stroll, stopping at their favourite watering holes along the way. Get started at the well-known Shamone, a top spot for clubbing, where drag shows and DJ sets often take place. Similar is Enodia in Gazi, where you can get loose with an older crowd in a miniature summer garden and listen to all kinds of music. If you want to meet Greek bears, Big Bar nearby serves up a mellow mood, welcoming staff, gay anthems and themed nights—along with rivers of beer.
Don’t be a Cinderella. Athenian nightclubs rarely get cracking before midnight and you’ll have to stay until after 1am to appreciate queer hotspot, BeQueer, a current favourite for queer Millennials (think Brooklyn drag, not Manhattan). Or go to old-school classic Koukles Club to see archetypal Greek drag in a grunge setting.
Noiz will keep you dancing until the early morning with a mostly lesbian crowd; while Sodade2 is one of the most established gay clubs in town with a mainstream mob and two stages. Celebrities’ choice Shamone hosts stellar events, s
Athens may not be at the top of the “most gay-friendly cities worldwide,” but its LGBTQI+ scene has seen a lot of new additions and changes over the past few years. Cultural spaces, museums, and cafe bars that embrace and promote diversity have popped up all over the city.
So, LGBTQI+ travelers here is a detailed guide to gay Athens for all tastes and ages.
Gay-friendly Neighborhoods in Athens
Athens is generally a LGBTQI+ friendly city. Especially if you are planning to wait and explore the central neighborhoods of the city, you’ll possess no problem spotting gay-friendly cafes, bars and events and mingling with the local crowds.
That being said, a few areas in downtown Athens are known for being LGBTQI+ vibrant hubs for both locals and visitors.
Here are a few of the most famous gay-friendly neighborhoods in Athens.
Syntagma Neighborhood
The streets around Syntagma are the beating heart of Athens. Split in half by the famous shopping street called Ermou, Syntagma brims with cafes, bars, and eateries of all kinds that attract crowds.
Here you’ll be able to find gay-fr
Greece
Experiencing Greek Food
Greek Mediterranean cuisine is also testament to the countrys long history, dating back to the Ancient Greeks who had a strong focus on olive oil, wheat, wine, and fish. The Byzantine era introduced recent ingredients like meats, feta cheese, caviar, nutmeg, basil and lemons. The Ottoman Empire then contributed to the Greek cuisine, introducing staples like moussaka, tzatziki (yoghurt/cucumber/oil/mint dip), yuvarlakia (meatball/rice/lemon soup), keftethes (mince meatballs) and boureki (baked filled pastries).
Today, a traditional Greek meal will be at a taverna where you can direct mezethes, many small plates of different specialties starting with olives, hummus, tahini, and tzatziki, and moving on to other starters like cheeses, keftethes, and dolmathes (stuffed vine leaves), before moving on to different meats or fish depending on which type of meze you pick.
The most popular wine in Greece is retsina, a white wine that has a distinct resin flavor. Greece also produces other pleasant wines, like Athiri, Malagousia and Moscofilero. Another popular