Sitges

Why every gay man must visit Sitges before he dies

Sitges is a seaside town about 35 kilometers southwest of Barcelona, renowned worldwide for its artsy and progressive attitude. Together with Ibiza, the town was the counterculture centre of 1960s Spain and later has become a very popular travel destinations for gays and lesbians.

Lovingly referred to as the Saint-Tropez of Spain, Sitges draws a considerable crowd of jet-setters and party-loving people from all over the world, especially during the summer months. In July and August it is packed with gays from all over Europe and the city is one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world.

Sitges is a truly European city, with 35% of its 26,000 inhabitants coming from the Netherlands, the UK, France and Scandinavia. It also has a considerable dog population and is a great place to take your best friend. You can see people walking their canine companions along the beach boardwalk all the time, both enjoying it equally. It is truly a smiling dog city.

Related: A Gay Traveler’s Guide to Barcelona

Most of the gay bars in sitges are clustered within a small area of the town center, which makes it convenient to bar hop if you get bored. No matter what you are into, you will probably find a bar to your liking. There are bear bars, twink bars, video bars, strip bars and more. There are also a couple of sex clubs, even though they are located a little bit further away.

The culinary scene is not that different from most other resort towns and focuses on giving a variety of clientele easy access to simple food that they can recognize. Your taste buds are not likely to be wowed by a meal in Sitges, but it is definitely possible to get a decent meal. Just don’t expect to remember it for a long time afterwards.

The town’s convenient location just a short drive from one of Europe’s main cities makes it easily accessible by almost any mode of transport and also gives you the option to combine a trip here with a day or two in buzzing Barcelona. Also, if your main destination is Barcelona, the mountains surrounding Sitges give the town its very own micro-climate, so even if it is cold and rainy in Barcelona you may be able to hit the beaches in Sitges.

Even though Sitges is a beautiful city with a couple of churches and museums well worth visiting, you may want to take the trip to Barcelona if you want a bit more culture in your life. Shopping is also limited, but there are a few nice stores if you have some money burning through your pocket or if you want a break from baking on the beach. However, to find the really big brand stores you need to take the 20 minute train ride in to Barcelona.

Of course, Sitges’ main attraction is its beaches and the town has a whole lot of them. Seventeen, to be exactly, and among them such a rare thing as a nudist beach within easy walking distance from the city center. As with so many other places the nudist beaches also doubles as gay beaches, but the most popular gay beach is called Platja de la Rodona. It is the place to see and be seen for gay visitors, but you will have no problem snuggling with your boyfriend at any of the beaches in this town.

All in all, Sitges is a town well worth visiting and many people come back here year after year. It is among the most pricy places in Spain though, so if you really fall in love with the place and want to spend your golden years here you better start saving early. The season is mainly May through September, but you can definitely have a good time here any time of the year.

Hotels:

Parrots Hotel is gay owned and operated, and just one block from the beach. It’s perfectly located for bar hopping with most of the gay bars less than a five minute walk away.

Hotel Calipolis is a four star property located in central Sitges and just opposite the gay beach.

Subur is situated on the seafront promenade of Sitges, meters from the beach and the old town.

Related: Vacationing in Torremolinos