Valencia Gay Travel
wolfyy’s Valencia gay travel guide to hotels, things to do, gay bars, clubs, beaches, & cruising.
The Gay Travel Experience: Valencia, Spain
Valencia continues to gain popularity as a prominent European gay holiday destination. With a fantastic restaurant scene, stunning architecture, extravagant gay nightlife, and a relaxing gay beach, what’s not to love?
Ideal for a relaxing stay with friends, Valencia is a calmer city by day, but can certainly get wild at night. While it may not be that obvious, the Valencia gay nightlife scene is enormous.
I loved the humming street cafés and the wonderful beaches, including the awesome local gay beach.
Whether you’re looking for a gay new destination, or you have plans to visit several popular gay cities in Spain, Valencia should be high on your list. Valencia warmly welcomes gay travelers, making for an accepting experience.
Gay Valencia: Hotels & Where to Stay
Where is the best place to stay in Valencia? Well, this city is much cheaper in comparison to Spain’s larger and more tourist-trodden cities. Your money will go a lot farther, so staying in the city center is definitely worth it.
Valencia is quite walkable and offers public transport. I definitely recommend Valencia hotels right in the middle of the city. There will find plenty of gay-welcoming options here.
While Valencia doesn’t have an official gay district, the city center’s El Carmen neighborhood is generally considered to be the local gay area since most gay bars are nearby.
Vacation apartments in central Valencia are also quite attractive considering how affordable they can be. Many also have rooftop terrace levels or offer fantastic city views.
I stayed right near the Colón metro station. Streets in this area are lined with cafés and restaurants. El Corte Inglés, a major shopping mall is a few minutes by foot.
Consider renting a car in Valencia to make getting around much easier, especially if you plan to visit beaches or attractions outside the city. Public transport to the beach specifically can take quite a bit of time.
You can easily book a vehicle in advance to pick up at the Valencia airport.
Valencia Hotels I Recommend
Here are a few fantastic hotels for gay travelers in Valencia that are highly rated and centrally located, perfect for exploring the city.
Valencia Gay Travel Experiences
Start out by strolling through Valencia’s Old City. You can window shop the high-end fashion brands, peruse local cafés, admire the architecture, and take in the vibe of the city.
City highlights bike tours are a fantastic alternative to walking around. They’ll start in the city center and conveniently lead you to big attractions that would normally be a little far to walk to. Plus, they’re inexpensive and you’ll have a local guide.
Valencia Gay Beaches
Visiting Valencia between June and September? Head to Pinedo Beach.
Playa de Las Dunas de Pinedo is the main Valencia gay beach. It’s notably further south than the main Pinedo Beach area. Also, Pinedo is clothing-optional!
Clean dunes and beautiful water make for a perfect afternoon of sunshine on Valencia’s coast. There is a free nearby parking area and the walk to the shore is less than 10 minutes.
Bring enough water and food to the beach with you because there aren’t many establishments here. You’ll also need some good beach towels, and for those not going fully nude, your sexiest gay swimwear.
Even through September, the weather in Valencia is still perfect for laying in the dunes of the gay beach. Don’t be surprised if you see some naked people!
Shop These → Gay Beach & Pool Party Essentials
Valencia Museums & Architecture
The City of Arts and Sciences was definitely my favorite attraction in Valencia. The campus of modern architectural buildings is breathtakingly beautiful.
Designed by Santiago Calatrava, you will feel like you are on the set of a movie, or perhaps on another planet. Go during sunset to catch the stunning colors of a lifetime.
La Estrecha, the narrowest building in Europe is right here in Valencia! Measuring only 105 cm wide, it’s comical how small this thing is. I wish I could have gone inside! Great site to see, very close to many coffee shops and other attractions.
Café de Camilo is right around the corner, where you can smell the beans being freshly ground before your coffee is served.
Other great places to visit during the day are the Almoina Archeological Center, where you can check out some old Roman ruins beneath the city, as well as the Mercado Central de Valencia, an old-style grocery market.
If you’re thinking about visiting, here are 10 awesome facts about Valencia’s Central Market.
La Lonja de la Seda is also beautiful to check out, a Gothic-style building with beautiful interiors. It only costs a couple of Euros per person.
Try Horchata
Don’t leave without trying some Spanish Horchata! Horchata is the traditional drink of Valencia. Refreshing and non-alcoholic, you can have it anytime, anywhere.
Many places will also sell you a liter of the stuff if you want to bring some home, so we bought some to have with breakfast the next morning.
Valencia Restaurants
Some of the cheapest restaurant food I’ve found while traveling the Mediterranean was in Valencia.
My friend Jose, born and raised in Valencia, makes an interesting point—that going out to eat in Valencia usually ends up costing about the same amount as going to the grocery store and making your own meals!
This generally applies to restaurants you find in public plazas and main roads. Higher-end restaurants will obviously cost more.
Llar d’Empar is a picturesque seaside restaurant near Pinedo beach where I had the most delicious rice dish of my life. It was squid ink black rice with garlic sauce and I’ll never forget it! They have seating right on the water and also a covered outdoor area.
Sipping sangria while feeling the warm breeze off the ocean was like heaven. While they don’t have a website, here is the restaurant’s location.
I loved Llar Roman, and recommend this restaurant, especially for groups. Llar roman is a high-end lunch and dinner restaurant that makes unbelievably good paella. I was lucky enough to join seven gay Valencian locals for lunch here and I had such a fantastic time.
Ao Yama is a fixed-price all-you-can-order sushi restaurant, closer to the city center. It’s about 20 Euros per person and you can order as many dishes as you like from the menu. My gay friend Jose and I ate so much that we needed to go straight home and nap.
Valencia Gay Bars & Clubs
There are a ton of gay bars located right in the Valencia town center, so it’s pretty easy to bar-hop and try more than one!
The Muse is a popular and relatively standard Valencia gay bar. They have plenty of space both indoors and out on the street earlier in the night. You can count on awesome DJs and a fun time here at The Muse.
Deseo 54 is a crowd-favorite gay club in Valencia. It’s the only club space in Valencia that only hosts gay parties. Gay locals and gay travelers alike attend massive parties at Deseo 54, with world-renowned circuit party-style DJs.
While Moratin 7 is not the most popular, it’s one other gay bar option. It has a convenient location, perhaps making a visit early in your night more convenient.
Gay Spaniards also frequent Piccadilly Downtown Club for a rambunctious and upscale night out. While it’s not branded as a Valencia gay club, you’ll definitely find a lot of LGBT patrons there!
Valencia Gay Cruising
Hòmens Sex Bar
Hòmens Sex Bar is a mainstay gay cruising bar in Valencia—the largest in the city. They’re open every day starting at 5 PM and are located in the very center of the city, so there’s no excuse not to stop by!
Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays are wildly popular at Hòmens, but you can still find guys here on weekdays too, with most showing up around midnight.
With plenty of dark rooms, a maze, slings, and showers, there’s plenty to explore. Make sure to wear your sexiest gay jockstrap or a rugged leather harness.
Tête-à-Tête
Tête-à-Tête is the highest-rated gay cruising bar in Valencia. Everyone loves the friendly atmosphere, the well-kept facilities, and the discreet location.
Each night has a different theme and rules, like an ’80s and ’90s music night and a naked party night. Tête-à-Tête also has a dance floor space, offering a little more than the traditional gay cruising experience.
Nunca Digo No
Nunca Digo No, which is Spanish for “I never say no,” is another centrally-located Valencia gay cruising bar. They’re popular for hosting sex parties all week long with varying themes.
Naked parties are on Tuesday evenings, Thursday parties are “total darkness,” and Saturday is a full-day sex party called “Sex No Limit!” Nunca Digo No is definitely not a place to miss! They’re open every day from 2 PM until 3 AM.
Connect with other gay travelers! → Join wolfyy’s Gay Travel Talk Facebook group.
Spain Gay Rights
Back in the Roman Empire, marriage between men was actually commonplace! Later regimes were responsible for deeming same-sex activity illegal.
Since 2005, MSM’s have been permitted to donate blood, gay marriage has been legal and LGBT adoption has been legal.
The workplace has protected sexual orientation discrimination since 1995. Gender identity is protected in some regions, but not everywhere.
One of the highest acceptance rates of homosexuality is in Spain; 88% of the population supports it as of 2013. Rates of hate speech nationwide have slightly increased in recent years.
Local governments around Spain have taken this seriously. The region of Catalunya to the north passed a law imposing fines of over 10,000 Euros for any hate crimes against the LGBT community.
However, overall gay life in Valencia and Spain more generally is good. Especially in large metropolitan centers, gay locals and travelers are safe and welcome.
Or, explore seaside destinations like Cádiz and one of my favorites, Torremolinos.
For more inspiration, explore wolfyy’s full collection of gay travel guides.
