Stories

Find LGBTQ+ city guides, the world’s best Pride events, queer-friendly hotels and hook-up apps, government advice and everything you need to know about rights, safety and seeking out the spaces that are welcoming to all.

A Brit living in Buenos Aires uncovers the raunchy side of the Argentine capital, where dropping into a pay-by-the-hour sex hotel, or telo, is as common as grabbing a coffee – albeit a bit more steamy.

Asian food is a rainbow of spice, colour and flavour, but its dishes are often adapted to suit the western palate. Exploring the origins of fortune cookies and proper sushi etiquette, a Chinese-Filipino writer seeks out the stories behind our favourite cuisines and says: order something other than tikka masala.

But where are you really from? Can I touch your hair? For one Black American traveller, the experience of different cultures abroad gives her the confidence to call out microaggressions and everyday racism at home.

We ask home-fragrance pioneers, Earl of East, how to go about kindling destinations through scent and why a single sucker-punch of a candle is scientifically proven to be more evocative than a million photos on your camera roll.

How strange it is to feel both at home and not at home. When a Lahorian diaspora writer travels from Birmingham to her Pakistani city of birth, she reflects on the meaning of place and identity as she seeks connection through Lahore’s Mughal architecture and colonial buildings.

We’re packing up the camping gear and heading for the hazy horizon, where life-affirming simplicity awaits and tea drunk from a tin cup by the campfire is the remedy for all ills.

The American dream never satisfied one multi-racial traveller. As she experiences the kindness of strangers on her journeys across Europe, South America and beyond, her understanding of “home” shifts from place to the power of human connection.

A photojournalist joins the pilgrims in the mountain trails of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where she rediscovers her faith in humanity one step at a time.

A pair of childhood friends explore the coastal landscape of their youth on the western tip of Cornwall

Once considered boring, our everyday interactions (as we remember them) have become the ultimate luxuries of 2020. Sticky carpets, recirculated air, cheap rosé? Businesses are capitalising on our fetish for the mundane and catering to a burgeoning community of “normads” – those who’d rather indulge in the ordinary than head out on a sublime adventure.

In many places across the world, the sweeping curves and nautical designs of art deco have shaped the way we experience the seaside. We trace the evolution of its architectural style from the 30s to present day, taking you from Margate to Miami Beach via Mumbai.

Ten authors divulge the destinations that inspire them to put pen to paper.

While the “gaycation” is an often mythologised aspect of LGBTQ+ culture, the idea of seeking liberation and taking a segregated holiday feels at odds. Speaking to queer travellers from across the world, we stitch together tales of hope and homophobia, pride and prejudice. A rainbow flag on a check-in desk just doesn’t cut it.

Skip Santorini and fun-loving Mykonos in favour of a slow-living escape in Greece’s Sporades islands. Movie buffs might recognise the archipelago from hit musical Mamma Mia!, but we’re here to guide you to the rustic-luxe hotels, quaint tavernas and the beaches loved by locals.