Planning a group trip is a friendship test like no other. Priorities shift, egos collide. One person wants to spend all their time at the beach, while another wants to see every church in the city and will die on that hill. There’s never enough time for everything.
On the other hand, gay group trips also fulfill a need for community and shared experience that queer travellers seek when abroad. It’s for this reason that gay tour group companies have become a popular way of accessing group travel.
For Michael Page, a professor and two-time Tony Award–nominated Broadway and West End producer based in New York City, organized gay travel has introduced him to some of his most meaningful adult friendships.
“I shared an experience with a group of people that was singular,” says Page, who has been on four trips with the gay tour company Detours Travel. “The specific time of my life, the specific people in and leading the group, the places seen and the connections made.”
Page also likes solo travel, which he links to self-improvement and disconnection from the daily grind. But for him, organized group travel provides a built-in community. “Group travel makes sense when I want to have an adventure, connect with others and step out of my comfort zone,” he says. For anyone on the fence about booking a group trip, here are some things to consider.
Someone else takes the wheel
If planning is such a hassle, why not let someone else do it? Organizers of group travel handle everything from routes and transport to lodging, ticketing and language barriers, offering insider knowledge on local attractions, etiquette and cultural context. “I don’t have the level of knowledge a trip leader has about a given place and what kinds of experiences are available,” says Page. “On my own, I wouldn’t have taken a cruise of the fjords in Norway, seen windmills in the rural parts of the Netherlands, or experienced small-town Christmas markets along the Rhine in Germany.”
Organized group travel often introduces people to activities and experiences that they weren’t even aware of. “Group travel is…active, community driven and designed for a maximum immersive shared experience,” says Page.
Safety in numbers
Good trip organizers are also experts on local laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, and will prioritize the safety of their clients. “That is a consideration and expertise that wouldn’t necessarily be available to me on a non-LGBTQIA+-organized trip and would likely make me feel less safe,” says Page. Gay travel groups also protect customers from local scams by forging relationships with vetted vendors and studying local customs.
Many gay-focused tour companies even lead trips through countries that have historically been less-than-friendly to LGBTQ+ people. Inclusive Morocco, for instance, offers a variety of boutique experiences throughout Morocco.
The economics of it all
For anyone but a professional travel agent, it can be easy to miss out on discounts while planning a trip. Curated experiences booked by individuals often have hidden fees. Some activities (hikes, day tours, tasting experiences, etc.) charge singles and couples more than they would small groups. Organized group trips are able to tap into bulk rates on hotels, transport, attractions and day trips. The price of a trip may initially trigger sticker shock, but the final cost is often not much higher than the budget of a trip that’s been planned independently. Of course, the price also accounts for the luxury of having someone else plan everything.
Research first
Before making the final leap into booking a group trip, it’s important to do a bit of investigating. When choosing between tour companies, check itineraries for fine print such as “entrance fee not included” or “optional” activities. It’s important to know of any extra fees before starting a journey. Moreover, a quality company should be able to provide an itinerary with clear, day-by-day plans.
It doesn’t hurt to check third-party platforms such as Tripadvisor and Google Reviews for feedback from previous guests. That can require some reading between the lines. If a company has only five-star reviews with no additional details included, that’s a red flag. One or two epic reviews, full of adjectives and outrage, should be taken with a grain of salt. But recurring complaints can suggest problems you want to avoid.
Finally, don’t book with any company that promises an unheard-of schedule along the lines of “10 cities in five days” when every other itinerary suggests it takes 14 days to cover that much ground. That’s a recipe for exhaustion and disappointment. Gay group travel should leave time for true connection and exploration. Few people can create a formative memory in Rome in only six hours. Itineraries should be reasonably paced and include free time. Page saw four cities over 12 days during an organized tour of Spain.
“I can travel somewhere on my own, visit the same cafés and museums every year,” he says. “But my first trip to Spain, with 11 strangers experiencing a shared, curated adventure, will only happen once.”
And he never had to plan a minute of it.
