Gay Guide to Rotterdam
The Netherlands has one of the longest records of LGBTQ+ acceptance anywhere: same-sex relations were decriminalized in 1811, and in 2001 the country became the first in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples. Rotterdam, the bold, modern port city rebuilt after the Second World War, carries a small but long-established queer scene.
The bars sit in the city centre, a short walk from each other: Strano and Ellio on Van Oldenbarneveltstraat, Bonaparte on the Nieuwe Binnenweg and naar Ons on the Oude Binnenweg, and Loge 90 on the Schiedamsedijk, a fixture for more than two decades. COC Rotterdam runs Café Praag on the Schiedamsesingel, and Gaytoys on Keerweer has been trading for about thirty years.
The scene is smaller than Amsterdam's but welcoming and relaxed, with a lively drag culture and a city center comfortable with visible queer life.
Rotterdam Pride, held each September, ends with a Saturday march from Stationsplein to Willemsplein by the Maas, and is more community-driven and less commercial than the capital's summer celebration.