Gay & Lesbian

As varied as the gay scene itself, gay Amsterdam offers its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) visitors all sorts of entertainment, delicious food, nightlife and of course a comfortable bed. Combine this with a large offer of gay-friendly businesses, venues and entertainment and you will understand that you will have a fantastic time in Amsterdam.

Unlike some other European and American cities, Amsterdam does not have a concentrated gay area. Perhaps this is due to the fact that Amsterdam, as an important trading town, has a long history of welcoming a great diversity of people (going back as far as the 14th century), no matter what race, sex, religion or social status.

Roughly said, there are about four gay areas for men, each with it’s own (local) crowd. The lesbian visitor has to walk around town a bit more on her pub crawl, as the venues that cater for them are more spread out over the centre of Amsterdam.

Reguliersdwarsstraat
This street is seen as the main gay street. It attracts a great mix of (international) people of all sorts and ages. Especially in Summer the Reguliersdwarsstraat is a very lively and ‘gezellige’ (a typical Dutch word, which means so much as “cosy/fun/happy”) street, when at weekend nights the street is closed off for cars and the street is full of happy people, having their weekly beer or cocktail.

Amstel / Halve Maansteeg / Rembrandtplein
The area where the Halvemaanssteeg meets the Amstel, near Rembrandtplein, is home to the more Dutch local crowd. The wide variety of (smaller) bars are playing a lot of typical Dutch music, but you can also dance to the greatest Gay Diva tunes, all night long.

Warmoesstraat
The more leather – and fetish – minded gay man may find himself at home in the Warmoesstraat, close to the Red Light District. Here you will find bars and clubs like the Cockring, Eagle and Argos and shops like RoB and Mr. B.

Zeedijk
In the oldest part of Amsterdam, close to the Warmoesstraat and partly situated in the Red Light District, lays the Zeedijk. The Zeedijk is the street where the Drag Queens rule! Go to the famous bingo night in the Queen’s Head on Tuesday evenings, pay a visit to the in 2009 reopened historic (1927) café ‘t Mandje or have a beer or coffee at De Engel van Amsterdam.

On this page you will find a selection of what Amsterdam has to offer for the gay & lesbian traveller. These businesses are not necessarily gay-owned and although we show you this selection specifically under this section, we are aiming to only list businesses on this site, that do not discriminate in any way or in any form, under all the other sections as well.