Introduction

2010/8 Sitges Festival dates: - See bottom of page

Everyone has heard of Sitges. The reality is somewhat different to what I was expecting. Where was the sleaze? Where were the debauched goings on that the resort is famous for?

Sitges is actually very nice! Situated 30km south of Barcelona, it's a traditional Catalonian coastal town replete with its old buildings and narrow streets, not to mention an exquisite cliff top church and miles of sandy beaches. The beach itself is clean and compact and is littered with sunbeds for hire from some very cute vendors indeed. The central gay beach (in front of the Calipolis hotel) is always very busy with locals and tourists alike and there's plenty to look at all day. It's not cruisy on the beach during daylight as this is left to the coffee shop lined streets and promenade, but at night!!! The Groynes are worth an evening stroll too...

Gay Beach

Further from the main town, about 3km, is the Del Muerto nudist beach. Again it was busy and there was ample evidence of cruising etc... Be careful though there are a lot of regular tourists too! To get there you have to go to Atlántida disco and follow the railway track. The first bit of the beach is mixed whereas further along is predominently is gay. "Things" go on in the wood next to the beach.

Eating Out

Eating in Sitges is easy, whatever the budget, from a basic bar snack to some impressive Spanish, French and Italian bistros. There are several beach side cafes and if you just want to drink there are vendors traversing the beach all day with beer and soft drinks. Casa Hildalgo (C/ San Pablo, 12 - tel 93.894.38.95) offers an excellent menu specialising in seafood. The El Xalet hotel restaurant was recommended to us although it was closed when we were there. A couple of restaurants we can particually recommend are "Al Fresco" (Pau Barrabeitg 4, Tel: +34 93 894 0600) and Gabriel (C/Sany Gaudenci, 9 - Tel: +34 93 894 3046) which served traditional french cooking. Food was excellent in both and due to their popularity you will probably need to book a table. - We tried a couple of the other gay friendly restaurants and have to say we were fairly disappointed with the food. A much better bet is the St Maria restaurant on the sea front just along from the Calipolis hotel. Excellent food. The locals were queuing up most nights which is always a good sign.

Gay Nightlife - Bars and Clubs.

At night Sitges comes into its own. There are over 20 venues to choose from although the most popular route seems to start at Bar 7 around 11 pm before taking in El Candile, Mediterraneo (Sant Bonaventura, 16) and followed by Trailer (Angel Vidal, 36) 3am - 5.30. Bar 7 has the friendliest staff in town and all the music is gay party fare. Worth waiting for is their rendition of Bananarama's' Moving On' at around 12.30! As with most popular gay resorts these days bar prices are quite high so watch your purse. You can find a pocket sized "gay map" to Sitges in most of the gay friendly bars and restaurants. The Parrots Pub (Plaza Industria, C/2 de Mayo) ar serves a lurid range of cocktails and is always popular with the gay crowd as they off the beach in the early evening. We can recommend the foam party at Trailer €15 (every Sunday/Wednesday evening) Arrive 3am, foam starts at 3.30. Don't forget your baby oil so you are well greased up.

As with most Spanish resorts, the bars don't get busy until about 11pm so go out for a meal earlier on or retire for a disco nap and make yourself nice for later. Most of the gay bars stock a free map showing the location of the gay bars and clubs in Sitges which is useful. We are also handed a free glossy publication on the beach called Nois which gave a good summary of the bars in Barcelona as well as Sitges.

Recommendations:
Parrot's Bar (Piza Industra, 2) is popular for cocktails as people leave the beach. It remains busy throughout the evening and is also a good meeting point and is situated close to XXL and the Organic Club
El Candil (C/Carreta, 9) has a good disco floor, attracts a young crowd and gets busy from 11pm. People tend to move onto Mediterraneo at 1am (Sant Bonaventura, 6), Sitges largest bar with disco. It has an attractive layout, dance floor and cool bar area. Around 3am everyone moves onto one of the clubs. Trailer (C/Angel Vidal, 36) hosts a twice weekly foam party €15 where undergarments, or at least shorts, are de rigeur - for as long as they stay on! I should clarify that by foam party I'm talking neck deep and not an occasional spray or two! Trailer has theme nights throughout the week. Drink prices are a complete rip off though. €5 for a small bottle of water. Organic Club (C/Bonaire, 15) is also popular, quiet cruisy and has gogo boys dancing. Try and pick up one of the flyers offering free admission to either Organic or Trailer (not valid on Foam party nights).

Do remember to walk home (or not!) along the beach to blow away the cobwebs or, in fact, a complete stranger.

If you don't have fun in Sitges, you shouldn't be allowed to go on holiday at all. There's always the hour-long train journey to Barcelona but that's another story...

How to get there:

Barcelona is the nearest airport to Sitges. There are direct flights going to Barcelona from most European capitals as well as New York and other worldwide capitals. Check out the many discount flights/holiday packages now available on teletext or now on the Net. If you have accommodation sorted and just want flights try British Airways budget airline Go or Easyjet which now flies directly to Barcelona from Stanstead. Check out the websites at www.go-fly.co.uk and www.easyjet.com. Flights to Barcelona from London take about 2 hours making it an ideal destination for a quick weekend break.

UK Gay Travel Agents offering holidays in Sitges
	Sensations Holidays offer gay holiday packages to popular European gay holiday destinations including Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Mykonos, Sitges, Palma plus European city breaks to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid and Prague. Contact: Sensations Holidays, 89 Wembley Park Drive, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 8HS Tel: 020 8902 7177. Website: www.sensationsholidays.com Email

To get to Sitges from the airport take the airport train or buses which take you into Barcelona within 20 minutes. The time interval between trains is about 30 min. Get off at Central Railway Station "SANTS". From there take a train to Sitges (trains leaving direction Tarragona or Vilanova i La Geltru). Trains leave about every 30 minutes. If you take a taxi, the cost is about 6500ptas/£26.

Accommodation:

There is plently of accommodation in Sitges including a number of hotels / apartments which are exclusively gay. Given the increase in popularity of Sitges as a popular gay hoilday destination it is worth booking early to avoid disappointment. The most famous gay hotel in Sitges is probably the Hotel Romantic which offers unrivalled luxury and comfort.

Villa / apartments:

Stay Gay Holidays, Barcelona, Spain
	Stay Gay Barcelona is the alternative to gay hotels in Barcelona, Sitges and Ibiza, gay accommodation and a gay guide. There is also a gay property search facility for Barcelona. Address: Avenida Roma, 90, 08015 Barcelona, Spain Tel: +34 665810874 Website: Click here, Email: phpesenti@staygaybarcelona.net

Outlet For Spain, Barcelona, Spain
	Sitges and Barecelona apartments, sitges hotel accommodations, sitges holiday rentals and sitges holiday accommodation. We aos cover hotels and apartments in Madrid, Gran Canaria and Ibiza. Address: Galleries Via Sitges, C.Francesc Guma 20 , Sitges, 08870 Tel: +34 93 810 2711 (or UK 020 7193 0760), Fax: +34 93 894 2495 Website: Click here, Email: enquiries@outlet4spain.com

We have stayed in the Romantic Hotel on several occasions which is situated in the heart of the old town and normally fully booked thoroughout the summer months. The hotel is "very gay" with an attractive bar, breakfast rooms and garden area. The bedrooms however tend to be very basic, lacking air conditioning and having tiny bathrooms and could do with some money being spent on them. Another more modern hotel popular with gay men athough not officially gay is the Calipolis. This has the benefit of being situated directly over the road from the gay beach on the sea front. It also have proper air conditioning, modern bathrooms, and usually satellite TV in each room.

Hotel	Address	Telephone No
Romantic Hotel	Sant Isidre, 33, Sitges	+34 93.894.83.75
La Renaixença	Illa de Cuba, 7, Sitges	+34 93.894.83.75
Liberty Hotel	Illa de Cuba, 45, Sitges	+34 93.811.08.72
Madison Bahia Hotel	Parelladas, 31-33, Sitges
Hotel Calipolis	Avenida Sofia 2-6, 08870 Sitges	+34 93 894 15 00

Click here if you wish to advertise your gay friendly accommodation on this page.

Currency

From 1/1/2002 Euros. Roughly 1.5 Euros to a £1. There are plently of cash machines which take Visa, Mastercard, Mastro/Cirrus (allowing you to withdraw money from your current account).

Communication:
Mobile Phones. You should have no problem using your mobile phone if it is dual band and you have international roaming set up. Remember you pay to receive as well as make calls. Roughly 80p/min.
Internet: We found a small internet cafe situated in the foyer of Hotel Normandie (Call San Bartolome 20 - Tel +34 93 894 99 14), 2 roads down from the Romantic. Cost roughly €7 for two hours.

Useful Links
Gay In Sitges - New website to accompany the free printed guide.

Updated May 2010 If you'd like add any comments please feel free to email simon@gaytravel.co.uk