Alex's Queer Lisbon Treasure Hunt - LGBTQ history event (plus free gay guide to Lisbon)
Multiple dates and times
Praça do Príncipe Real 18, Lisboa, 1200-230
Description
This fun monthly Treasure Hunt tour brings Lisbon’s queer history to life through a team adventure (in English) around the main gay-scene neighbourhoods of Bairro Alto and Principe Real. Hear stories that bring history alive as we visit the sights of Lisbon’s fascinating, scandalous and sometimes bizarre queer history and the modern gay scene. Then we all come together in the lounge/ bar/ garden/ pool of Lisbon’s biggest gay hotel for a 'pub-quiz' and prizes! (bring your swimming costume if it's hot!). Total distance: 4.6km (2.8miles). Approx. 4 hours. Ages: 16+.
Come solo or with friends - small teams can self-select and/or you can be introduced to mixed or same-sex groups - you decide. Your small team is given directions and a map to follow past the gay scene venues, stopping at the sites of queer history to answer questions/ objectives.
Move at your own pace, and everyone comes together after three hours to see which anecdotes and scandals caught your attention, what you learned, and what made you laugh along the way. There are fun prizes for the most creative answers, the highest score, and consolation prizes for runners-up!
This social event takes place on the last Sunday of each month and offers tourists, foreign residents and locals the opportunity to meet LGBTQ people in small teams and a larger group, introduces the gay scene venues, and gives everyone a new way to appreciate Lisbon through its rich queer history.
Plus a bonus gift!: 'Alex's LONG LIST - LGBTQ guide to Lisbon' - a 51-page updated PDF guide to Lisbon's LGBTQ scene. Written by locals, it's more up-to-date than guidebooks or the Internet, and features: scene venues, this month's queer events, the 'Short List' of highlights, gay beaches guide, sports/social groups, women’s venues/groups, health services, etc, etc. An essential 'must-have' for tourists and residents - emailed to you after booking.
Treasure Hunt highlights include: 17thCentury cruising sites, how the Inquisition dealt with gay men, how lesbians battled 1950s censorship, anecdotes from 19thCentury sex-work, why Fado is queer, how Pride is different in Portugal, how Fernando Pessoa has been denied, how bisexual jazz-legend Josephine Baker dodged the wartime police, who were the ‘Three Marias’, and the ‘Two Fernandes’, how LGBT rights were established in Portugal, how the first drag shows started, who was the ‘Principe Real’, how to see queer films in Lisbon, gay writers, queer pop stars, straight censors, disgraced politicians, Trans nuns, real-life spies, 20thCentury feminism – all this and more as your small team finds its way around Lisbon’s queer scene, discovers the history, and ends with a pub-quiz and a party!
Bring queer Lisbon alive as we explore LGBTQ history and today’s scene!
Suitable for solo-travellers. 4.6km (2.8miles). 4.5 hours. Ages:16+. €40.
Meeting point: at 13:30: In the garden square of Principe Real; Outside number 18, Praça do Príncipe Real; by the children's play corner. Googlemap: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XAp899ch94EuBksA6
We are easy to find – just look for the Rainbow Umbrella!
'Alex's Lisbon Tours and Events' is insured and registered with Turismo de Portugal.
TripAdvisor Reviews: www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g189158-d25467229-Reviews-Queer_Lisbon_a_Treasure_Hunt_in_LGBTQ_History-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Por.html
A double-page spread in the Portuguese daily newspaper Público featured the Queer Lisbon treasure hunt in 2023: https://shorturl.at/fjlpP
Location
Praça do Príncipe Real 18, Lisboa, 1200-230