1.646.560.3205
andrew@oscarwildetours.com
Was it a mockery of the Last Supper? Or an updated Feast of the Gods? Whichever it was, it was the most inclusive opening ceremony of the Olympics ever! And the most inclusive Olympics too, without a doubt—which might remind us that Paris (for all its reputation as a chilly, distant city) is one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly cities on earth. And it has been, since France became the first country to legalize same-sex relations in *1791*!
Gay Paree!
So come put the gay back into “Gay Paree” on this tour, and learn about France’s LGBTQ+ history and art, from the Court at Versailles to the Paris runways! Join our founder, Professor Andrew Lear, gay historian and master guide, and Paris’ most charming city guide (whom many of you know from our COVID-era virtual lectures) Edith de Belleville, for this really exceptional week soaking in Paris’ amazing LGBTQ+ history and of course enjoying its many charms—the food, the wine, the shopping, and, to put it in one word, the ambience—from May 5 to 12, 2025.
Is it time to go to Paris?
Frankly, it’s always a good time to take another trip to Paris. And how much fun it is to learn about a whole new side of this amazing city—its rich LGBTQ+ history, which you might have suspected was there but nobody would ever tell you about in detail. Come with us to see new sides of places you may well have been (like the Louvre) and places you probably haven’t been (like the Loire valley castle where Leonardo da Vinci lived with his great crush, assistant, and model, GianGiacomo Caprotti). And learn all kinds of stories about amazing Parisians like the real Cyrano de Bergerac (no, he wasn’t in love with his female cousin!), Louis XIV’s gay (and perhaps gender-fluid!) brother, Oscar Wilde of course—but also Proust and the aristocratic dandy and poet on whom he modeled the Baron de Charlus, Nijinsky, Gertrude Stein, Josephine Baker, James Baldwin and a phenomenal line-up of designers from Coco Chanel to Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior, and Pierre Cardin.
Always more to see in Paris!
We will spend 5 days in Paris, visiting neighborhoods—the Left Bank, the Marais, the Place Vendôme—monuments—the Opéra, the Palais Royal— cemeteries—Père Lachaise and Montmartre—and of course museums—the Louvre, the Museum of Romantic Life, the Carnavelet (Paris City Museum), and the Yves Saint Laurent Museum. We will take you to some great meals, and you will have free evenings to explore the city’s restaurants and a free afternoon for more museums and shopping. And then we will spend 2 days in the glorious Loire Valley, soaking in the beauty of the countryside, visiting castles, drinking wine…. And finally, you can return to Paris or spend one more day with us visiting Proust’s village (where Swann’s Way is set) and the unbelievably beautiful cathedral of Chartres on our way back north.
In short, make your next trip to Paris with us, and experience this ever-fascinating city a new and fabulous way.
And by the way, if you have never been to Paris, this is a great introduction to the city as well, as we hit most of the famous highlights, just from an LGBTQ+ angle!
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We’ll meet at 4 p.m. at our hotel in Luzern (Lucerne) for a “Welcome to Switzerland” meeting. Then we’ll take a meandering evening walk through Switzerland’s most charming lakeside town, and get acquainted with one another over dinner together. Sleep in Luzern (2 nights). No bus. Walking: light.
Enjoy an orientation walk of Zurich’s OLD TOWN, Switzerland’s center of banking and commerce. Then, leave Zurich and start your Swiss adventure. You’ll quickly discover that Switzerland isn’t just home to the Alps, but also to some of the most beautiful lakes. First, stop at the foot of the Jura Mountains in the picturesque town of Biel, known as Bienne by French-speaking Swiss, famous for watch-making, and explore the historical center. Next, enjoy a scenic drive to lakeside Neuchâtel, dominated by the medieval cathedral and castle. Time to stroll along the lake promenade before continuing to stunning Geneva, the second-largest city in Switzerland, with its fantastic lakeside location and breathtaking panoramas of the Alps.
Our morning drive takes us from Swiss lakes to Swiss Army. At the once-secret Swiss army bunker at Fortress Fürigen, we’ll see part of the massive defense system designed to keep Switzerland strong and neutral. Afterward, a short drive into the countryside brings us to the charming Alpine village of Engelberg, our picturesque home for the next two days. We’ll settle into our lodge then head out for an orientation walk. Our stroll through the village will end at the Engelberg Abbey, a Benedictine monastery with its own cheese-making operation. You’ll have free time to wander back before dinner together. Sleep in Engelberg (2 nights). Bus: 1 hr. Walking: light.
An unforgettable trip to the high Alpine wonderland of ice and snow is the true highlight of a visit to Switzerland. Globus Local Favorite At an amazing 11,332 feet, the JUNGFRAUJOCH is Europe’s highest railway station. Jungfrau’s 13,642-foot summit was first ascended in 1811 and in 1912 the rack railway was opened. There are lots of things to do here: enjoy the ALPINE SENSATION, THE PANORAMA 360° EXPERIENCE, and the ICE PALACE. Also receive your JUNGFRAU PASSPORT as a souvenir to take home with you. The round trip to the “Top of Europe” by MOUNTAIN TRAIN will take most of the day.
It’s market day in Lausanne! Enjoy browsing and packing a picnic lunch for our 11 a.m. boat cruise on Lake Geneva. A few miles down-shore we’ll dock at Château de Chillon, where we’ll have a guided tour of this delightfully medieval castle on the water. On our way back we’ll take time to peek into the vineyards surrounding Lutry before returning to Lausanne. Boat: 2 hrs. Bus: 1 hr. Walking: moderate.
Professor Andrew Lear accompanies all of our tours. He is our founder; a famous scholar of same-sex love in the ancient world; and a master guide. Early in his career, Professor Lear won the Harvard Certificate of Excellence in Teaching five times, and on our tours you will see why! He really has the knack of making complex issues comprehensible—and entertaining. In most places, we are also required to have a local guide, and Professor Lear has developed a cadre of specially trained guides to work alongside him.
Professor Lear doesn’t have the time to do 10 tours a year, so our tours are not offered on an annual basis. Our general advice is: if you are interested, come on the tour! You never know when our tours will be offered again.
Absolutely. Our tour groups consist of a mix of singles and couples, usually about 50/50. One thing we can guarantee is that no-one will be left out of any conversation or plan because they are single. On the very first tour we did, we came downstairs in the hotel and found the entire group hanging out in the hotel bar. And that is the way our groups are. They make lots of plans in the evening, and everyone is always welcome.
Absolutely. The average age of our guests is in the 60s, and we often have guests in their 80s.
If you are worried about this, please contact us to discuss. This tour involves a fair amount of walking, in museums, city centers (which in Italy are pedestrian zones), and archaeological sites (which may of course have uneven ground). However, we have had many guests with difficulty walking or climbing stairs, and we generally manage to accommodate them, with a little flexibility on all sides.
Absolutely. Just let us know in advance, and we will handle it.
Our tours cover all kinds of LGBTQ+ history and art. The cultural material on some of our tours (especially in Italy and Greece) is more about gay male issues—but this is not true on other tours, for example, in England or Germany, where we cover a wide spectrum of LGBTQ+ material. Our groups are also very welcoming. We have had a great variety of guests in our groups (incuding even a few allies!) and they have been very much part “one of the family.”
We don’t believe so. Of course we don’t know everything that goes on, but our impression is that our tours are GREAT for making friends instead. Note: we include tours of gay nightlife in a few cities (Berlin and Tokyo so far), but in any case, we provide information about gay bars, saunas, etc. And we know what many of our guests go, often with others from the tour group.
Our hotels are gay friendly, absolutely. In Europe and Japan, our hotels are generally carefully chosen 4 star hotels. As a rule, we choose hotels for modern comfort, historic charm, and central location. In India and Nepal, we use almost exclusively 5 star hotels (except for one restored palace).
We are big foodies, and the meals on our tours are generally very good. In fact, we have often been told we could sell our tours as gourmet experiences. We are particularly concerned to include local specialties and regional cuisines.
We include breakfast every day and on European tours generally one other substantial meal (though occasionally none or two). Since our tours often include activities both morning and afternoon, we tend to include lunch. And we tend to leave you free in the evening, except for the first and last evenings on the tour, when we have welcome and farewell dinners—though of course sometimes we include an extra dinner. This tour includes breakfast every day, 7 lunches, and 2 dinners–all gourmet.
Our tours are not 100% all-inclusive, although pretty close. We include all hotel accommodation during the tour, transportation as per the itinerary, all admissions, and guiding. We include breakfast every day and on European tours generally one other substantial meal (though occasionally none or two). Note: we are NOT in the business of “upselling” our guests. There are very few optionals on our tours—and they are only things we really believe that some guests may not want to do (e.g. helicopter trips).
We generally leave the group free in the evenings, and when we are in a major city, we include a free afternoon, for shopping, more museums etc.
Our tours are based on a very high level of knowledge about LGBTQ+ history and art, and indeed about history and art in general. As a result, we include many places that are interesting and/or important but not well-known. Some of these, like the bar where Oliver plays cards with the locals while Elio watches him in Call Me By Your Name, may be closed to the public or difficult to access; others, like the penis temple of Nagoya, are simply not on the beaten tourist path.
Italy is actually very gay-friendly. It has got a bad reputation in recent years, because it does not have gay marriage. But Italy was not homophobic in the way the US and UK were in previous eras, so while it has not caught up with the rest of Europe on gay rights, it was and is a safe and friendly country for LGBTQ+ travelers.
YES. A tour is a big investment, so you need insurance in case you are forced to cancel too late for a refund. This doesn’t happen often, but it has happened a few times in the 13 year life of this company, and the travel insurance companies have been very helpful. But note: you also need travel insurance in case of medical emergency. Your US insurance probably does not cover you abroad, and as we all know, you never know when something will come up. A friend of mine fell on a trip a few years ago and ended up being medivaced from Tunisia to Germany and ultimately back to the US. This would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but luckily, he had good travel insurance, and it was covered 100%. Note: You can buy travel insurance from our ticketing platform, WeTravel, but that that is not obligatory. You should get an insurance policy, but it does not need to be from WeTravel.
Our cancellation policy is flexible. Before the full-payment deadline, we will return any of your deposit that hasn’t been put down in deposits—which generally means we can return 100%. After the full-payment deadline, it is critical (again) that you have travel insurance, as travel insurance will refund your trip in an emergency more completely than we can. We can assure you that it works, because we have seen it work several times: a few guests have had to cancel at the last minute, have been completely reimbursed by their insurance, and in most cases have taken the same tour with us the next time it was offered.
Yes, we can make a payment plan according to your needs.
As Seen In
An asbolutely terrfic tour! Highly recommend.
