The Rise of Sapphic Travel: Why Lesbian and Queer Women Are Looking for Connection, Community and Belonging, Not Just a Holiday

A holiday can mean flights, hotels, good food and a few days away from normal life. It can mean discovering somewhere completely new, escaping the routines of everyday life, or simply having the freedom to decide what you want to do with your time. But for many lesbian and queer women, especially those travelling alone, there can be another question quietly sitting in the background: Who else will be there? Am I going to feel safe and welcomed?

It is a simple question, but it can change the way a trip feels. A destination might be exciting, beautiful and completely new, but knowing that other lesbian and queer women are nearby can make travel feel more welcoming and connected. It can mean knowing there may be someone to meet for coffee, someone attending the same Pride event, someone who knows the local area, or simply someone who understands the experience of travelling as a queer woman.

That doesn't mean women who travel alone necessarily want company all the time, quite the opposite actually. Many women love the independence of solo travel. They enjoy choosing their own itinerary, exploring at their own pace, changing their plans maybe on a whim and having nobody else to negotiate with. But independence and connection are not opposites. Sometimes you want both. This is where sapphic travel offers a different way of thinking about a holiday.

What is sapphic travel?

Sapphic travel is not simply about finding destinations described as LGBTQIA+ friendly. Of course, that matters. Feeling comfortable on a destination, understanding the local environment and knowing where LGBTQIA+ communities, venues and events can be found are all important parts of travelling. But sapphic travel can mean something more. It is about the experiences, connections and sense of belonging that can happen around travel for lesbian and queer women.

The holiday is valuable, but so is what happens when you arrive. Maybe you're travelling to a city for Pride and want to know who else is going, maybe you're attending a women's festival and would enjoy meeting someone even before you arrive. Perhaps you're visiting somewhere completely new and would love a coffee with another woman who knows the area, or maybe you simply want someone to explore with, someone who wants to walk around the city, visit an exhibition, discover a restaurant or sit somewhere beautiful and talk.

These can sound like small things. But travel is often remembered through people and moments, not just places. A city can become the place where you met someone unexpectedly, a festival can become memorable because of the conversation you had afterwards, and a holiday can turn into the beginning of a friendship that continues long after the flight home. The destination creates the opportunity, but connection can become part of the journey.

Travel is about more than the destination.

Travelling somewhere new can be liberating. There is something wonderful about waking up somewhere unfamiliar and knowing that the day is completely yours. You can take the early train or sleep until midday, or you can spend hours in a museum, walk for miles, sit in a café or change your plans because something interesting caught your eye.

But travel can also feel strangely disconnected. You might spend a whole day exploring a beautiful city, eat an amazing meal and see something you've always wanted to see and still have a moment when you think: “I wish I had someone to share this with.” That feeling doesn't mean solo travel isn't working. It doesn't mean you suddenly need a permanent travel partner; it may simply mean that connection matters at certain moments.

A local recommendation from another woman can make a new city feel less unfamiliar, someone attending the same festival can become a companion for an afternoon, a shared interest can turn a brief conversation into something more, and sometimes the smallest interaction can change the whole feeling of a trip.

Imagine arriving somewhere you've never been before and discovering that another woman nearby knows a tiny café you would never have found yourself, or discovering that someone else is going to the same concert, or realising that three women you have connected with are all planning to visit the same part of the city that afternoon. Suddenly, the destination isn't just somewhere you are visiting, but it becomes somewhere you are beginning to belong. And that sense of temporary belonging can be one of the most meaningful feelings travel offers.

That does not mean solo travellers want to give up their independence. Often, they simply want the choice to connect when it feels right, because a local recommendation can make a new city easier to navigate. Someone attending the same festival can become a companion for the day. A shared interest can turn a brief conversation into a friendship. These connections can make a trip feel less like visiting somewhere and more like belonging to a new community.

The solo travel paradox

There is a difference between travelling alone and wanting to feel alone. That distinction is at the heart of modern solo travel. Many women enjoy choosing their own itinerary and exploring at their own pace, yet there can still be moments when having someone beside you would make the experience better. That could be another woman to explore with, someone to attend an event with or simply a person to meet for coffee. The important thing is choice and connection should add to independence, not replace it.

Many women choose to travel independently because they value freedom. They don't want to organise every decision around another person's preferences; they want to be able to say yes to one experience and no to another, and that freedom shouldn't disappear simply because they want connection. Imagine being able to say: “I'm travelling alone, but I'd love to meet someone for coffee this afternoon.” Or: “I'm going to Pride tomorrow. Is anyone else going?” Or: “I'm in this city for three days. Does anyone want to explore together or meet up for dinner ?” Those aren't requests to give up independence; they're requests for choice, and choice is important.

Connection should add to independence, not replace it. For some women, connection might mean spending a whole day with another traveller. For someone else, it might be one coffee. For another, it could be meeting at an event for an hour and then returning to their own plans. There doesn't have to be one definition of companionship, because you decide how much connection you want, when you want it and what you want it to become. And sometimes the most memorable part is not the main event but the conversation afterwards or the unexpected plan that comes from meeting someone with similar interests. For women looking for friendship or travel companionship rather than another dating experience, this distinction matters a lot.

Belonging doesn't always mean finding a crowd.

When we talk about LGBTQIA+ travel, we often think about large Pride celebrations, queer nightlife or established LGBTQIA+ destinations. Those experiences can be fantastic. But belonging doesn't always happen in a crowd; sometimes it happens between two people, a conversation over coffee, a recommendation from someone local, a walk through a city with someone who shares your interests, a message from someone who is attending the same festival or a spontaneous plan that wasn't in your itinerary yesterday. For lesbian and queer women, these seemingly ordinary moments can have additional meaning because finding other women who share some understanding of your identity and experiences isn't always as easy as it is in other parts of life.

You don't necessarily need a big community around you; sometimes you just want to know there are people like you nearby. And that knowledge alone can make an unfamiliar place feel different. Traditional travel websites help people decide where to go, where to stay and what to do; dating apps are primarily built around romantic connections, and both can be useful for what they are designed to do. Neither is designed specifically around the question, “Who else is going to be there?” There is space between travel and dating for something more focused on real connection through shared journeys. That is where Sapphic Journeys’ travel-first connection becomes meaningful.

Enter Sapphic Journeys

This is the thinking behind Sapphic Journeys, a travel-first community being built for lesbian and queer women, particularly women in their 30s, 40s and beyond. The app is designed to help women connect through travel before, during and after their journeys. Friendship, companionship, shared experiences and romance can all be outcomes, but travel is the common starting point. The platform can give women ways to communicate what they are hoping to find from a connection. That might be a travel companion, Pride buddy, coffee, local guide, a festival or activity buddy, or even something more romantic.

Another idea is “Who’s going where on the same time?”, putting the focus on discovering who else is heading to the same destination around the same time. Instead of arriving somewhere and wondering whether there are other women nearby, the opportunity to connect can begin before the journey.

The point is not to decide in advance what every connection should become. It is to give women more ways to discover people whose plans overlap with theirs. “Who else is going to be there?” That creates an interesting space between travel and dating, a space where friendship, companionship, shared experiences, local connections and romance can all exist without assuming that every interaction needs to become a date. This is where travel-first connection becomes meaningful. The starting question isn't: “Whom do I want to date?” It is: “Where am I going, what am I doing there, and who else might be part of that experience?” That shift changes the purpose of connection from finding a particular type of relationship to discovering possibilities around a shared journey.

Travel Chemistry

At the heart of this approach is Travel Chemistry. Connection does not have to be completely random after you arrive. It can begin with shared interests, similar travel styles, common destinations, the same event, or simply discovering that two women want to do similar things. Sometimes compatibility starts with something as simple as, “You’re going there too?” That chemistry does not have to be romantic. It can lead to friendship, travel companionship, a shared experience or a useful local connection. Features such as Travel Intentions and Meet Now are intended to make those possibilities more tangible. A woman already on a destination may want to meet for coffee or an activity, while another may want to find someone attending the same event. It is not about forcing a connection; it is all about creating the opportunity for one.

Think about what happens when you discover that someone isn't just another stranger anymore. You're both going to the same festival, you're both visiting the same city, you're both interested in independent cinema, you're both looking for local food rather than tourist hotspots, and you're both keen to walk, explore, discover and experience somewhere new rather than simply pass through it. None of those things guarantees the travel chemistry, but they create the possibility for it. And that chemistry doesn't have to be romantic; it can become friendship, travel companionship, it can become a shared experience, a local connection, or it can simply become one really enjoyable afternoon with someone you would never otherwise have met. That is why Travel Chemistry is about more than simply matching people randomly through an algorithm; it is about discovering possibilities through the journey itself.

Travel Intentions and Meet Now – our 2 revolutionary concepts.

This concept of Travel Intentions becomes even more useful when women can communicate what they actually want from a connection. Travel Intentions are designed to make that clearer. Instead of expecting every connection to follow the same path, women can express what they are open to, whether that's friendship, coffee, a Pride buddy, a travel companion, a local connection, an activity or something more romantic. That matters because clarity creates better connections.

And then there is Meet Now. Because sometimes you don't want to plan something weeks before. You're already there, you're sitting in a café, you have a free afternoon, you've finished your plans earlier than expected, and you might simply think: “It would be nice to meet someone.” Meet Now is designed around that moment, creating an opportunity to connect with women who are available and interested in meeting nearby, not by forcing connection, but by making the possibility visible.

A different way to think about travel

You can love travelling alone without wanting to feel alone.

For the solo traveller, connection can make independence feel less isolating without taking away the freedom that made solo travel attractive in the first place. For someone travelling to Pride, it can turn an event into a shared experience. For someone looking for friendship, companionship or romance, it can open the door to a connection that begins with a destination rather than a dating profile. The journey is not only about where you go. It is also about whom you meet, what you share and whether, even for a few days, you can find a sense of belonging somewhere new.  

Ready to discover who else is going where you’re going?

Sapphic Journeys is building a travel-first community where lesbian and queer women can discover destinations, share experiences and connect with women who have something in common. And perhaps that is the bigger idea behind sapphic travel. We don't just travel through places; we create memories through people, conversations and experiences. A city becomes the place where you met her, a festival becomes the weekend you discovered a new community, a holiday becomes the trip where you made a friend you still speak to years later. The journey is not only about where you go, but it is also about whom you meet, what you share and whether, even for a few days, you can also find a sense of belonging somewhere new.

Travel. Connect. Belong.