Travel guide to St Pete, Florida with the best gay hotels, bars, clubs & more • Nomadic Boys

St Pete is the thrilling gay hub of west Florida. We’ve visited several times and always left with smiley faces wanting to return for more. It offers everything a gay would want – a super friendly vibrant LGBTQ community, glorious beaches, an exciting gay scene, and home to the largest gay Pride event in all of Florida.

St Petersburg also receives over 360 days of sunshine each year and has rightfully been nicknamed “Florida’s Sunshine City”. And wherever the sun shines is a place the gays want to be, which is why many people from across the United States head to St Pete to make it their new home. 

Perhaps the stand-out reason why we love St Pete so much is the vibe. Everyone is so friendly and warm here. No one ever seemed to be stressed out and we were only ever met with smiles – from the many (straight) people on the beach offering to take our romantic sunset pic (“awww guys you’re so cute!” – they said to us) to the rows of rainbow flags that proudly line the streets of Downtown during Pride.

Much like Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale, St Petersburg is a little gay oasis in what has become quite a conservative state (Florida). We celebrate this exciting charming city in this article, featuring the best gay/gay friendly hotels, gay-owned businesses, gay bars, clubs, events, and more.

This is our experience of St Pete, which we hope you also fall in love with as much as we did!

Is Saint Petersburg Gay Friendly?

Very! You may be thinking…how can that be? Surely a place in Florida, notoriously one of the most republication states of the US, is full of conservative retirees. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite. There is a large draw for LGBTQ retirees, as well as a younger, diverse crowd. And in recent years, St Pete has seen an increase in transgender and non-binary residents as well.

St Petersburg has a large LGBTQ population and has consistently received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI). This is a study that looks at the laws within an area and rates them on the inclusivity of LGBTQ+ people who live and work there.

We felt very safe walking around St Pete holding hands and being openly gay. We not only felt tolerated but celebrated. Everyone we came across was either very friendly or gay themselves!