Most safety advice for queer travellers stops at the country level. A map, a colour, a score out of ten. It is better than nothing, but it is not the information you actually need, because you do not travel to a country. You travel to a neighbourhood, on a specific night, with a specific person.

Start with the law, then move past it. Knowing whether a place has legal protections tells you what the state will do. It does not tell you how a taxi driver, a hotel receptionist or a group of strangers on a Friday night will behave. Both matter, and they are not the same question.

Read recent, local, specific sources. A forum post from last month about one district is worth more than a general article from three years ago. Local queer organisations, community centres and small independent media are usually far more honest than travel publishers with something to sell.

Then ask a person. This is the part the internet cannot replace. Someone who lives there can tell you which street changes character after midnight, which venue has a door policy that is not written anywhere, and whether the neighbourhood you booked is a good idea on a Sunday.

That is why every Queer Hosted experience is run by a local from the community. Not because it makes a nicer story, but because it is the only way to get an honest answer.