GAYLIFE

Few countries match its wealth of pleasures and treasures like Italy: history, art, music, fashions, and food. Yet the greatest pleasures here are the Italians themselves. They not only possess the world's greatest outlook on life (La Dolce Vita), but are the essence of Mediterranean dark and sexy. While Italy's primary appeal is its history and culture, gay travelers will find a limited but interesting choice of nightlife spots, particularly in the big cities. They provide fun nighttime diversion, and a glimpse into the challenges faced by Italian gay women and men, as they begin to express their sexual identity within the confines of a family and church dominated society.

Italians are more affectionate and physical than other people in their general friendships, and even straight men regularly walk down the street with their arms around each other - however, kissing anywhere other than on the cheeks at greetings and goodbyes will certainly draw attention. As you might expect, smaller towns tend to be less permissive and accepting than cities.

Usually, gay people gather in public venues like bars and clubs, and even smaller towns in nothern and central Italy have one. Many gay men use to meet in country cruisings, like little woods, streets around the railway station, or in services areas along the highway. To get informed about the habitudes in the specific town you are going to visit, you can contact local associations.

In Summer, many gay beaches gets very crowdy all over the country. Usually, their are located in special places, not so easy to reach, but you can find any information on this site

Bars, discos and saunas for a gay & lesbian clientele are now present almost anywhere in Italy but surely are more numerous up north than in the middle and south. Towns with a stronger presence of gays and lesbian are Milan and Rome followed by Bologna, Padoa and Florence. In summertime, Torre del Lago, Tuscany, is crowded with thousands of tourists coming from anywhere in Italy especially at week-ends and in all the month of August (Italian holiday season).