Rome is definitely in the top three most romantic cities in the world. The biggest city in Italy, it is stuffed full of culture to feast upon, and, despite the strong influence of the Catholic church, there are a number of gay venues and events to relax in after soaking up the scenery and sunshine.

Gay clubs are surprisingly plentiful. There is no specific gay quarter, with gay bars scattered across Rome, although there is a small cluster around the Parco Ninfeo de Nerone. There is a good selection of gay saunas, such as Apollion, Europe Multi Club or Rio’s, but remember, to enter most saunas and fetish clubs you need to purchase an Arcigay UNO Club card. These are normally available on entry, and cost 8 Euros for 3 months. There are regular gay parties at a number of clubs, such as Amigdala at Loca Atlantide, on the last Saturday of each month, or for late night cruising, there’s Frutta e Verdura After Hour every Sunday from 4.30am. Rome wouldn’t be Rome without its café culture, and you’ll be pleased to know you can pose out on the street with a cappuccino and still mingle with gay guys and girls at one of Rome’s many gay cafes and restaurants, such as Ristorante Asinocotto di Giuliano Brenna or Taverna Edoardo II.

The Pope may be walking us backwards through political correctness, but his home town Rome is not. Or, at least, it’s coming to terms with its double life.

As residence to Europe’s only transgender parliamentarian (- Vladimir Luxuria,) this Renaissance city has one sandal positively out of the closet. But, overshadowing this landmark is that legislation fails to acknowledge same sex unions.

For your gay ground zero hit up Rome’s main LGBT organisation, Circolo Mario Miele di Cultura Omessuale (06 541 39 85; www.mariomieli.it), and grab hold of your free Gay Map of Rome. Additionally, you can find out times for its regular film and club nights.

If it’s a more relaxing affair that you’re after however, the sauna Europa Multiclub is strongly recommended, predominantly for its sparkly clean interior. Otherwise, get your reading glasses out for LGBT bookshop Libreria Babele and its regular stock of local magazines – take Pride, for instance.

Whilst homosexuality is legal and discrimination on its grounds is illegal in Italy, some attitudes remain conservative. There is a strong campaign to legalise same-sex marriage, but this has yet to succeed.

You have several options to travel to Rome, you can go by plane to one of the three airports; Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport or to older Airport Rome Ciampino Airport. The smallest one is called Aeroporto dell´Urbe and handelst most helicopter and private flights.Once you have reached Rome you can use one of the transportation system in Rome. You have the choice between railroads, underground or overground. In general you can say that rome´s transportation system is in a good shape to make it easy to travel around.