Checking in at Key West’s Island House gay resort was a bit like arriving at a fancy dress party without a costume. Only the suits being worn at this popular ‘clothing optional’ hotel were the ones the guests were born with.

I’d never considered myself reserved but being forced to make idle chatter about the weather with a fully nude gentleman’s crown jewels dangling pendulously within eyeshot turned out to be the perfect barometer for how prudishly British I really am.

As temperatures sore and Bavarians feel the heat, there’s only one place locals like to loosen their lederhosen and unbutton their dirndls at – the beer garden.

But despite the occasional debauched binge, drinking in the southern German state is a relaxed social affair rather than a competition to see who hits the floor first.