Clothing optional?

Isn't it possible that (as with most things in life) the truth is somewhere in the middle? Yes, many cultures in Europe are much more relaxed about nudity than the average American. But that doesn't mean that they are immune to visual titillation. Perhaps they are simply more adept at keeping it in check - a task made much easier by the fact that the people most apt to be unclothed tend to be those least likely to titillate.

It's hard to say because the etiquette varies from country to country. In Germany, you never wear clothes in saunas or steam rooms, even if they're mixed gender. The internet tells me that for Italy and France it's clothing-free in single-gender areas but suits required in mixed-gender areas - can anyone back this up?

Seeing that much of the Dolomites is more Swiss/German than Italian, the Saunas were expected to be clothing free, but if others were there, they would have tolerated your swimsuits. The only true no-no would have been bare skin on the wood in the dry sauna. I would add that if you get the opportunity again, shuck the suit and go with it. It would rank up there with some of your more memorable travel moments.

Wrong. Sitting around in a sauna is seldom erotic. Believe me on this! Being at ease with nudity is the opposite of being prudish about it. Once people get used to it, they find they enjoy the freedom of it.

"Europeans can beat around the bush all they want, they can pretend that nudity is healthy, or that clothes are unhygienic, but at the end of the day, the reason they "enforce" nudity is because it serves an urge of voyeurism/exhibitionism that people don't like to admit. People love to see and be seen nude and in a sauna setting they feel less guilty to do so." You're entitled to your opinion about nudity, but if the point of foreign travel is to better understand other cultures, please don't make such generalizations about something that you don't know much about. In my experience, your generalization is not at all accurate. I do agree that even if the norm at a sauna is nude, no one will mind too much if you are slightly covered as long as you stay within proper sauna etiquite.

Paul wrote: "Europeans can beat around the bush all they want, they can pretend that nudity is healthy, or that clothes are unhygienic, but at the end of the day, the reason they "enforce" nudity is because it serves an urge of voyeurism/exhibitionism that people don't like to admit. People love to see and be seen nude and in a sauna setting they feel less guilty to do so." Sorry Paul, you couldn't be more wrong. Many Europeans are way more mature when it comes to the naked human body compared to Americans. they realize that the nude human body is both functional and sexual and it is very easy to separate the two. It is way more comfortable being nude in the sauna and and on topless and nude beaches. Plus way more hygienic. The Doctors TV show last year uncovered that fact on their episode, " The Naked Truth about your Health." My wife and I were the nudist experts on that show. We highly recommend people try nude recreation, it's lots of fun and the best way to vacation. We know as we own a nudist resort and I'm the nude recreation writer at Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mulhall/ And Susan the proper attire should be sitting on a towel wearing just your smiles.

Paul, just because you eroticize everything doesn't mean everyone does. It's called "projection." Most Northern Europeans are comfortable, as adults, being nude with their family. I find this utterly bizarre and incomprehensible (and I am a fan of the textile-frei bads - and you can claim it's erotic for me and I'm not willing to admit to it, but since I am horribly nearsighted, trust me, I'm not seeing that many hairy Russians too clearly) but I am pretty sure that isn't about exhibition/voyeurism. Unless you think all Northern Europeans are into incest. What a ridiculous claim. I'd assume you're a troll Paul, but you have several hundred posts, so you're either just a dude with misguided views or a really dedicated troll with a lot of time to kill.

What once was modesty now is courtesy. I wear something. Of late, no complaints.

I prefer to keep my titillation hidden from view.

Back to some of the original questions posed - I have only been to two facilities in France and both were co-ed and both had signs posted that bathing suits were mandatory. I can't confirm that this will always be the case, but I suspect it would be. "Clothing optional" is falling out of fashion here. Sunbathing topless is considered something only the "older generation" does. I wouldn't read too much into it. I think it has more to do with rebelling against your elders than anything to do with being naked.

In some countries, you simply don't have the option, if you want to use a sauna or steam room, of covering up, no matter what your opinions on the subject are or how unappealing you think your body is, or how kinky and lascivious you think the culture with this requirement must be. It's either naked or no sauna for you. If you try to use a sauna with a bathing suit on, you will be given a stern lecture and asked to leave and not come back until you're naked. Not that this has ever happened to me.... Of course in a sauna one can have the towel wrapped around them, as long as your bare butt isn't touching the bench. In a steam room, towels aren't allowed in countries that follow these exhibitionistic rules. It would be a quick way to get a sopping wet towel, anyway.