Men's pants for walking

Please, oh please - don't buy those zip off pants! TOURIST Alert! I'm sure you can find a nice pair of lightweight nylon pants at your local outdoor shop. Your husband can go try them on. Try brands like Ex-Officio, Prana, North Face, but don't do the zippered pants. honestly, it's difficult to zip the bottoms on and off, and they look silly in bigger cities. Nylon will dry quickly if you need to wash them in the sink, and they resist most stains. You can do some shopping on REI.com to check out what they offer, maybe even purchase from that website, or if you have a local store, go there to see the selection. Good luck! Buon Viaggio

Hahaha-- okay, okay!! I won't get the zip off ones! (I tend to go for practicality, but sometimes forget that "fashion" does play a role sometimes...)- thanks for your input!

I like pants made by Ex Officio. My favorite is a cotton/polyester blend, but the style is no longer available. Ex Officio still makes other similar styles, though. They have a good assortment of pockets, are lightweight, and will dry quickly after washing. I have a number of convertible pants, but the conventional wisdom is that shorts aren't worn much in Europe. I tend to just wear these pants while in the U.S.

I love the zip offs. And are perfect for a place that is hot, but you occasionally go into that requires long pants such as a cathedral. Now I will admit most people do figure out I am a tourist. It might be the zip offs. It might be map in one hand and the phrase book in the other. Or maybe it is because despite the phrase book I complete butcher the local language. Or maybe its the camera. Or maybe its cause I am visiting tourist sites. I should do an experiment and get rid of the zip offs and see if people start confusing me for being a native. My point is you are tourists. People are gonna figure that out zip offs or not. If your husband likes the zip offs go with them.

My favorite travel pants is an Outer Rim brand from Sam's club 30% cotton blend. My second pant is from REI and the Adventure Travel line.

My (slightly vain) husband loves his Ex Officio Streamliner Field pants. Lightweight nylon, very comfortable, and even nice-looking (trip lines with no baggy cargo pockets.) Unfortunately, despite the fact that these got rave reviews on every website I have checked, Ex Officio discontinued them last year. Hopefully they have something similar. You could check the Ex Officil website, or places like REI (or REI Outlet) for good travel pants. I would agree with others to avoid zip-offs.

Rome in spring....i always wear jeans....nothing better...as long as they fit well then can be used all day and at night to, unless you are going to the opera or soemthing...i think your better off feeling comfortable then spending to look it

I think all of my travel pants are non-cotton Dockers. You may have to go online to find them now (stores tend to carry only the 100% cotton styles). I find the Dockers fit well and are built sturdy enough to survive travel, but also wash and dry easily and look nice enough to dress up when needed.

I am assuming that you mean 'trousers' and that your husband is not going to be walking around in his underpants?

I bought a pair of Light weight zip off cargo pants for our trip to Rome and Tuscany in May two years ago. I wore them constantly. I but my valuables in the lower pocket, which had a velcro flap and a zipper. Never had any problems.

I always wear dark, but light-weight, denim. If he gets a straight-leg, premium pair, he'll be comfortable and will fit-in perfectly in Rome. Big fan here of Diesel and 7 for All Mankind. Yes, both have some trendy, skinny-fitting styles for young guys, but for the rest of us adults (40 here), they both make simple, very dark, straigt-leg fits. And both always have "summer weight" denim at this time of year. They come super-long, but any good tailor can hem them (you pay a little extra for tailor to re-attach the original hem that comes w/ the jeans, but I think it looks best). In 7s (7forallmankind.com), or they sell them at upscale dept stores stuch as Neimans, Saks, etc,. have your husband look for "The Standard" (their straigt-leg style, not super skinny, but hardly baggy/relaxed either) in a very dark blue, but light weight, wash. They have around 2% stretch in them, so they're super comfortable. Trust me, these are the kinds of denim that well-dressed men in Rome wear. They're comfortable for walking around in the day, but can also be worn, say w/ shoes, in the evening out to dinner. Just prepare for some sticker-shock. 7s or Diesels will run you around $170 - $190 (and both have trendier styles that are $200+), but they'll last forever, are super comfortable, look great, and he'll fit right in w/ the well-dressed locals. I have some dark 7s that are around 5 yrs old, and they still look like new. Hope this helps. Good luck w/ the travel planning and have a fantastic time in Italy.

Shoni, You must not have learned your English from an American but a Brit. In the UK they call pants what in the US we call underwear. In the US we call pants what in the UK they call trousers. Every American knows the term trousers to mean pants but the word itself is rarely used and is considered a bit stuff and formal. Fanny is another word like this in the US it refers to the rear end of either gender and in the UK refers to the front bits of females only. A public school has opposite meanings as well. In the US a public school is what in the UK called a state school. And what in the UK is called a public school in the US is called a private school.

Emily, I always wear pants / trousers from Tilley when travelling. They're comfortable, have many different styles (including zip-offs) and designed for washing in a hotel room sink if necessary. Have a look at their website for further information. One thing I'd suggest is to try and find a stocking dealer in your area (if possible), as I've found that the fit is somewhat "hit & miss" between different Tilley products. You might also have a look at their legendary Hats. Happy travels!

Correction, I also have some non-cotton Izod golf pants I picked up at Macy's on sale. They are really nice, unfortunately only offered in two colors, sand and black.

Go to Target and buy a couple of cheap pairs of Cherokee brand khakis. Leave them behind when your trip is over...

If your husband is comfortable wearing khakis in Charlotte in the spring, he would be comfortable wearing them in Rome at that time of the year. If he wants lighter material, go for cheap polyester. For that matter, if he wears jeans in the summer in North Carolina, he would be comfortable with the same in the spring in Rome. There is no need to spend big bucks on travel pants for Rome or anyplace else unless he also plans to wear them at home. Personally, I would be perfectly comfortable in a pair of unfaded jeans just about anywhere even in summer but would not be caught dead in a pair of convertible travel pants.

As someone who goes to Europe every summer for about a month for at least the last 10+ years, I take about 3 sets of ExOfficio shirts, pants (including zip-offs) & underwear that i can wash in the room sink at night when necessary and always have them dry in the morning. I took jeans once, more than 10 years ago, but got real tired of always having to go to a laundry to wash and dry them as I quickly found out they are impossible to wash in a sink and take about 48 hours to dry. I wear my zip-offs often when in a place where the weather is changing and might be colder in the AM and warmer in the afternoon. I have no problems unzipping or re-zippering them. I guess I am just too laid back that I do not care if I look like a tourist or not. I go for what works for me. ExOfficio stuff is more expensive than other stuff you can find but it is a good investment if you are going to do any amount of traveling. Happy travels.