Shorts for Summer Travel?

You do not say where in Belgium you are going, but we have visited the other cities and we saw very few people wearing shorts. Possibly more in Amsterdam, but still not many. If you want to "blend in" I would recommend you wear light pants rather than shorts. I do not think you will be refused service at streetside cafes, but you might in some pubs if you wear shorts. Undoubtedly, you will be seen as a tourist if you do wear shorts, and as someone else said, it does make you a target.

Finally, another shorts question--summer's coming, this will give us something to stew about for days! You said you want to somewhat blend in. Here's Rick's opinion on shorts and blending in; and if you want to continue posting here, you will do what The Master says :)"If you're trying to blend in, realize that shorts are uncommon in Europe. They are considered exclusively beachwear for use in coastal or lakeside resort towns. While most Europeans won't be offended if you wear shorts, you might be on the receiving end of some stares. Shorts are especially uncommon on older women and in big cities, and the cutoff temperature for "hot enough for shorts" is much higher than in the US. Especially in southern Europe, no matter how hot it is, grown adults look goofy in shorts." (Rick Steves, p. 48, Europe Through the Back Door 2009)(Okay, the next 50 replies may now be posted, especially those from travelers saying that on their last trip they actually saw Europeans wearing shorts)Or we could all save time and just refer people to the search box, upper right, search on shorts and you'll get 1,984 opinions. The voting here in past years has been about 50-50 on shorts in Europe. Of course most of us wear them here and love our casual clothing standards. And no one is trying to tell you what to do. That's not the issue, the issue is, if you say you want to blend in while in Europe, then you'll benefit from advice on what European standards are and the above quote from Rick is one man's opinion. Note: Our vast Shorts Data Base (we track these things) confirms there's a positive correlation coefficient between age of a European and whether shorts are regularly worn. Younger Europeans appear to be adopting more casual clothing standards than Europeans over age x. So, are you younger or older than age x? (I'm going to let other, wiser heads define age x.)

Short of wearing an "I hate your local soccer team t-shirt", nobody cares how you dress:) But there are those (including myself) who feel if one dresses up a bit, you are less of a target for pickpockets and other con-artists in some of the cities you listed. Also, in most any city in the world the locals do dress up a bit and are wearing more fashionable attire; thus you will see fewer people wearing shorts as opposed to a beach resort. Having said all that I'd estimate 90% of all the tourists you encounter will be wearing shorts, so it's just a matter of personal preference. Keep in mind, if your planning on visiting some of the "big" cathedrals, most have rules barring entry for those with shorts.

Of course. I would never wear shorts to my local church and would not dream of it in Europe either. I am just not wanting to be the only family climbing the Eiffel Tower stairs in shorts (in July). We also will not be dressing like hobos...hahaha...and I am under no illusions that will appear to be anything but a tourist. I just want to be comfortable and somewhat blend in. I just did not want to be denied service at a streetside cafe or pub or anything like that.

Jim,

as you might have surmised from Kent's post, the issue 'shorts' is a hot-button topic (hope I am saying that right in English).

I am going to say it short and sweet:
You will NOT be considered idiots wearing shorts in Europe: many tourists wear them, and you will also see the occasional young Europeans sporting them as well. Europeans have had ample of time to get accustomed to shorts-wearing travelers, nobody will faint or gasp at the sight of adults in shorts. Shorts for kids are almost always okay, so are Crocs for Tots (may we not revisit that discussion, Mariaundjosefbitte!!;-)) As long as you are aware that you will have to cover up visiting certain churches/places of worship, or better restaurants, you'll be good to go and comfy doing it.

As previously mentioned, Europeans generally do not wear shorts, save in their gardens, at sports, at home or at the beach.
Europeans are considerably more formal in dress than are Americans. We will not wear shorts for city excursions, museums, going out to eat or visiting, or the like.
We take great pride in 'dressing up' even just to go shopping at the corner. We differentiate between work clothes, play clothes and 'holiday' clothes.
To show up for certain occasions in your play- or work clothes would connote disrespect in many of our cultures.
This concept is not as alien to you in North America as you might think: see your Native American cultures.

HOWEVER:
as travelers/tourists, you are exempted from our everyday cultural mores! As long as you are aware that you might have to cover up to enter certain churches/places of worship, you should dress as you want!

I love the replies.....great opinions and humor mixed in. I appreciate the perspectives. I only want shorts for the days out in the heat and when visiting the places of worship, memorial, or respect I of course would dress appropriately. We plan on bike riding out of Bruges for a day and that sounds like a perfect shorts day to me. Thanks for the opinions on this "hot button" topic :)

You guys will be fine, Jim :-))

Have a grand time in Europe!! :-))

Jim: Glad we could be helpful, this is one of our favorite subjects, when we get bored researching bus schedules. But you're not off the hook yet--your punishment for posting this question is that you have to read the next 50 fervent replies that will be posted here in the next 24 hours. And further punishment is: You have to read the previous 1,984 thorough dissections of this issue that have been posted here in the last few years (I kid you not, go to the search box and search on shorts). You can't get on the airplane until you send us a sworn certification that you've read 'em. Happy travels! :)

Dear Kent,

I had a good chuckle over your 'researching bus schedules' comment.
I was going to ask you and Lee to help me do a post about TRAINS in Europe . . .

if you are indeed bored, PM me about it!

Corinna

I think we at the Helpline can be justifiably proud that we've created possibly the greatest repository, in the known universe, of nuanced thinking on the subject of whether to wear shorts in Europe. This is where the world comes when they want to know about wearing shorts.

Aaaaagggghhhhhh! A shorts question -- in FEBRUARY! My eyes! My eyes!

I'm out today in shorts and a tee shirt, but I'm in Texas! Has anyone seen the show called, "What Would You Do?" They had actors acting as ugly Americans. They were in Paris France, and they had on shorts, and a tee shirt that said, "Paris Texas" and on the back, it said, "Bush 08'" so as long as you don't wear anything like that, you'll be fine! Lol!

it's been 3 hours..I can't believe there's not more posts subjecting Jim to various forms of medieval torture.

As a woman I do pack a pair of shorts and pull them out in extreme situations..
they also fit nicely in my daypack, so if I'm seeing
A LOT of locales wearing them...I will be blending in :) as long as my daily allotment of museums and religious institutions have been visited!

May I share a sight I saw last April in Korcula...mind you this was off season..

and I swear on my brand new Dell Mini this is the truth..

Visualize..

A 20 something fellow American, walking around with 3 others with his Rick Steves book in hand this quiet tranquil town (off season reminder)

He is wearing cut off army olive green shorts..BLUE socks with YELLOW crocs and accesorized with a cowboy hat.

He then BOOMS (font size 72 to follow
...HEY ...THE CHURCH IS RIGHT HERE!

oh lord help me...we went in the opposite direction..
after the shopkeeper says to us...
are you american too? my dh says ...no canadian

In addition to my long pants and jeans, in Paris I wore urban camouflage shorts with orange laced skate shoes. Yes I am 30, and I looked like an idiot. But I was thankfully 50% less sweaty.

At the end of the day, do what you want. Europeans will know you are North American no matter how you dress. You will have day packs, belly bags and won't speak their language.

If any of you guys saw the movie called 2 Days in Paris, it shows hilarious scenes of American tourists in Paris. They are wearing T-shirts with pictures, shorts, fanny packs and visors. For me that is exactly what not to wear! On the other hand you can wear shorts - just don't wear something that makes you look like a clown. :)

What I saw European males wearing were cropped type pants. They actually hit just about mid calf. One of our fellow travelers bought a pair because they were cooler but said they don't wear these back home. I saw shorts but they were longer knee length shorts.

Skater type shorts are big in Germany, but it is more with the younger crowd. Maybe up to age 30 if you got the figure for it. Women, hmmm maybe not so much, but it certainly would not make you stick out or anything. Shorts with gathered waistlines - Please not. Cut-offs - Please not. That said, young girls were wearing "hotpants" last year, but I haven't seen the trends for this year yet. Long, sort of loose skirts are more common for us ladies when it gets hot.

The next question that goes through my mind, thanks to this board! are the white tennis shoes. Now, this was something I had never thought about, been wearing them over here for years off and on, but for some weird reason, folks seem to think this marks them as American. So now, I have been reduced to counting white tennis shoes when I am downtown. It doesn't matter that there are hundreds of them in the shoe store window. I see a group of German school kids go by and I look to see how many have on white shoes. I know, its pathetic and its all this forums fault. Why did you do this to me???

If you feel more comfortable, wear your shorts, and ignore what the fashionistas think. People will know you're a tourist no matter what you wear... and nobody will care.

As to the question of if Belgians commonly wear shorts... yes, they do when if gets warm enough... but at home, or in their neighborhoods. You won't see many people in the cities in shorts. But think about it. Most of the locals WORK in those cities. How many people in the US commonly wear shorts to work? But go out into the smaller towns on a hot day, go to some of the camping resorts in the Ardennes, and you'll see plenty of Belgians wearing shorts.

I've seen people wearing shorts while hiking in the German Alps. They sell them in the stores in the Oberallgäu; what do you think they expect you to do with them?

This is a fun crowd....love the replies. I have learned my lesson guys :(

Just kidding

A friend showed us a picture his wife took of him in Assisi a couple years ago. He was wearing shorts, white shoes and white socks. I kid you not!

His wife said that a group of little old ladies sitting a bench nearby were pointing and snickering at him.

I just had to share...

Linda, please post a link so we can see the "goofy" pictures and anyone else that would like to share their companion or a stranger wearing shorts with some other "ugly" accessory. Thanks for the chuckles. And Corinna, if you get any PM's please share with us so we can laugh along with you.
I saw with my own eyes the Europe through the Backdoor 2009 pages Kent referred to. He and his wife have become friends with my husband and me in Oregon. We live 5 miles from each other. Kent, keep those informational comments coming Kent. Rick "is" in shorts. I saw Rick in shorts as he was getting off a ferry in his Greece(I think) DVD.

We were in Paris and a guy in our group was dressed in not shorts, but blue sweats. As we were going to dinner, a French woman went by him, saying "excuse me". He turned to the rest of us and said, "that woman spoke to me in English, what do I have American written across my forehead?" We had a good laugh later when he wasn't around.