Are long/Bermuda shorts OK for kids & teens?

Michele, your kids can wear whatever is comfortable. Shorts aren't taboo'd -- except in the church/place of worship.

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In order to get into many churches, shoulders must tbe covered and all pants must be below the knee.

And you can wear shorts too. Just not in churches.

Michele, one suggestion might be, as we are doing this, is wearing convertible lightweight pants that have the lower legs zip on/off. You can find them at REI's or most quality outdoor clothing stores. We will wear the shorts touring around the cities and country side, and when going into Churches, zip on the legs. As one of the previous posts said, there are many inputs on this subject by using the search feature.

Our daughter wore a very cute pair of plaid bermudas all over Italy and France last summer. It was a great way to go. She looked more pulled-together than if she had on athletic shorts and she could also be comfortable. We back-packed so those shorts got a lot of use! Also, depending on the age I might suggest scooters (skirts with shorts under) our six year old swears by them. There a lots of parks to play in and when the jungle gym beckons, it's nice to not have to worry about it:)

Michele,

I'm in Italy right now and am seeing many school groups in shorts. Just make sure the skirts and shorts cover the knees and they'll be fine. The Vatican is the exception - wear pants.

I just lead 18 students around Italy and all of them wore shorts. Some had Bermuda shorts and some slightly shorter (not short shorts though).

Just be careful about the days you'll be seeing churches. The RS books are really good about what each churches rules are. Some will accept bermuda shorts and some won't. All shoulders must be covered but most of the girls bought the 5 euros pashminas and just put them over their shoulders.

Unless you will be visiting churches, shorts will be fine. My first trip to Italy everyone told me not to wear shorts but I have been back five times now and every year there are more and more people with shorts (and not only Americans).

Women don't wear shorts outside of resort areas. We wear sun dresses and capris (http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/churches.htm)

I just got back yesterday and saw everything, even on non Americans--white athletic shoes, shorts, lots of bellies and boobs. As long as you aren't going in a church, wear whatever is comfortable and cool.

A lot of teens and young adults were wearing Converse sneakers--the old style, and yes, even white ones.

Connie, sounds like you saw the same people I saw in May :-)

Honestly, except for Churches, it's really an anything goes these days. Remember, there are tons of tourists from all over the world, an we're not the only ones who wear shorts.

It's true that there is no shortage of tourists wearing shorts. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is another question. :-)

Eli and Connie, I concur. We went to St. Mark's, Duamo in Florence, Duomo in Sienna, and St. Peter's. The biggest concern was for tank tops/spaghetti straps. Most churches had paper ponchos to wear (except St. Peter's where they just turned people away). We saw lots of longer shorts (at or just below the knee). Short shorts and skirts were turned away. Capris were fine. My son worn the pants with the zip off legs ($14.99 at Target). Which worked great. We saw lots of long shorts at St. Peter's. Enterprising vendors were selling scarves to anyone who needed to cover shoulders.

We just returned from 2 weeks in Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Venice and Florence. I was a little surprised (after reading much feedback on this site) at how many people of all ages we wearing shorts everywhere we went.

So glad we took several pairs, the heat (and humidity in Venice) can be brutal (take it from someone who lives in Miami and is used to these conditions). For summer months, it's shorts other than when going to St. Peter's and St. Mark's. We visited many other churches where shorts were allowed.