Since we won't be visiting churches all day on any of the tour days (Venice, Florence, Rome) looking for suggestions for what men can wear on days when it is hot but still want to enter churches...are long pants the only option?
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
Long pants can work if they're very light weight, but zip-off pants are also quite acceptable. When the lower pantlegs are zipped off you have shorts, and then zip them back on when visiting churches. The lower pantlegs weigh next to nothing and take up very little space in a day bag. Zip-off pants can be purchased at REI and similar stores.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
You can, of course, decide that you would rather wear shorts and NOT visit churches. Your decision.
Posted by
59 posts
We had "pants days" in Rome and "shorts days". On the "pants days", we visited churches and the "shorts days" were for the Colosseum, catacombs, Borghese gallery, etc. I was worried that would prevent us from impromptu stops at pretty churches but sadly my husband and sons got "churched-out" pretty quickly and didn't really mind if I just went in by myself. On the day we toured the Vatican museums and St. Peter's, we went early in the morning and stopped by our hotel in Campo de'Fiori after lunch to put on shorts. They wore lightweight and light-colored Nike golf pants. They looked nice and didn't wrinkle.
Posted by
Carmel, CA, USA
2456 posts
deef, the word “conundrum” is a little strong here, don’t you think? Seems there are several easy solutions to this situation.
Posted by
1970 posts
The "overarching" concept in any Catholic Church is modesty. Any clean, tidy modest dress is acceptable. Cover the shoulders and knees. This can mean any type of pants, even longer hiking shorts that cover the knees. Any shirt - a clean t-shirt, plaid shirt with short sleeves, polo type shirt. It's easy.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16200 posts
What conundrum?
How short are your shorts? Bikini size?
I always get inside churches in Italy with my Bermuda cargo shorts. I’ve never been stopped, not even at St. Peter.
Below is what people wear inside the St. Peter basilica at the Vatican, which has the strictest dress attire:
https://goo.gl/images/uZNJZK
https://goo.gl/images/pwoxBh
https://goo.gl/images/fhjtkD
https://goo.gl/images/1fW9uR
The issue is not even contemplated at the Duomo in Florence, where people wear pretty much whatever they want:
https://goo.gl/images/meEiVb