Hello! We will be visiting Venice in a few weeks, and I’m trying to plan a ticket to visit St. Mark’s Basilica. This seems like a silly question but here goes:
I expect it will be very hot and my husband and sons will want to wear shorts for our sightseeing. How should we handle this? Do we need to plan to change clothes somewhere while we’re out and about? I’ll have a shoulder wrap for myself.
Pants with zip-off zip-on legs do the trick.
It’s not a silly question because they are very strict at the Basilica
They could change before entry (finding a place to change could be a problem) or just suck it up and wear light weight travel pants that day. Long light weight pants won’t really be any hotter than shorts
The zip off pants legs work as well
Make sure ladies knees are covered too
I don't understand. Tourists are not running a marathon, they could dress like normal people. Till twenty years ago nobody would have dreamed of walking around a city, let alone entering a church in shorts.
It probably won’t be hot in a few weeks.
One of my favorite st. Marks photos is of my sleeveless sister, the sign concerning appropriate dress, and the scowling guard right before he prohibited her from entry..
We saw men with a lightweight scarf/wrap tied around their waists, so that their knees were covered. Don't count on the temperatures being cooler. During our visit in September, it was in the high 80s. I've seen both men and women turned away for not having shoulders and knees covered.
Long shorts below knee would work I think. We went with a lady who had a sleeveless shirt and she tied her sweater over her shoulders to cover.
How many weeks is a few weeks?
If you go in October, the weather will be cool and you won’t need shorts. The average high in October is 66.
Thanks all! We don’t own zip-off pants and I’d rather not buy new ones just for this situation, so we’ll figure out how to have them change. This will be at the end of August so I do expect it will be warm.
I wasn’t sure if St. Mark’s was one of the places that hands out paper wraps for people who need them? I have seen reference to that at other places.
@lachera I’m not quite sure what style you’re used to seeing in the summer, but it’s pretty common to see men and teenagers in shorts? Like khaki shorts or (for the kids) athletic shorts.
There weren't paper wraps in 2024 when I visited.
I've visited Italian churches in Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples, Siena, etc, etc, and the only place I've ever seen paper wraps handed out was Monreale outside Palermo, Sicily.
Women can use a light scarf or pareo to cover shoulders and/or legs above the knees. Some are very light and can be kept in your purse.
Men should not wear a tan top, but any short sleeve shirt or t-shirt will be allowed in any church. As far as shorts are concerned men’s shorts are usually down to the knees, and those are fine at any church. If your husband plans to wear speedos to roam around town, that would not be ok, although, believe it or not, I’ve seen women with bathing suit bottom at churches in Venice in July, although it wasn’t the Basilica of San Marco.. Maybe they were coming straight from the beach at the Lido.
I forgot to mention that in Florence at the Duomo I have seen also tourists wearing sports knee sleeves such as these to enter churches when the shorts did not go down to the knees. It’s perfectly acceptable as long as no skin is visible above the knee.
Thank you, @Roberto da Firenze! That’s what I was trying to understand. The guys in my family don’t wear short-shorts, but they’re not usually fully covering the knees either. Perhaps we will all bring a lightweight wrap just in case. Or maybe there’s a nearby spot where we could buy a cover if needed.
I can't imagine going to the lengths of getting paper covers or wearing some sort of sarong affair just to avoid wearing long pants going to the church. Personally, I'd just put some pants on that day. Problem solved.
No need to have long pants. If the shorts are more or less to the knee, they can go in. There will be plenty of people even with shorts above the knee. Or buy a pair knee support sleeves. I wore them (not for churches but for actual knee injury). They fit in my cargo shorts pocket and they weigh nothing. Women can wear a pareo wrap. Some are so light they fit in a pocket.
Save the concern of being denied entry and the hassle of carrying around long pants and finding somewhere to change. Just wear lightweight full length pants. Visit early or later in the day if they think they can't bear not wearing shorts.
Thank you all- really appreciate the advice! As I stated, I know it’s kind of a silly question :) But with temps in the high 80s and 90s lately, I want to be sure to balance our overall comfort with a long day of sightseeing vs the needs for this one piece of the day. And not overpacking as we’ll be traveling light on this trip.
It is only my opinion, but if the temperatures are as high as when I was in Italy a couple of weeks ago 105F and muggy) I will not to wear long pants, and there is no way I would carry a pair of long pants in a bag or backpack just for the hour or less I need to enter the Basilica. There are no changing rooms in the Basilica, it is not a Walmart or Target store. So keep your shorts and dress, and just carry a pareo wrap in a purse (for women) and a pair of knee support sleeves if your shorts are too much above the knee.
Below is a photo I found online about the interior of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican in summer. The basilica at the Vatican has by far the stricter dress code and checks. Look at what people are wearing and that will give you an idea with what is acceptable to wear.
The image below is another example of tourists wearing shorts, this time inside the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.
https://share.google/pos3YT8p9oM7C11Nm
Use the above examples as a guideline on what you can wear without Knee sleeves or pareo wraps.
