NB24

Can anyone tell me what ladies are required to wear at the Vatican. Are long pants or skirts appropriate?

kayd

In St Peter's (and some other churches in Italy), no bare knees, midriffs, or shoulders is the general rule. A just-above-the-knee skirt should pass muster; slacks and longer skirts are always fine. Keep a large scarf or light shawl in the tote bag to wrap around shoulders or midriff if your style is a bit more uncovered.

VolGreg

Remember, The Vatican is a church. They have a dress code and are very strict about their riles.

Don't wear skin tight tank tops that show a navel. I think a dress is good enough if it is below the knee. I would wear a blouse or shirt with a collar WITH SLEVES. Don't wear shorts.

Greg

AR

And they are VERY strict on it!!

kayd

Oops -- meant to add that the above general rule applies to men as well as women (but not to young children).

Chatters

The Rule of Thumb is: Dress Conservatively. There are long pants and skirts that are conservative and allowed. It seems very difficult nowadays to find a shirt that is not tight and revealing. If that happens to be what you will be wearing, bring with you a cardigan/jacket so that you can have flexibility and also show a measure of respect for the place you are visiting. I did see an attendant lady at the St. Peter's Cathedral turning around a young lady that was wearing a halter top. The baffling thing to me was that she had a tan jacket with her and refused to placed it on her shoulders. Foolish refusal, if you ask me....

lesliec1

You do not need a shirt or dress with a collar. Any kind of shirt is fine as long as it's not bare midriff--but if it's sleeveless, you must cover your shoulders. We saw tour guides wearing spaghetti-strap lycra tops wrap a scarf around their shoulders and tuck the ends into the top of their shirt just before entering. Shorts, skirts or dresses that reach to the top of the knee are okay, longer pants and capris are fine. Men need to wear shorts to the knee also.

Grinisa

No, shorts, even to the knee, are not allowed on either men or women. Some of St. Peter's clothing police are stricter than others but I would not risk getting turned away by wearing any kind of shorts. The rules also apply to children older than age seven or so.

lesliec1

Sorry, but we were just there and they had signs posted outside San Pietro with pictures showing men and women wearing clothing to the knee as being okay but shorter-than-the-knee shorts and skirts as being not okay. (unless something has changed in the past 6 weeks...)Of course, very few women's shorts are knee-length because that's not stylish. Usually they are shorter or are capri or clamdigger length. My very-adult-looking teenage daughter wore capris with no problem. A lot of it is attitude. We saw guards hassling people whose dress was "borderline" and who seemed to have an attitude of defiance or disrespect, whereas the guards didn't bother others who maybe had a skirt on the short side, but had wrapped a scarf around their shoulders or put on a jacket and showed an attitude of respect. Also, some guards are stricter than others, and some churches are stricter than others. On our trip, guards at San Pietro were much more "lenient" than at San Marco.

Alec

Remember that as the Vatican Museums include the Sistine Chapel, which is a place of worship, the same dress code as the Basilica applies.

traveldawg

MEN: No matter what you read, do not wear shorts to the Vatican! I was told it was "okay" if a certain length. It was over 100 degrees out, so I wore shorts that were the "correct" length. Trouble is, the Vatican guard did not know that and did not read Fodor's web site.

I had to go to the Catholic shop across St Peter's and pay $12.00 for a pair of paper pants with ROMA in red down one leg. They split in the butt the first time I leaned down to take a photo.

My wife still laughs about that one. Just wear your khaki traveling pants and save the money....no matter what advice you get here.