Someone please tell me what the issues are regarding wearing shorts in Europe? <BR> <BR>My wife and I are headed to Germany next month. In preparation, we met last night with our friend who recently moved to the states to teach. <BR> <BR>She had been a lifelong resident in East germany. When we asked her about wearing shorts, she did not understand what we were referring to. We explained that a travel book and several individuals on here, made comments suggesting that it was not proper to wear shorts in Germany. <BR> <BR>She indicated that it was total nonsense. She states that Germans wears short like anyone else, weather permitting of course. <BR> <BR>SO TELL ME PLEASE...WHAT AM I MISSING?

It seems that men and women in Europe are less likely to wear shorts except when at beaches. This seems to be especially common in the large cities where the women (local) are dressed for work. Ditto for tennis shoes. The idea of dressing up a little is to blend in better with the locals and look less like a tourist. And that many churches will not permit anyone to enter with shorts. However, on a recent trip, I noticed that in "tourist" areas, shorts were very common. But so were dresses, skirts, and long pants no matter how hot it was. I also noticed that in Paris on weekend days, the dress was more casual with more shorts, and tennis shoes on locals near my hotel.

Chris, I don't think you are missing a thing! If you are going to Germany, and you asked someone from Germany about shorts, I think you got the right answer! Wear what makes you happy and have a great time.

Both replies are correct. We have been to Germany several times and wore shorts when the weather dictated it. Keep in mind that all shorts are not equal! Some restaurants, museums and churchs may frown on skimpier attire. We generally do not wear short shorts and have never encountered a problem even in Venice where shorts were said to be frowned upon.

I live in the north east of the Netherlands about 30 minutes from the German border. I wear shorts, pants, tennis shoes, clogs (clompen) and very orange football shirts (Dutch national team color). I have to say that you won't get many stares unless you try to get into the symphony with these items on.

I believe this is actually less a country-specific question than it is an urban/rural distinction. It has been my observation that in many large cities in both Europe and North America, shorts are generally not worn as much as they are in less urban areas like the suburbs or the countryside. You will not see many adults (except for tourists) wearing shorts in any major cities of the world -- whether you're in Manhattan, downtown Washington DC, Paris, London, or Frankfurt. You will, however, see lots of people -- both locals and tourists -- wearing shorts while hiking in the Shenandoah or in the Canadian Rockies or in the Alps. That does not mean you can't wear shorts while visiting Munich or San Francisco -- of course you can -- it just means that most people will assume you're a tourist. If you don't mind that, go ahead. Aside from some churches and nicer restaurants, you won't be denied entrance to many places just because you're wearing shorts. I personally do not feel comfortable wearing shorts anymore when travelling to any major city in the world. I did when I was younger, but now I want to be more presentable and know that I can go anywhere I want to and feel that I'm dressed appropriately and will fit in. If it's really hot out I wear cotton khaki-colored cropped pants instead of shorts, with a light-colored cotton knit short-sleeved shirt. As long as your knees and shoulders are covered you should be able to get in almost anywhere. I still wear shorts for exercise or anything outdoorsy, outside of a major metropolitan area -- just not for museum-going, shopping, restaurants, churches, etc.

I live in Munich and I have to say that lately I haven't seen many people wearing shorts. But then again, it has been cold and rainy here for weeks! On the rare occassion that it's actually warm here, people jump on the opportunity to wear their summer clothes (shorts included). You'll only look like a tourist if you wear shorts when it's 60 degrees and raining. Even then, so what! There are hoards of tourists over here.

I agree, Germans wear shorts if it gets hot. In a city, people often can't wear shorts because of their work. But if it is 30 degrees Celcius, nobody in his right mind would criticise a tourist wearing shorts in a normal restaurant or museum. Fancy restaurants, operas and maybe churches (not sure) aren't the places to wear them but otherwise you're okay. <BR> <BR>

Actually, I live in Manhattan, and it's more a weather thing than and urban thing. Plenty of nontourist adults wear shorts when it's hot. I saw MANY people wearing shorts on my way home from work yesterday. Yes, they were all students or retired people, but it was a work day. Though I wouldn't go out on a Saturday night in shorts, I wear them all of the time on weekend days in the summer. I suspect it is similar in Europe.

For Pete's sake, wear whatever you want. <BR> <BR>The only problem with Europeans and shorts is that they see to have some sort of obsession with those nasty 70s short-short running-type shorts, or seem to think that if you wear shorts, you don't have to worry about matching any part of your outfit with any other part. <BR> <BR>In my experience living in three different Europeans countries for a total of 7 years is that Europeans typically dress better than Americans, until the warm weather comes along. Then, WATCH OUT! The traditional black socks and dress shoes with shorts, mixing striped shirts with patterned shorts, wearing shorts that are MUCH too small (this is the main offense--I can't figure it out), wearing sport shorts with blouses/men's dress shirts--the list is endless. There's also the flabby people in Speedos fiasco on the beach, but that's a whole other topic. <BR> <BR>So if you're wearing khaki shorts and a polo shirt, you're miles ahead of the game to begin with.

It seems like there is a fair number of guys in Europe who wear nothing but black Levi's jeans. And they stay on even as the temperature approaches 35 C. <BR> <BR>At the same time, a lot of American guys have a thing about not wearing shorts, ever (my brother-in-law, for instance) . . . maybe they think it's a sissy thing or something. <BR> <BR>So, another observation that there are other factors involved besides whether or not the person is a tourist.

Hi Chris -- <BR> <BR>I wear shorts and short combat skirts (Diesel) on the beach and on holiday. <BR> <BR>There's no way I'd wear shorts 'in town' . . . in Paris, London or Rome. <BR>HTH!

one word: lederhosen <BR> <BR>auf wiedertypin'

I always thought the same thing Hans. I did not understand we people asserted that short were not appropriate in Germany. <BR> <BR>Thank you to all for your comments....Chris