What to wear to temples, mosques and churches: nine dress codes

Nine heavily visited religious sites publish their own dress rule, and one outfit meets all nine: loose trousers or a skirt to the ankle, a loose long-sleeved top that is not see-through, a scarf, and shoes that come off easily. The details differ from door to door. The Sagrada Família draws its line at mid-thigh, the Vatican at the knee, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque at the ankle and the wrist. More guides on what to wear and the rules behind it are in travel clothing, part of the gear section.

Each rule below is the site's own, read on its official page on 13 October 2026. Clothing that the law regulates in the street, on the beach or in a government office is a separate subject: see dress laws for tourists.

Read the table by column. The shoulder column is nearly uniform: eight of the nine sites name sleeveless tops or bare shoulders, and the Sagrada Família names see-through clothing and swimwear instead. The leg column is where the sites part, from mid-thigh to the ankle.

The staff at the entrance apply the rule, and two sites spell out what follows. The Sagrada Família says failure to comply could result in refusal of admission or expulsion, and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre reserves the right to deny access to anyone in breach of its code.

The Vatican publishes its rule twice, once for the basilica and once for the museums. The museums' version is the more exact of the two and names the basilica as well, so it is the one to dress for on a day in Rome that takes in both.

St Peter's Basilica

The basilica lists this among its rules for the common good, next to the requests to keep phones silent and not to eat or drink inside. It names no hem length. The museums' rule does.

Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

The rule is the first item in the museums' useful information for visitors. Shorts that reach the knee meet the wording; shorts that stop above it do not. The same paragraph extends the requirement to visible personal objects and to visible personal signs that may offend Catholic morality, the Catholic religion and common decency, and it gives tattoos as its example.

Sagrada Família

The basilica's rules and regulations give the hat ban as a safety measure. The list sets a hem length and bans swimwear and see-through fabric; shoulders are not on it. The festivities line also covers decorations designed to draw attention, which matters to anyone arriving in Barcelona with a group in celebration outfits.

Both mosques run visits for tourists, and their published rules differ in reach. One sets lengths for sleeves, hems and hair by gender. The other gives a single list for everyone.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

The center's visitor code of conduct also asks visitors to refrain from excessive jewelry, heavy makeup and bright colors. Its FAQ is shorter and asks more of men: long, loose-fitting, ankle-length clothes for women and men, and a headscarf for women. Ankle-length trousers satisfy both versions.

The code makes tour operators responsible for giving their groups clothing that meets the dress code. An independent visitor to Abu Dhabi should arrive already dressed for it.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca

The foundation prints the rule, in French, under the tour times on its guided visits page. Your shoes stay in your hand for the whole tour, so wear socks you are happy to walk in. Tour slots and fees are in the guide to Hassan II Mosque tickets and the visit.

Three Buddhist sites and one Hindu complex follow. All four name shorts, and all four name bare shoulders or sleeveless tops.

Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok

The list is on the palace's practical information page, which gives the reason: the palace is a place of reverence for the Thai people. The ticket covers Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, inside the same compound. This is the longest list of the nine and the only one to name torn and tight trousers, which takes in ripped jeans and leggings. Dress for this list on the day you visit the palace in Bangkok.

Angkor

Angkor Enterprise, the official ticket office for the archaeological park, publishes the visitor code of conduct. The same code discourages high heels inside the temples, along with backpacks, tripods and umbrellas with sharp tips. The UK's travel advice for Cambodia adds the consequence: you may be refused admission to religious sites, including Angkor Wat, in skirts or shorts above the knee. The base for the temples is Siem Reap.

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy

Both points are in the temple's visitor FAQ. For Buddhist temples across Sri Lanka, the UK's travel advice gives the general form: cover your legs and shoulders, and take off shoes and hats. The temple stands in Kandy.

Swaminarayan Akshardham, Delhi

The complex in Delhi sets this out under "Dress code" on its visitor information page. It is the only one of the nine that names the back and the upper arms, so a backless or cap-sleeved top falls short here even though it has sleeves.

For a temple or shrine that has no rule on its own page, government travel advice gives the working version. The UK's advice for Laos says shoulders and knees should be covered at any temple or religious site, for men and women. For Nepal it says to avoid shorts and sleeveless tops in temples and other holy places and to remove shoes before entering certain ones. For Vietnam it says appropriate clothing usually means covered shoulders and knees, and that signs outside religious and cultural sites often give the dress code.

All three sit on the line that the Vatican Museums, the Hassan II Mosque and Angkor draw: shoulders covered, knees covered. Use it as the default for a site you have not looked up in Laos, Nepal or Vietnam, and read the board at the gate.

Build the outfit from the most demanding line in each column. For legs that is the ankle, set by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Ankle length also clears the knee lines at the Vatican, the Hassan II Mosque, Angkor and Akshardham, and the mid-thigh line in Barcelona. Make the trousers or skirt loose and untorn: the mosque in Abu Dhabi rules out tight-fitting clothes and the Grand Palace rules out tight and torn pants.

For the top, the most demanding line is a sleeve to the wrist, which the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque sets for women. The fabric has to be opaque for the mosque, the Sagrada Família and the Grand Palace. The neckline has to cover the chest for the Hassan II Mosque and cannot be low-cut for the Vatican or Akshardham. Leave slogan shirts at the hotel: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque asks visitors to avoid clothing with slogans, and Akshardham bans offensive language or imagery.

A trip with no mosque on it needs less. A T-shirt with sleeves and trousers or a skirt that covers the knee satisfy the wording at the Vatican, the Sagrada Família, the Grand Palace, Angkor and the Temple of the Tooth. Shorts that reach the knee pass at the Vatican, the Sagrada Família and Angkor only, because the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Tooth and the Hassan II Mosque name shorts outright. Akshardham asks for a hem below the knee and covered upper arms, so check the sleeve length there.

A scarf earns its place for one rule, the hair covering at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. None of the nine pages says a scarf draped over a sleeveless top is accepted in place of sleeves, so pack a top that has its own.

Three of the nine sites have a shoe rule. Shoes come off at the Hassan II Mosque and stay with you in a bag, they are handed in at the Temple of the Tooth, and they must stay on at the Sagrada Família, which admits nobody barefoot. Angkor discourages high heels. Slip-on shoes and a pair of socks handle all four.

Hats come off inside St Peter's, the Vatican Museums and the Sagrada Família, where the ban applies to the nave and the museum and has exceptions for religious, health and belief-related reasons. A sun hat that folds into a bag solves the problem of where to put it.

Only one of the nine writes a head covering into its rule: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, for women, as full hair coverage. None of the nine sets a head covering for men.

Two sites say clothing is available on arrival. The Temple of the Tooth says appropriate clothing can be obtained at its entrances, and Akshardham sells sarongs at ₹100. The other seven pages mention no loan or sale at the entrance, so plan as if there is none.

The cost of getting it wrong is the ticket, which is the reason to dress before leaving the hotel. The Sagrada Família accepts exchange or refund requests only up to 48 hours before the visit, and the Grand Palace says in its ticket FAQ that online tickets cannot be refunded or moved to another date.