we stayed at the sonnesta club and some people went topless but i didn't think it was as openly done as say spain etc. down on the beach i only saw one person topless and one person who accidently popped out. ha ha ha.

all i keep hearing from people who have been is that goin topless is not advisable. apparently you are frowned upon if you even lie on your front and undo your straps! i too think tan lines suck but usually stick to bikini's without straps. was even advised to buy a swimsuit instead of a bikini but when i was enquiring in some questions i posed on the forum last week, was told that as it is a really tourist like place, all beachwear is genuinely accepted. i'm expecting i'll have to cover up clothes wise the whole time but such is the nature of a muslim country. I cannot comment on egypt yet as going out in 2 weeks, but have been to tunisia and get the impression it's the same kind of outlook.

Thanks for that.

I went to Cuba last year and they were fine about going topless, in fact the men encouraged it. Sometimes you did feel a little uncomfortable as the men gawped and sneered alot, but luckily I have no shame!

Anyone would think these men had never seen boobs!

So, does that mean that if you go out and about outside of your hotel you have to cover up, as obviously it will be extremely hot so i'm likely to wear vest top/ strapless top and a skirt and flip flops, is that okay????

when we went i never gave it a thought about what to wear. most of the men are more interested into getting you to buy something rather than looking at what you are wearing. on saying that though i did catch two men trying very "discreetly" to look down my low cut top. sorry but at my age i was flattered. lots of women wore bikinis to the beach some layed on their tums and undid their tops but you need to assess your area of beach. if noone else is doing it would you feel comfortable? the only time i would really think about what i was wearing is if i went to say cairo or luxor.

to be fair, i'm always inclined to push my luck too as if i'm in a country with weather warmer than the uk it's obvious that i'd want to take full advantage of it. however, i'm hoping to go to the pyramids so think i'll take some stuff to cover up with as a matter of respect. on the beach etc and by the pool i guess i will suss out depending on the vibe!

Cheers,

I mean, if we were to go anywhere out of the resort or out for a meal I would cover up more, but its more likely I will be lounging by the pool and I refuse to get strap marks!

I dont actually go until July, but i'm so excited!

well i feel sorry for you having to wear any clothes in july as i've heard it's sooooo hot then you actually cook yourself if you sunbathe (it wouldn't stop me though!!!)

in 2 weeks time i think i'll have the weather slightly more bearable but hopefully still good for soaking up the rays.
hope you have a great time!
(on the strap marks issue - i used to be a dancer and we were really told off if we had white marks (sometimes even for having a tan too!) so i hate them as much as you do as they make you look rubbish. good luck with the fight against them!

I'm really sorry to be a 'wet banket' here but I think the idea of going topless in a Muslim country is very distasteful! It shows a marked lack of respect for the laws and religious beliefs of the country but the locals will not say anything! They will just remember the act and treat other western women with the same lack of respect that you are showing them! I have been to Egypt many times and, yes, I have seen women sunbathing topless round the hotel pools BUT it did bring forth a lot of adverse comments from other guests and hotel workers alike. Can't you think of another way to get rid of the strap marks? e.g. a sunbed?

Yes strap marks are tedious and not aesthetically pleasing.... but hey this is a muslim country and we should respect their way of thinking and their cultural differences.

Although it is a touristy place and some tourists do go topless I think we should stop and think that this is not the right thing to do in Egypt.

As a Spaniard who have lived in the U.K. for 25 years I can assure you I encounter cultural differences all the time, even between Spain and England. So it is not surprising to find men in Cuba looking at women's breasts as if they have not done so before.

It is up to us as individuals to make our own decisions about these things but if we decide to visit another country we should at least respect and be aware of their religion and way of living.

Luchy

just to clarify - i have no intention of going topless in egypt. i get uncomfortable from the attention i get in swimwear but i'm not exactly going to wear a coat on the beach am i? if its not respectful then of couse i'll do my best not to offend.

Well that was the point I was trying to get at.

I dont think going topless is distasteful at all, but I wanted to put the feelers out and grasp whether it is accepted or if I would be causing some gross misconduct if I walk out to the pool on my first morning and whip my top off.

Obviously I would prefer to go topless as trying to get rid of the tan lines when I get home from my holiday would cost me about £200 in sunbed usage, but in the same instance i would'nt want to offend anyone, especially not in a country that I dont know the culture very well.

Have a lovely holiday Bec, hope you have fun, if you have any tit bits or things you think I should know, let me know!

xxxxxx

Topless... in Egypt! You have got to be joking... would you do that in this country?

Well no, but I dont actually have a swimming pool or live near a beach in my country so I dont tend to get the opportunity!

I dont see why everyone is getting so argumentative about it, if you actually read my first post, I was asking whether it is accepted, simply as courtesy as Egypt isn't a country i've visited before. I've visited various other countries where it is totally acceptable, but being a muslim country I understood Egypt would have different rules!

wow! as Mrs Merton would say "lets have a heated debate" its really hard to go abroad and please everyone. as i said before at my hotel, which was mainly italian, people did bathe topless. noone seemed to pay any attention. if anyone was offended they didnt show it. at a restaurant we went to the waiter was not happy that i was drinking beer. i'm sorry but the wine was yuck! i have to say as well that the german man on the beach only two sunbeds away from us decided to get changed. he went topless and also bottomless. my daughter and her friends nearly died i couldnt stop looking and the security guard who was only sitting a stones throw away certainly didnt look offended.

Well, then yes I am willing to go topless in Egypt, providing it doesnt offend, and I dont get the armed police dragging me off to prison for showing too much flesh.

no, i thought too that LD meant would you do it in this country? meaning the UK. again, we don't really have the right climate methinks! is there such a thing as a nudist beach in egypt? just curious. people need to remember what linzy was asking in the first place

I'm going to Sharm in late July.

Although nobody has actually said it's forbidden I personally would feel very uncomfortable going topless knowing that it may cause offence.

I'll opt for a strapless bikini top

Hi Linzi

I think by the sounds of it you will get the odd person who will go topless in Sharm but as you will see when you go it is a very muslim country and if you havent been to a country like this before you will notice a difference i.e local woman covered from head to toe in robes only showing there eyes.

I have only been to Luxor and Cairo before so cannot comment on Sharm but noone was topless at our pool or on our cruise boat.Also i tended to wear longer shorts and full t-shirts not skimpy tops and very short shorts when walking through the town as i felt more comfortable among the muslin woman. I feel you have to respect their religion.

I would leave the hotpants and skimpy vest tops for the pool area and i personnaly wouldnt go topless cause i think it attracts unwanted attention from people who are not used to our way of living.
You may also be sunbathing beside severel Egyptian women or Isreali women who are on holiday and lying on a lounger covered head to toe.

This does not mean we have to walk about like muslim woman covered from head to toe just a bit more considerate depending on where we are going.

Sorry to ramble on
Debs

well now youve decided youll probably find that at your hotel its not the done thing anyway.
ps if youre interested i certainly would never go topless, if i did now that would have offended but for the wrong reasons noone apart from my hubby wants to see those things hanging around my toes ! ha ha ha.
pps the mrs merton thing was only a joke sorry born and bred in good old essex
pps just read the message from djanej. certainly respect the cities of cairo and luxor i believe these have more of a religious feel to them. in naama bay i never once saw an egyptian woman and only saw one egyptian boy the rest were all men. every single woman i saw was a tourist it may have been down to the time i went i dont know.