Iran, Denmark, and UAE

3) Iran

In Iran tattooing is seen as unpopular by the mainstream culture.

The Guardian reports that, “the authorities strongly reject [tattoos] as a Western phenomenon harmful to Iranian values.”

As with the aforementioned places, swimming pools will often display signs forbidding tattooed people to enter.

There are underground tattoo artists and young people do still get tattoos, but it is against the prevailing culture and you’d be best advised to keep your tattoos concealed on a visit here.

4) Denmark

Denmark has, since 1966, officially banned artists from giving face tattoos and tattoos on the neck and hands.

Having said that, you will still see people out in the streets of Copenhagen with examples of these tattoos.

It's an anachronistic law that the Danes don't bother to enforce anymore, and many tattoo artists feel it should be updated to reflect modern attitudes.

5) United Arab Emirates

In the UAE tattoos are not particularly popular, especially if they depict religious symbols or imagery. There are regulations in place that restrict who can work as a tattoo artist, and the industry is held to very high health and safety standards.

Any public display of tattoos is probably not the greatest idea, so best to keep tattoos covered up on a trip here.

There are places where tattoos are legal-ish

All of this is a lesson in cultural understanding and sensitivity. It can be easy to assume that the prevalence of tattoos among Brits (one in four people have ‘em) is symptomatic of a universal shift towards the acceptance of tattoo art. But there are many different points of view in the world and tattoos mean different things to different people in different places.

We absolutely love tattoo art but we also love world travel. So best tread carefully and respectfully if you want to enjoy both.