My husband takes medication for his kidneys. He's required to drink 8 glasses of water a day to flush the kidneys. Needless to say, he takes quite a few potty breaks during a day.

We are spending 3 weeks in Italy in July. A couple days in Rome and Florence, and the rest w/a rental car driving and staying in a couple Tuscan hill towns.

What is the availability of restrooms there? He's a little concerned. Do you carry a pocketful of change for pay toilets?

Is the situation different in the cities at the height of tourist season vs. smaller towns like Cortona, Volterra, etc.

Is it best to duck into a bar or cafe, rather than a tourist info center, or tourist site?

Or will it be so hot that he'll just be sweating it all away?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

I recently returned from a week's stay in Italy, with my elderly mother who also needs to take medication, drink plenty of fluids, and needs bathrooms quite frequently. What I found is that if you are not in a museum or palazzo where you can use the bathroom, just go into any bar/coffee shop, buy a wonderful cup of espresso (or anything else you like to drink) and then ask to use the bathroom. They are more than willing to do this, but ONLY if you buy something, which I think is only fair. I was witness on another trip to a very loud and angry altercation between a tourist and the owner of such a bar where she went to use the bathroom without buying anything.

I don't remember ever seeing pay toilets there, but again we never needed to look for them, using this system above.

As for the weather, Tuscany is usually brutally hot in the summer months so make sure you have a car with a/c, as well as hotel, B&B, whatever you are using.

Have a great time!!

Bars in Italy are required by law to provide a public bathroom, you don't need to buy anything but of course, it is polite to do so. I can't recall any bathrooms that had pay toilets, ones that required a coin to let you open the door, but there are many, especially at the Autogrille roadside gas station/restaurants that have an attendant that keeps the bathroom clean and gives you a towel to dry your hands. It is customary to tip the attendant with spare change. Yes, you will sweat a lot in Tuscany in July. Also, if your husband needs to restrict his sodium intake be very careful of what he is eating as Italians are used to putting MUCH more salt into their food.

We have no choice in dates, since I am there to take a class in mid-July. So, sweat, we will. I don't tolerate heat well, so it will be a challenge.

Fortunately, my husband doesn't have to restrict salt at all, nor wine, nor carbs...

I saw public coin-op pay toilets in Venice (I know this isn't quite on topic but thought I'd mention it).

Hi cupspinner, I remember at the train station in Venice needing money to get into the restroom. There was a free one but friends said that was always dirty.

Restrooms in Italy..always a problem. My DH always said. You stop at a cafe to use the restroom but of course you also buy something to drink, and than consequently later you need another restroom and so feel you need to buy another drink etc, LOL.

Do have some euro coins with you for tipping any restroom attendant.

I know this sounds gross, but I did see a product in the drug store the other day which is a portable toilet. Its basically a bag with a narrow neck and it comes with a plug to insure that it won't leak. It might be good to bring a few in case things get desperate. Its supposed to work for women as well but I am a bit skeptical.

Don't worry too much about the availability of restrooms: even the natives have to go once in a while. If anything like France, we had no difficulty whatsoever finding restrooms, even without buying something to drink, although we offered to pay for the use and were told it was not necessary. As for road trips, do what everyone else does - be "nature people" and locate a wooded area out of sight. You won't have been alone in that respect. Enjoy your trip!

There were pay toilets at the tourist information center in Lucca. In Florence I went into a department store and the restrooms were free. Also stopped at a gas/rest stop between Rome and Florence and the facilites were free.

In Siena I bought a sandwich to go at a small cafe and used the no-charge rest room.

Hi Cup,

I assume that your hubby is of the male persuasion.

One of the advantages of being a male is that, should worse come to worst, one can always walk into an alley and stand close to a wall.

>Do you carry a pocketful of change for pay toilets? <

YES.

Please don't forget that it if it is brutally hot when you are there the insensate fluid loss (seweating, evaporation) may mean that DH will actually need to increase fluid intake.

What is DH? I see it on postings, and never know to what it refers. thanks for teaching me something about web abbreviations.

Dehydrated Husband

Restrooms in Rome

All the museums

At the Vatican, on the left side of the piazza when you are facing St. Peters.

In the Forum, kind of hidden in the southwest corner among the trees.

Some churches (I seem to remember finding one at Santa Maria Maggiore on the outside (to the right around the corner.

Termini station lower level, several locations (about .70 euros ea)

All the bars. (These are not like American bars)... more like a snack bar coffee shop. NOTE: The previous posts are right about buying something but be warned that sitting down at a table will double or triple the price of a cup of coffee at most places.

I've walked in the lobby of the Marriott on Via Veneto and found the lobby restroom. Probably will work with other hotels with big lobbies.

San Gimignano
near the main gate around to the right as you face it and in the center of the town to the left up a covered street as you approach the first piazza.

Pisa, in the parking lot across the street and a little north from the entrance to the Duomo and the leaning tower.


Some small places have automatic toilet booths, put in money to open the door (These look like stainless steel boxes) Found one of these in Castellini in Chianti.

Montepulciano
On the right as you enter the town, I think.

Dehydrated husband -- too funny.

Ira said what I was thinking. With all the discussion here about doing things like the natives do, peeing on a wall seems pretty obvious if you want to fit right in.

1. If I had a Euro for every time I saw a man relieving himself in Europe -- by the roadside, by the curb, by the shore -- I could have paid for our vacation.

2. As my father always said, it's a very handy thing to take on a picnic.

LOL SeaUrchin!! Too funny for sure, giggle.

cupspinner, with the heat and humidity one can get dehydrated very quickly. I did one very hot day in June in Florence, felt very ill. So do always have bottled water with you.

You both will be fine and everything will fall into place once your are there. And like the fellows here said... well you know "when in Rome".

McDonald's highest, best calling is to use those golden arches as a beacon of relief to the weary traveler in Europe.

And you don't have to buy anything.

SeaUrchin-agreed-too funny!

Rule One - Never neglect an opportunity.

McDonald's need be credited for raising Europe's public restroom standards. They also have helped to eliminate 'comfort station' charges.

Puzzle. Opera houses have an oversupply of male facilities and a shortage of female ones. Why?

Now, Major malls all have adequate toilets. They include: Female, Male, Handicapped/Disabled and those equipped for baby changing.

London mystery solved. I always wondered why the walls and sidewalks outside Victoria Station were wet and we had no rain.