Sorry to ask such a dumb question - we will be travelling through some small hill towns in Tuscany and was wondering if public restrooms are available - if not what do you do???

Hi Klc,

>...if public restrooms are available - if not what do you do???<

Cross your legs.

In most tourist town there is a public restroom. If there is none, any bar is bound by law to give you access to their own restroom. This should be done for free, but some require either a small payment (usually 20-30 euro) or to have at least a glass of water. In any case, drinking a coffee or a fuit juice will make you more welcome: it is up to you to chose between sticking strictly to the law and require free access of the toilets (I do it: ask for the restroom, if they address me to it right away I have a drink, if they do not, I remind them of the law, if they still insist on me buyng at least a coffee... Well, I guess some time I will just pee in front of their door... è_&eacute or go the easy way and first ask to be served.

Alice, I don't think you mean 20-30 euro! Obviously, the amount quoted is the euro equivalent of "cents."

Every town will have at least 1 cafe/bar with a toilette. However you may be SOL on Sundays and using the bushes

At the parking lot just outside San Gimignano there was a cool public restroom (well, as cool as a public restroom can be, I guess). After you flush and walk out the door, the restroom is sprayed with water to clean itself for the next person.

If this isn't the most important but poorly covered topic in international travel, I don't know what is.

But help is nearby - http://www.thebathroomdiaries.com

#^_^#
20-30 eurocents!!!

You had to know that a poster named GardyLOO would know the answer to a bathroom question.

And remember - your aren't resting (Restroom) or taking a bath (Bathroom)

You will be looking/asking for a toilette, since I assume a toilet is what you'll want.

We never encountered any hostility about using the toilet in a cafe even if we did not purchase anything. If there is no public restroom, the establishments we went into seemed to accept that they were de facto the public toilet. Sometimes when we asked a shop keeper for the public toilet we were directed to the local cafe or bar.

We had the same experience as Marilyn, never encountering any hostility about using the toilet in a cafe even if we didn't buy anything. However, I usually bought something anyway, if only a soft drink, as it's usually something I'd end up buying anyway and I felt I might was well buy it from a merchant who came to the rescue.

In our three days of driving around Tuscany, I don't think we ever had to resort to lurking behind a cypress tree.

Always keep some loose change in your pocket as well as a small package of kleenex. There were a few times we had no change and were cursed by the cleaning lady ("estupido!!!&quot. Not all bathrooms have toilet paper. If you can find a McDonald's they will have a public restroom. Sometimes we would order a drink and then use the restroom. NEVER pass up a chance to use a restroom because you might not find one available when you need it. Most people understand toilette or wc.

I was able to pick up city maps from official tourist bureaus in Venice and Florence that had locations of public toilets conveniently marked on the maps. Believe the locations of the tourist offices is mentioned in Rick Steves' book.