giggles36kd

Oh my gosh, I just read a thread in another post that this is so! Can someone tell me what cities require me to pay to pee and any tips to avoid it? My nightmare is since I'm traveling with my son (who I swear must "christen" every bathroom of every resteraunt/store we go to) I'll be broke by day 3! I did NOT budget for this....LOL!

Travelnut

There are a lot of toilets (not 'bathrooms' in Europe) that are staffed by workers that keep paper stocked and sinks and stalls clean, so that's worth a coin to me. If you're a customer in a restaurant, you won't need to pay. Fast-food joints may give a paying customer a token or a code to enter the toilets. Budget 0.20€ per 'pee' if you must factor it in.

rkkwan

Actually, it's more like 0.30€ or 20p in the UK.

These are the ones at train or major subway stations.

In Paris, there are automatic toilets on the street. Last time I use one, it's free.

cigalechanta

The street toilets are now FREE....thank goodness. I must have used them a dozen times

cigalechanta

In Paris, sorry.

simpsonc510

I don't think you can say that you will have to pay in any particular cities in Europe. It just depends on where you are. As has been said, you will not have to pay in a restaurant. I don't believe I've paid in any of the department store toilets. DH and I usually do have to pay when we stop at a rest area along the highways in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

Just make sure you always have an assortment of coins! Just in case...

Susan33

In Turkey, you pay. Even some restaurants charged. It isn't much, but I think about the person that is sitting in those restrooms and doing the cleaning. The restrooms are usually very clean, and I think it is worth the cost.

janisj

There are free toilets, there are pay toilets, and there are staffed toilets where they are "free" but you are expected to tip the attendant.

It will be obvious which are which when you get there -- and pay or tip toilets are wonderful. I will usually hunt for them instead of free ones because they are (usually) cleaner and the supplies are well stocked.

luvtotravel

It sounds as if you have not been to Europe before. Toilets are part of the adventure!

beaupeep

The pay toilets with the attendants at the foot of the Jardins des Tuileries near the Louvre are spotless - cleaner than my house I have to say and I never resent handing over that 1 Euro piece (or whatever it is, can't really remember), because I know how clean it is. Worth every centime!

djkbooks

You are not paying to pee, rather for a place to do this that is staffed and spotlessly clean and stocked with paper.

This is not specific to particular cities, only some rest rooms.

Then, there's Harrod's in London, where if you haven't a receipt for a purchase you must pay.

Believe me, in Russia, we were thrilled whenever we had to "pay to pee" - well worth the rubles, and then some...

And, payment is nominal. Check your destination and the recommended pocket change to have on hand in case the rest room you wander into requires a coin...

If there is an attendant (as opposed to a coin machine on the door), sometimes the attendant will excuse you, other times not.

In Brugges, I climbed a two story staircase of short stairs, only to find at the top that payment was required and my husband had all the money. I pleaded with the attendant that my husband was watching out things at the table, would be right up after me, and would pay for both of us. She said, "Sure, everybody tells me that." When I returned to our table and described the climb to the rest rooms, my husband declared that he did not need to go. But, I got the appropriate change from him and climbed up again to pay that attendant.

MonicaRichards

Actually, if you have a small child or are pregnant you don't have to pay in Harrod's either.

twoflower

In Turkey we had to pay as we came out. Having already done what we went in to do, I don't know what they'd have done if we had pleaded "no money"!

In most of Europe toilets are available free at cafes - so long as you're a customer. We would stop for a coffee, have a pee, drive on, but of course the coffee meant we needed another pee soon, which meant stopping for more coffee ...and so on...and on!!

Trophywife007

I opened a charge account at Harrod's just so we could use the "facilities" but the last time I was there, they were free anyway. Darn... just when I got into the club.

quokka

Germany:

Toilets in restaurants are and have to be free for guests. (Not sure about certain fast food chains like McD.)
Some places require a little money from passers-by who come in to use the WC but don't consume anything in the restaurant.

Department stores: There is a person taking care of the facilities, and usually they put up a plate and ask for a little money. It's entirely up to you how much you put on the plate. Decide according to the state of the WC. If it's clean, anything in the range of 20-50 cents is all right. If it's too dirty, I don't pay.

Road houses on highways: schould be free or have the plate system. In former times they had those doors with locks that worked only after a coin was inserted, but these have more or less disappeared.

Train stations: Expensive. 50 cents are normal, in some stations even more. The most expensive one I've come across so far was Berlin Friedrichstraße: 2 Euros. That's a rip-off.

Museums, public buildings and sights: should be free.

Public toilets in cities: are either dirty or cost money, about 50 cents.

hetismij

Holland toilets in restaurants and Cafes are free to guests, non guest can use them for a small fee. There are very few public toilets, it is normal to go into a cafe or department store (whre you will also have to pay). McD's loos are free, as are loos at Motorway sevices. In Train stations you pay. Usually you will find a saucer on a table for you to drop your coins in.

wally34949

I paid 1,000,000 Bucks in Turkey to pee, but I got the full service--wash hands, flush toilet. That was a few years ago and they have since changed their currency.

In Finland, McDonalds was charging 1 Euro to pee--that's $1.25 in U.S. money. That's an expensive pee. I wouldn't take the family there for a family pee.

I remember walking by the manager at McDonalds in Paris with a tray of purchased food and said, "Toilet?" and he replied, "Their broken."

I remember watching a mother as her young son took a pee outside next to a grocery store in Stockholm. Look at the money their a saving.

Unfortunately, some cities will smell like pee. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in Europe, but the smell. They blame it on the British party animals.

And don't be surprised that there is a lady--always a lady--who cleans the floor as you are trying to pee. You may need to move your feet a little as she cleans the floor as you stand at the urinal.

Also, on most trains, you can not use the toilet on the train until the train starts moving. Can you imagine a big $HIT on the train track in the middle of the station? Yes, everything just lands on the track. If you look closly, you will see toilet paper on the tracks.

So, go on the plane before you get off, go at the airport while you are waiting for the baggage claim, go at the train station or on the train while it is moving, visit a department store downtown, or visit a restaurant for a free pee, or just fork over the coins.

daveesl

While we were strolling around London we noticed a man that was obviously relieving himself in what I originally thought to be a phone booth. I then realized it was kind of an "outdoor john", without doors.

I thought this was a really neat idea, then the wife brought up the comment "what about the women?" Maybe there are women specific versions, too.

Dave

wally34949

I can save a lot of money in Europe if I don't drink sodas. First, they are more expensive than wine and second, they make you pee more since most of the soda is not used by your system--it just passes through.

Encourage your children to drink water, not sodas in Europe. And tap water is fine in Western Europe.

Dukey

Wally: Sometimes it can be the caff eine content in sodas which also stimulates urination.