The Trick Rick Steves Warns Tourists About When Paying To Use The Restroom In Europe

Avid travelers do a lot of research before taking off on a vacation to Europe. You may have certain restaurants you want to try, tickets for the sites you plan to hit, and a list of differing customs to keep in mind. What you might not be thinking about is the differences in European bathroom culture and rules. For instance, you should avoid flushing toilet paper in Greece unless you want to be embarrassed, and many public toilets in Italy don't have seats. Travel pro Rick Steves has another restroom tip you really should know before you visit a public toilet in Europe: make sure to have change with you to tip the bathroom attendant. While some public toilets charge you a few coins to even get inside, others have an employee who maintains the bathroom and can help you with anything you need.

Steves says that while you may find a free toilet, someone may be sitting there, selling you toilet paper, or you may see a tip dish that you're expected to drop coins in. On his website, he cautions, "Many attendants leave only bills and too-big coins in the tray to bewilder the full-bladdered tourist. The local equivalent of about 50 cents is plenty." While you may be one of those people who prides themselves on being cash-free, it's still something you need in many places in Europe. Keep any change you get handy because when you've gotta go, you've gotta go.

Don't be surprised if you're shown a bit of an attitude when you encounter a bathroom attendant in Europe. You're not really tipping for the attendant's cheery demeanor. Steves explains, "The keepers of Europe's public toilets have earned a reputation for crabbiness. ... Humor them, understand them, and carry some change so you can leave them a coin or two." This is not a pleasant job, and you can always leave a bill if you don't have coins. Another thing you may be surprised by is that some of the attendants or people cleaning the bathrooms may not be the same gender as the sign on the door. In fact, it's common for the handwashing areas or entire bathrooms to be gender-neutral.

There are other differences you may notice about European bathrooms. There may be a pull string to flush the toilet rather than a handle. You could also see a button with a small side and a large side or two separate buttons. The smaller one is for liquid waste, and the larger one is for solid waste. Finally, you may see squat toilets where there is a hole in the floor and two markers for your feet. Seriously, you might want to start doing some squats to build up your leg muscles for these toilets. You'll also want to bring tissues, which is a top-tier hack tourists will need to know for a vacation to Italy.