American Tourists Are Bound To Notice These Annoying Differences About European Tap Water

If you've eaten out in America recently, whether it was a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City or the last surviving Yogi Bear Honey Fried Chicken restaurant in South Carolina, you've probably gotten at least one thing for free: water. White there's no national regulations mandating it, the norm is that you will always get a glass of tap water. In many restaurants around the country you don't even have to ask for it — a tall glass of water gets dropped off at your table as soon as you sit down. Usually, there's even an ice cube or two bobbing around in the glass. That's not the case in Europe.

Travelers are often surprised to find that, not only are they not given water by default when they sit down for a nice meal in a European restaurant, if they do order water, they won't be given that familiar glass of cold tap water. Instead, they will likely get a very small, room temperature glass or a bottle of still or sparkling water, which they will have to pay for like any other drink they ordered during their meal. How the request for water is received will also vary from restaurant to restaurant and country to country across Europe. Posters on Reddit's r/solotravel have reported a range of responses, with some places literally refusing to serve tap water even if it's specifically requested.

If you know that you're going to feel thirsty while you're exploring Europe, you may want to bring a water bottle along with you, and if you want it cold, choose an insulated one. In general, the tap water in Europe is considered completely safe to drink — so why don't restaurants serve it? The truth is, while Americans find it annoying, it's a cultural difference between the United States and Europe — one of many that you're likely to encounter if you're seeking out authentic restaurant experiences while traveling. Americans drink a lot of water — something which Europeans tend to notice about American travelers, who often carry water bottles everywhere they go. The official recommendations for how much water adults should drink a day even vary — American health organizations typically suggest significantly more water than European ones.

Similarly, Americans are used to being served ice water in restaurants, so many prefer the experience of drinking colder water and are surprised to be handed a small glass of room temperature water while eating out. That's not the standard in the rest of the world, though. In Europe, most people are used to drinking water that's room temperature.