How accessible are bathrooms in the major areas of Italy?

Question

I will be traveling throughout Italy with my mother this fall. She is concerned about the availability of restrooms while we travel. We will be exploring Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Sicily. What has been your experiences?

Answer 1

Perhaps people are not aware (even Italian citizens, sometimes!), but public places like pub ("bar" in Italy, which are more similar to a US "cafe") MUST by law give free access to the bathroom; if somebody in a bar say you have to eat or drink something in order to use the bathroom, they're lieing!

Every railway station do have bathroom, both free or sometimes ones you have to pay for (but alway *in addiction* of the free ones). I used both kind of bathroom in Milan, Florence and Rome;

the only real problem in free ones is the crowd :)

On train, there always are one or two bathroom. In the past is true you may not found the paper, but honestly I didn't meet this problem by ten years, now (I'm used to trip by train, as common in Italy). Anyway, on high-level trains like Eurostar is not a problem; perhaps on train for shorter routes...

Answer 2

Most of the public bathrooms in newer, more modern hotels & restaurants are not much different than anywhere else but if you are from the US and have never been in Italy... Be prepared to be shocked if you go into a older public restroom in a train or bus station. They are NOT like american restrooms!!! Some don't even have toilets or toilet paper!!!

Answer 3

The bathrooms are not as bad as I had expected.  We went to Florence, Rome and Venice for 10 days.  The only places we went that did not have toilet paper were the Terminis and Airports.  The restaurants were all very clean.  And most restaurants will let you use the bathroom if you ask in Italian nicely.  One thing I did notice is that the flusher is not where you expect it to be.  A few times I had to search them out.  They are always in weird places - a flat panel on the wall, the floor, a pull from the ceiling.  I am a bit of a germophobe, so after the first day I started bringing out wipes with me because often the sinks were in a common area outside of the bathroom.  I just didn't like the idea of touching the door handles (many of the doors slide into the walls) after everyone else had, and didn't get a chance to wash their hands before hand.

Answer 4

Always carry a pack of Kleenex for some places do not have TP.

Keep euro coins handy for the public pay places.

South of Rome you'll probably find the exotic toilets.

Answer 5

bathrooms are few and far in between. Make sure to go right before you guys get off the train. + the train stations have bathrooms too, but most of the time they are toll bathrooms. McDonald's have bathrooms, some are toll and some require a purchase.

As a rule of thumb, use the bathroom whenever you get the chance to.

Answer 6

In the hotels the bathrooms are full of every comforts as we italian give lots importance to bathrooms and we like to be thraited and if an hotel is not in this way it soon have to shut down....in the public space sometime you can find nice toilets sometimes not....it depends in who is running the place....usually they are all right still is a good idea always have a paper tissue pocket in the bag..but this problems shouldnt exist inside decent  bars or restaurants....if not you can always go to the host and complain, he have to make you happy

Answer 7

I  have  lived  in  Italy  a  number  of  years .  Cities  are  not  dotted  with  restrooms , Toilets , at  strategic  points .  

You  may  go  into  any  bar  and  ask  for " La Toiletta  per  favore ", without  being  obliged  to  buy  a  drink .  Often  it  is  kept  locked , the  barman  or  woman  will  give  you  the  key  and  tell  you  where  to  find  it   .  In  Major  Cities  the  bar  toilets  will  usually  be  modern  and  clean ; in  rural  areas  it  may  still  be  a  squat  toilet , which  in  some  senses  may  be  cleaner  to  use  than  the  sit  on  variety .