While you can usually count on places like transportation hubs, historical sites, hotel lobbies, museums and galleries, and department stores to have public restrooms, there will be times when finding a bathroom won’t be easy. Here are some tips for how to find and properly use toilets around the world.
Use Apps to Locate a Restroom Fast
If the going gets tough when you’re out and about, restroom apps like these can help you find relief fast.
We Can’t Wait (U.S.)
App Store rating: 4.2Google Play rating: 4.1
Developed by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the We Can’t Wait app features publicly accessible restrooms in the United States. The app highlights businesses and establishments with public restrooms using teardrop icons on a map. Businesses and establishments can provide additional information about their restrooms, and restroom users can add comments anonymously. The app features a digital “I Can’t Wait” card, with language on the back explaining the card user’s medical condition that requires urgent access to bathroom facilities.
Flush — Toilet Finder & Map (International)
App Store rating: 4.6Google Play rating: 3.7
Flush Toilet Finder makes finding a public restroom easy. Just download the app and off you go! Simply open the app and it will display toilets nearest to you with a map and directions on how to find them. The free app has over 200,000 public toilets in its database around the world. It offers access information, such as whether the restroom is free or if a key is required, and whether a restroom offers access for disabilities. The Flush Pro Restroom Finder app, also available on the App Store ($1.99; rating: 4.5), is ad-free and includes Apple Watch support.
Toilet Finder (International)
App Store rating: 4.4Google Play rating: 3.7
This free app offers restroom information on toilets near you based on your GPS coordinates, including whether restrooms are free and accessible to people with disabilities. You can use the app to plan ahead and map the restrooms you’ll be in the cities across the globe.
The Poop Bathroom Finder (U.S.)
App Store rating: 5.0
The free Poop bathroom finder app helps you locate public restrooms near your location, displayed with a character icon and the number of stalls. The app encourages users to rate the restroom’s cleanliness (“Would you poop here again?”) so others can benefit from your experience. Afterwards, you’ll be prompted to add useful information, such as handicap accessibility, seat covers, hand dryer, paper towels, motion activated fixtures, and auto flushing toilets. You’ll need to set up an account to use this app, so make sure it’s ready to go before you are. Information is not available about whether this app is useful outside the United States.
City Toilet Finder (London)
App StoreGoogle Play
If you’re visiting London, City Toilet Finder can help you find a public restroom based on your location with information on restroom hours, cost, and type of facilities (automatic toilets, male-only urinals). Selected shops, cafes, and public houses agree to provide the public access to toilets free of charge during normal business hours. This London-only app is also Apple Watch compatible.
The National Public Toilet Map (Australia)
App Store rating: 4.6Google Play
If you’re visiting Australia, this free app provides information on more than 19,000 publicly available toilets across the country. You can select facilities based on accessibility, male, female, and unisex toilets, hours of operation, and those that require a Master Locksmiths Access Key (MLAK), which you can order for $20 Australian dollars through the app. An MLAK allows people with a disability access to dedicated public facilities.
iExit Your Interstate Pitstop Finder (U.S.)
App Store rating: 4.6Google Play rating: 3.6
For road trip restroom access, iExit allows you to quickly locate the nearest rest area. Use the custom search bar for information about rest areas, including available restrooms in every state for planned and emergency pit stops. The app also includes information about fuel prices, food, and lodging.
Antidiarrheal medicationsCards to communicate your urgent need to use a bathroom, such as the “I Can’t Wait” card (PDF) from the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation or download the digital version of the card on your phone from the Bladder and Bowel CommunitySpare underwearToilet paper or gentle wipesToilet seat covers
It’s also a good idea to evaluate your mode of travel. When you reserve your seat on an airplane or train, find out where the closest bathroom is located, and request an aisle seat and special meals where possible. If you’re traveling by bus, check that there is a toilet on board, especially for long trips. “It can also be helpful to know your body,” says Jessica Philpott, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “If you tend to have bad mornings, then schedule your travel plans for later in the day if possible.”
How Do You Say ‘Where Is the Bathroom?’
Most travel guidebooks will give you the word or phrase you need to ask for a bathroom. Or you can simply Google the phrase. Make sure to keep it handy, so you can refer to it in a hurry. Before you leave, learn a few key words and phrases in the local language, such as “toilet,” “bathroom,” “urgent,” “emergency,” and “where is.” Travel guidebooks, and the information below, can help make for a pleasant bathroom visit.
The 411 on Toilets Around the World
All toilets are not created equal, and range from the basic to the bizarre. The three main kinds of toilets you’ll find around the world are porcelain flush toilets, squat toilets, and luxury latrines.
Porcelain Flush Toilets These are the toilets you’re most likely familiar with, typically found in the United States and most of Europe. Most have seats, but you can’t always take that for granted. Public toilets in some European countries like Greece and Italy may be seatless, and you’ll have to sit on the rim; this gets more common as you go farther south, according to the Toilet Guru. The reason, he says, is that they’re easier to keep clean.Squat Toilets Across the globe — Asia, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and some older buildings in Europe — people use squat toilets. Squat toilets, also called “Turkish toilets” or “elephant feet” are basically bowls or pans on the floor that you squat over. Some are equipped with a water nozzle (a shower head or hose), or a bucket to fill with water in order to clean off. Some are dry, meaning they don’t flush, and others use a water seal and can be flushed.Luxury Latrines Commonly found in Japan, these models are called “intelligent” for many reasons. Their amenities include remote-controlled heated seats, massage functions, a bidet, and air-purifying and air-drying functions. Some even check your health, measuring blood pressure, body temperature, and your weight using a built-in floor scale. And if you’re the self-conscious type, many will supply background music to cover up embarrassing sounds.
Keep in mind when you’re looking for a restroom that it may not be labeled in a way that is familiar. Some bathroom signs are illustrated with recognizable pictures of females and males (others are all-gender restrooms), and some have the initials “WC” (water closet) on their doors. Others will have the word “toilet” in that country’s language.
All About the Toilet Paper
Just because people use toilet paper (TP) doesn’t mean bathrooms are well stocked with it (or it will be to your liking). Play it safe by carrying pocket-size tissue packs with you. Before heading into the stall, take a moment to observe your surroundings: Sometimes there will be a person in the corner selling sheets of toilet paper, notes the travel blogger Rick Steves. Notice whether other people are reaching for paper before they go in, and follow suit. And of course, it’s always wise to check the TP situation before sitting down, since you can’t always count on the supply being stocked. If there’s a wastebasket next to the toilet with used TP in it, that’s a sure sign not to flush it, says Steves. Some countries, like Greece and Turkey, have delicate plumbing and moody sewers, and they utilize this method instead of flushing TP. In some areas of Asia, India, and Turkey, the locals don’t use toilet paper at all — your clue may be a little squirter or small hose near the toilet for rinsing.
You’re Making Me Flush
Flushes come in all shapes and sizes — and locations — and it may be difficult, or even embarrassing, to figure it all out. But flush you must: You don’t want to leave your “evidence” behind. Throughout most of Europe, along with the familiar flushers, you’ll also find flushers that require a little thought and sleuthing. (Of course, the easiest type is an automatic flusher that activates once you are finished.) Some have a pull string instead of a handle; it’s usually attached to the tank above the toilet. Other, more modern bathrooms have two buttons on the top of the tank: One is for regular flushing; the other, which uses less water, is for when you urinate. Many bathrooms around England sport “pump toilets” whose handles are sensitive to the touch and need just the right amount of pressure to get them to work. Can’t find a flusher? Look down: Some toilets have a metal pedal resembling a car accelerator (Italy has them). Or look sideways and you might see a large white or metal button on the left or right of the toilet. Other times, the flusher can be hidden in the middle of the wall, around knee-level. Another type of flusher is a doorknob-like handle on the wall behind the toilet; to work it, you turn it one way or another. Many parts of Europe have shared spaces for hand-washing, although the men’s and women’s toilet facilities will most likely be separate. Some sinks, rather than having the familiar faucet knobs or levers, have pedals on the floor.
To Pay or Not to Pay
Not all public bathrooms are free, so it’s best to bring change with you when exploring new ground in case you have to pay to heed nature’s call. Large cities, like Paris, London, and Amsterdam, have bathrooms on street corners that resemble telephone booths. Once you insert the coins, you have 15 minutes to do your business while you listen to piped-in Muzak. Upon exiting, the bathroom self-disinfects. Then you can breathe in the fresh air and get on with your travels.
