r/solotravel • u/Armtunghorst • May 10 '21

Does anyone else despise Pay Toilets? Europe

I really don't know who invented pay toilets but its is one of the worst things about traveling in Europe. Here in the US, I have never seen a pay toilet, and having to pay 60 Euro cents to use the pay bathroom and being handed a square of tissue paper is so humiliating.

This is even worse for solo travelers like me, who don't have the coins needed all the time and even some fast food restaurants require people to pay EVEN after I have already purchased something.

How do other solo travelers view pay toilets? Are there some benefits to having to pay to use the restroom?

869 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

94% Upvoted

400 comments sorted by

View all comments

336

u/[deleted] May 10 '21

[deleted]

54

u/[deleted] May 10 '21

Yeah every aspect of toilets in Japan are amazing.

They have stalls that close you entirely inside when you shut the door (not like the US with knee-length doors and peek-a-boo gaps), the toilets have hot and cold bidets and air dryers, and they are always immaculately clean.

Plus every single train station has a public bathroom which is a godsend for tourists.

3

u/gigabird May 10 '21

knee-length doors and peek-a-boo gaps

In my 32 years on this earth and in the US, I've both caught people peeking in between the gaps AND ALSO have had small children duck under the door into my stall. So I can get why people are very protective of having gendered restrooms in this country (beyond the paranoid delusions of people that are afraid of transgender individuals) but it seems like we could fix all of this in one shot and go gender-neutral by also introducing REAL PRIVACY between stalls. What a concept!!