Finding a Public Toilet in Rome

If You’re Not Patronizing a Business, Public Toilets are Hard to Find

Italy is a country that is quite focused on tourism, but you wouldn’t know it from the availability of public toilets, especially in Rome. I’m one of those people who needs to arrange much of my life around bathroom breaks, and I’ve even done searches ahead of time online to see about toilet locations. I’ve definitely had my share of using the toilet on the side of the road in a rural area, but what about busy cities like Rome?

You can’t exactly find a barren field somewhere in a busy town for a discrete place to use the toilet, right? I mean, maybe you could, but I think I’d advise against such behavior, especially when you’re a guest in someone else’s country. Some people can travel around and not even have to think about a bathroom for half the day, but there are also people who have to use a toilet a dozen times a day. It’s just how their bodies work.

So, what do you do when you’re touring a country like Italy, and there aren’t any public toilets available unless you pay your way into a tourist attraction or buy something from a restaurant or other vendor? Is it appropriate to ask a restaurant owner in Rome if you can use the toilet, even if you’re not sitting down for food?

Can you just waltz into a Rome hotel and use the lobby’s toilets without getting stopped by the receptionist or other employees? In most cases, you’re going to find it a little difficult to find a toilet in a business that you’ve never visited before, especially if it’s something like a major hotel. But don’t worry! There are some ways to find toilets at convenient times for your trip, most of which require just a bit of work ahead of time before your international itinerary begins.

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Walking Into a Business Just to Use the Toilet

If you’re thinking about walking into a business without buying something, just to use their toilet, you might find it a little difficult in Rome unless you know exactly where the toilet is, and the place is really busy. If you waltz into a restaurant where there’s just a few people seated for food, you’re probably going to have a hard time sneaking your way into the business without someone greeting you.

From what I can tell, you can sometimes use a toilet in a restaurant if the place is bustling, but even then, it’s not always a slam dunk. Many of the restaurants that open in the evening will offer patio or sidewalk dining to their patrons, and you might not see many patrons inside the establishment, especially if it’s a nice night outside and the air is perfect for outdoor dining.

The key to using a toilet in a restaurant or another business without having to ask or get turned down is making sure the inside is busy. You also have to know in advance where the toilets are located. You’ll probably draw too much attention to yourself if you’re wandering around, looking for a toilet for several minutes. But if you make a beeline for the rear of the establishment, you can usually find a toilet without too many detours.

In the event you REALLY have to use the toilet, and you’re just not brave enough to try and use one without permission, you can try to use it and then pretend to look at the menu. This is pretty easy if you have a traveling partner. Just have them look through the menu while you ask to use the toilet. Then, you can simply leave after carefully considering the menu. Or, who knows, maybe you’ll decide to have something to eat because you’re in Italy. Why wouldn’t you want to eat every chance you could?

Arranging Your Tours With Bathroom Stops

If you’re arranging tours in Rome or guided journeys in Italy, you’ll usually get access to a toilet at some point in the tour. Don’t be afraid to ask the tour guide ahead of time about the bathroom stops. They might be able to include an extra stop for you, or they might know of a toilet along the way that they wouldn’t otherwise point out unless someone was in need of it.

When I took the tour of the Vatican Museum, I knew we’d be walking around for something like three hours. As it turns out, there’s a bathroom you can use right before they lead you into the Sistine Chapel, but it’s about an hour and a half of touring before you get to that point (assuming you arrive for the early tours – if you’re there in the afternoon, the journey is much longer due to the INSANE crowds).

Our early morning Vatican tour started in front of a cafe where at least 50 people were divvied up into groups before walking to Vatican City a few blocks away, and there was a bathroom in the cafe that everyone was using before the tour started. In that particular circumstance, I didn’t feel obligated to buy anything, but my traveling partner bought a coffee and an orange.

Then, halfway through the tour, about ninety minutes in, we got to the bathrooms located right before the Sistine Chapel. That was our one bathroom opportunity before we continued and saw the chapel, St. Peter’s Square, and the Basilica. Right after the tour ended, we walked about a block and had lunch (great sandwiches at ***), and I was able to use the bathroom. So, it’s not a bad morning for bathroom access. But again, it’s helpful to plan ahead when you’re going on a tour.

Where Do You Use the Bathroom on a Walking Tour of Rome?

There are loads of tours of Rome that you can take that will either take you around in a van and drop you off at various places or which will lead you through a variety of different neighborhoods for sightseeing. The best way I’ve found to make sure you pass by a bathroom at least once on your walking tour is to make sure the tour includes entrance into at least one tourist attraction or a food stop.

We took a night tour of Rome where we stopped at a restaurant for pizza and then at a gelato place later on. There were toilets at each of these locations, which were quite handy for me and my traveling partner. There weren’t any bathrooms along the rest of the way though, which would have been difficult if we’d had to take the entire tour without a bathroom stop.

Whenever you book a tour, the tour provider should offer some details about the stops or perhaps a step-by-step itinerary. If the schedule includes any food stops, there’s a 99 percent chance you’ll have access to a bathroom at that point. Similarly, if you visit a museum, tourist attraction, or something where you have to queue up and get a ticket, you’ll probably get access somewhere to a toilet at that venue.

This has held true for almost everywhere I’ve visited and all the activities I’ve done, from a tour of rural Vietnam to snowmobiling in Iceland. And, if you find yourself on a tour with no bathroom, there is always the option to pee in a field, like I did when we went on a hike through rural Colombia. I don’t think the cows in that field cared too much.

Using a Pay Toilet to Pee in Rome

While you can certainly pay a business to use their toilet, you might actually find it less expensive to use a pay toilet in Rome. It usually costs around one Euro, and you’ll have access to a nice, clean bathroom that’s got an attendant and all the regular features. One day, when we took a leisurely stroll through Rome, finding a toilet was a little difficult, but I found one with a Google maps search that required no more than 10 minutes of walking to reach.

If you think about it, buying some food in a restaurant or a cafe or some sort of business just to get access to the toilet will probably cost you more than a single Euro. A pay toilet, when there aren’t any free toilets available, will almost always be the less expensive option. As someone who needs to use the toilet more often than the average person, I’m definitely not picky about the toilets I use, but the pay toilets I used in Rome were always quite nice.

I would recommend taking your time when you use the pay toilet, too, if it’s one of the toilets where there are several stalls, an attendant, and sinks and such. Get your Euro’s worth and wash your hands, update your sunscreen (if you’re visiting Rome when it’s a billion degrees outside), take a look at your clothing to make sure everything is in place.

After all, it’ll cost you another Euro if you want to reenter, so take your time and make sure that everything is just so before you leave. If you want to know where to find a public toilet in Rome, you can literally do a Google search in the area you’re standing, and the map should show you the nearest option. You can even arrange a toilet stop in your itinerary if you’re so inclined.

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