TOILETS 

Toilets are, well, different in Italy. Be prepared for a bit of a third world experience in some places. Public bathrooms can be primitive, filthy, broken down or just a trick to figure out. Bathrooms on trains are typically pretty nasty. Hole-in-the-floor toilets still exist.

The toilet flusher can be one of about fifteen different things. Italian toilets are constructed on a different set of plumbing principles and they can be stinky even in high end hotels and restaurants. The lights and door locks and water may not work and often there is no TP. Carry tissues and hand sanitizer.

Sometimes there is an attendant. It is customary to leave a small tip, like 50 centesimi (cents). Pay toilets are common in big train stations and major public places.

Ladies, please note it is never a good idea to put tampons down the toilet in Italy.

If you can’t figure out how to work the sink or the toilet, look on the floor.  Sometimes you have to step on a button or lever to make the water come out.  Sometimes the problem isn't that you can't figure it out; it just may not work.

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