Toiletten-Finder

Find a toilet near me

Needing a toilet in an unfamiliar place is a small problem that feels enormous. This page covers both: how to find one right now without any app, and how the map makes it quicker next time.

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Where to look first, with or without an app

Some kinds of places almost always have a toilet. If you are standing somewhere unfamiliar, work down this list — it is roughly ordered by how reliable each option is.

  1. Railway stations and airports
    Almost always available, often for a fee. Clean and usually open around the clock.
  2. Shopping centres and department stores
    Usually free, usually on the upper floors or near the food court. During opening hours the most reliable option in a city centre.
  3. Petrol stations
    Paid on motorways, often free in towns. Asking helps — most will hand over the key.
  4. Fast-food restaurants
    Frequently locked with a code printed on the receipt, so you may need to buy something.
  5. DIY stores and furniture shops
    Large premises, free toilets, rarely crowded. The underrated option in retail parks.
  6. Libraries, museums, town halls
    Public buildings nearly always have toilets and they are normally free, though opening hours are short.
  7. Hospitals
    Open around the clock, free, step-free. In an emergency the safest address in any town.
  8. Parks and green spaces
    Often a public facility at the edge, usually free. Frequently closed in winter.

Are you allowed to walk into a café and use the toilet?

Legally, no. A restaurant, café or shop is private property, and nobody is obliged to let a non-customer use their facilities. In practice many will say yes if you ask politely, especially outside the lunch rush. Buying a coffee turns the question into a non-question.

Several German towns run a scheme called Die Nette Toilette: the council pays local businesses a monthly fee to open their toilets to everyone, free of charge and without buying anything. Participating places display a sticker in the window. Similar schemes exist in Austria and Switzerland under different names.

What does a public toilet cost?

Of the 31,309 toilets we list across 196 cities, 28,380 are marked free — that is 91 per cent. The paid ones usually charge between 50 cents and one euro. At German railway stations and motorway services the operator Sanifair charges one euro and gives you a voucher worth 50 cents to spend on site.

It is worth carrying a few coins. Card payment is spreading but still far from universal, and a turnstile does not care that you have a phone.

Step-free toilets and the Euro key

10,380 of the listed toilets are marked as step-free. Across Germany, Austria and Switzerland many accessible facilities are locked and open with a standardised Euro key (Euroschlüssel). You can order one from CBF Darmstadt against proof of disability; it then opens thousands of facilities at stations, motorway stops and in town centres.

If you depend on step-free access, filter the map before you set off rather than searching on the spot — the share of marked facilities varies a lot between cities.

Travelling with small children

2,206 of the toilets we list are recorded as having a changing table. Department stores, motorway services and larger stations are the safest bet; many now have a separate family room rather than a table in the regular toilet.

Abroad, and without a signal

Customs differ more than you would expect. In Japan public toilets are plentiful, clean and free. In parts of southern Europe you will mostly rely on cafés. In the United Kingdom many council-run facilities have closed over the past decade, so stations and department stores carry the load.

This is also where an offline map earns its keep: load the area while you still have Wi-Fi, and the map keeps working with no signal and no roaming charges.

How the app helps

  1. Open it — the map jumps to where you are.
  2. Nearby toilets appear as pins, with the distance to each.
  3. Tap one for price, opening hours, step-free access, photos and reviews.
  4. One more tap starts navigation in your usual maps app.

With Pro you can also filter — free only, step-free, changing table, Euro key, open right now, type of place — and see everything as a list sorted by distance.

Cities covered

The map covers over 350,000 toilets worldwide. These are the ones with the most entries:

See all cities

Common questions

How do I find the nearest toilet without an app?
Head for a railway station, a shopping centre or a department store — those almost always have one. In an emergency, a hospital is open around the clock and free.
Are public toilets free?
91 per cent of those we list are. Stations, motorway services and city-centre facilities are the ones most likely to charge, usually between 50 cents and a euro.
Can a café refuse to let me use the toilet?
Yes. It is private property and there is no right of access for non-customers. Asking politely works more often than not.
What is a Euro key?
A standardised key that opens accessible toilets across German-speaking countries. It is issued by CBF Darmstadt against proof of disability.
Does the map work without an internet connection?
Yes. Areas you have loaded once stay on your phone and work in flight mode.
Where does the data come from?
Mostly from OpenStreetMap, plus entries added by people using the app. Both are updated continuously.

Figures counted across the 196 cities listed on this site, within ten kilometres of each centre. The app itself covers more than 350,000 toilets worldwide. Entries can be incomplete or out of date — if you spot something wrong, you can correct it in the app.