Seems to happen about every month or so on Twitter. A post by an American visiting Europe about not being able to find water and feeling dehydrated goes viral. The quotes/replies are always a mix of Europeans going 'huh?' and Americans reporting the same experience.
So, is this an actually common phenomena, or just a bit of an online meme? If you've been to Europe, did you find yourself struggling to get water and/or feeling dehydrated?
And if it does seem to be a thing, I'd be interested in any suggestions for why Americans may have this experience of Europe, as a Brit who has never felt it an issue myself.
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I have always been ok in Europe but you guys do have less easily available free water.
So I think it’s mostly meme with some truth to it.
Less water fountains and less free water at restaurants.
I will say I loved the water fountains in Switzerland labeled “trinkwasser” they were beautiful and I could fill up a water bottle. Nothing like a filling up on water from a few hundred year old fountain.
There’s a hint of truth to it, but its usually exaggerated for their audience.
Water is just so readily available in most of the US that you just don’t have to think about it. In Europe and in some places in the US (e.g. Hawaii) its just something you have to think about more intentionally. When you are used to drinking lots of water, not having it becomes very obvious.
I have never heard this before so idk but I’ll take a stab at it:
1- they’re traveling and doing more walking than they typically do or more walking than the average European is doing
2- lack of access to free water.
3- lack of air conditioning might be a factor
4- selection bias
We have lived in Europe and traveled around Europe. Having lived mostly in California prior to the “abroad” part of our lives, we were baffled by the lack of public drinking fountains in parks, hospitals, school campuses, train stations, theaters, shops, playgrounds, government offices, libraries, post offices, and so on. We had to train ourselves to carry water bottles with us everywhere, which we never needed to do before.
Back home on the West Coast, whenever we were out and about and became thirsty, there was always a water fountain somewhere nearby to drink from. It was a new experience for us to search around and find nothing, or perhaps find really old drinking fountains that had been turned off.
I’m here right now. Access to water is definitely not as convenient as in the US.
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Some Americans do act as if Europe is like Arrakis, where you have to walk around in one of those special suits because there’s no water anywhere.
I’ve never been to a country in Europe that was hard to find water. But reading the other comments, maybe I’m the odd one out? Like I’ve been drunk and delirious on the streets at 5am and simply just use one of the public water fountains
I’d never heard this before, but I’m currently in Europe and having a hard time staying hydrated. It’s partly that I’m out and sweating more than usual, but also water is so much harder to get here. Few drinking fountains, restaurants don’t give you water unless you ask and it’s usually a small glass of room temperature water. My hydro flask has been my lifeline.
This happened to me while traveling in the UK and Europe. I came up with a couple theories about why it happens. One is the size of the glasses we use in the US being larger. When we take a serving of water or any drink in the US, it simply tends to be more of it. Secondly is culture around ice in drinks. The US has ice with everything and seems to help promote more intake maybe? In Europe there is little to no ice with the drinks.
Traveling during summer and visiting historic centers, which tend to not have a lot of shade, can be really hot. I think its 100F/37.7C in Rome right now.
Add onto that that nearly every restaurant wants to upsell you on sparking or bottled water rather than just giving you tap water and there’s the difference.
For me it is absolutely true and the number one reason why is because we had to ask for water at every restaurant or we didn’t get any. You get plentiful water for free at every restaurant in America so having to ask a waiter for more water while they only came around once every hour meant we drank way less.
If you think Americans like our beer too cold, wait until you see how cold we like our water! And it comes with free ice and constant freshly iced refills you don’t have to ask for. If you do have to ask, they will apologize for not getting to you faster.
In Europe you get a warm cup and a judgemental look for asking for tap water. And if you’re lucky a sweaty bottle of sink temperature water to pour your own refills. And if you finish that bottle and want it refilled, your server will act like you’re the most difficult customer they’ve literally ever had.
Do European Starbucks still refill your personal water bottles for free? They were a lifeline when I was last there in ’07. I definitely noticed how much harder it was to stay hydrated. Starbucks was the only place outside of our hotel where we found we could refill our bottles.
Y’all are weird and stingy with water.
Yes, it’s real. I’ve struggled with this when in Germany for business travel. No water fountains, and in restaurants you have to specifically ask for water and all they bring out is this tiny little glass.
On my first trip I took an extra day to wander around Berlin, and I didn’t have a water bottle. I was dying, but thankfully I eventually found a water dispenser in the old west German congress building.
Yeah, continental Europe is a backward, barbaric place when it comes to water. Charging 4€ for a .33L bottle is so absurd, and yet that’s basically the rule for pricing.
When I visited London the water was free. It really was a breath of fresh air to walk into a London pub, ask for water, and be handed a glass and pointed to the end of the bar where a big glass water chiller was just waiting for me. Beyond that, every restaurant in the UK and in Ireland that I visited had free water, and that was really the turning point of my trip. Afterwards, I really started to realize everything I took for granted at home and really wanted to go back
American living in Europe (specifically Germany). I can’t speak for all of America, but in my state, anywhere that sells food must also provide water for free if asked for. And of course free refills. When I first moved here I thought “I’ll be damned if I pay for water at a restaurant.” So I would order non water items which are generally not as hydrating. “I’d also be damned if I’m going to pay for TWO.” Not to be dramatic but I’d also rather die than drink fizzy water if I buy it on accident. So I drank a whole lot less. I also walked a whole lot more than in the USA. I also sweated a whole lot more bc of the lack of AC in most of Europe. Going to a spati? Well the wine is basically the same price as water sooooo. Yes I was super dehydrated generally.
I am slowly coming around to the norms of Europe and I definitely carry a reusable water cooler bottle around now. But I really wish for the poorer population that water could be free and/or more accessible
Yes, this is true — there’s a meaningful cultural difference here.
Drinking a lot of (especially cold) water is seen as a very healthy and beloved thing in America (check out r/hydrohomies), and it’s very common to always be served ice water at any restaurant or cafe without asking, and for people to carry around personal water bottles in school, at work, walking around town etc.
In Europe, I’ve noticed most people don’t care about drinking lots of water and are content most of the time to just drink other liquids and maybe a glass or two of room temperature tap water at a meal.
So to Americans, Europeans are weird and unhealthy for not drinking lots of water — after all, it’s an unequivocal good to be hydrated and everyone loves drinking a glass of cold water all the time, right?
To Europeans, it’s a bit strange that someone would be so thirsty they need to be drinking water all the time, and it seems unnecessary to be served ice water at a restaurant unless you specifically ask for it.
> If you’ve been to Europe, did you find yourself struggling to get water and/or feeling dehydrated?
Yeah, getting water is just a giant fucking chore. Yall so fucking stingy about it.
I’m just used to being able to get a cup of water from anywhere anytime. Walking around downtown USA? I’ll stop in this random coffee shop and ask for a cup of water, and I get it, and it’s a forgettable experience. Not to mention just water fountains and public water.
I do the same in Europe; and I get looked at like I’m asking to shit on the floor. Then after 5 minutes of haggling over TAP WATER, I get a tiny cup that’s fucking worthless.
Then there’s the whole stigma of getting tap water at a restaurant. Where, again, they give an offensively small glass, which I drink in one gulp, and have to wait 10 minutes for the server to come around again to give me another mouthful.
Seriously, in the USA, you’ll get like a 1L cup filled with ice and water before you’re even seated at a restaurant. I ask for something similar in Euro restaurant and it’s like I slapped their mother with the request.
Water is definitely not as available in Europe as it is in the US.
In the US every restaurant brings you water by default, for free. Boutique stores, salons, etc. often have water available for free for customers. I usually carry a water bottle and there’s usually water fountains around where I can refill it.
In Europe I often carry a water bottle with me too, but I might not have a convenient spot to refill it all day, or I might be paying for whatever additional water I get throughout the day. There have definitely been days where I have felt dehydrated as a result.
It’s a thing. I went to Ireland for a week. Limited experience but it still counts. There were hardly any water fountains anywhere and you have to pay to take a dump. That’s super weird.
Here in the US I can go to pretty much any place and expect a water fountain and free toilets.
when i was in the UK i needed to drink from the sink to get quick water lol (it tasted like ramen 😔)
When I went to Europe about a month and a half ago, I did tend to feel dehydrated, even though I drank a lot of water like I’m used to(I need to, I’m in marching band), but as someone else said, access to public water isn’t the best. I do know in Crans Montana, there were places to refill bottles, and that was nice, but you had to buy water in most places I visited, or just had to bear without it.
We just got back from a week in London and we experienced this. We had warm sunny days and we found it hard to get enough free water. Obviously we could and did pay for water/soda/beer/etc which got us through, but Americans have access to so much free water, we are hardly ever in a position that we feel the need to buy a drink to quench our thirst. I can go into pretty much any restaurant/coffee shop/bar and ask for a glass of water without buying anything and get the cold water with no hesitation.
Additionally, we are used to much larger drinks at restaurants and usually with free refills. Culturally we are just trained to drink more
Availability of water aside, I have to wonder how many tourists remember to take breaks from their vacation activities to rest and rehydrate. It makes sense; you’re doing a lot, possibly more than you usually do in a given day, and there’s a lot of other things taking your focus and attention.
It’s kind of like the people who claim they lost weight while in Europe while eating the same amount as they do at home, so it must be a difference in the quality of food. No, you were just walking/doing more.
In some places there’s a lack of public water fountains. I carry a reusable water bottle everywhere with me, but in most places the only option I have to fill it up is if I go into a cafe or restaurant and ask if they can fill it for me. Tbf most places say yes, but that’s the ONLY option. If you don’t carry water your only other option is to buy a bottled water, or ask for a cup of water with your food/coffee. In Ireland, Bosnia, and Croatia it hasn’t been a hassle to get free water at a restaurant but I’ve heard it’s harder in other places.
Like in the airports I’ve been to in America (honestly, just about everywhere in America) there’s a water fountain next to the public bathrooms. There’s very rarely any water fountains at other airports I’ve been to, so your only option is to buy bottled water.
In Sarajevo there’s some old public fountains that the Turkish built, those are really cool. But I don’t recall seeing any new ones, even in big shopping centers, movie theaters, or hospitals.
Less access to free water, less air conditioning, and that often when Americans are on vacation in Europe, we’re doing a lot more than in our normal life
I live in Vancouver, Canada and it’s pretty easy to find public water fountains (inside buildings so there’s less of a chance of people pissing in them) no matter where you go. Based on the parts of Europe I’ve been to, it can be a lot harder to find water that you don’t have to buy in plastic bottles. I also find that they give you much less water at restaurants than they do here (even if you get tap water you have to ask repeatedly for it, while here they come by and refill your water regularly).
One thing that confused me in Europe was that Vienna had water refill stations all over the place in the city, but the airport didn’t have a single place to refill my bottle
When I first got back from studying abroad for a year it was noticeable. I went out to eat with friends and I remember commenting about how I was grateful to be back in the land of free, unlimited, large, ice water. You don’t have to ask for it, they just bring it, and they refill it without being asked. Occasionally they’ll ask you if you want water but it is not uncommon for them to just bring it. Some restaurants here in the US bring you the carafe of chilled water with small glasses so it is not “large glasses of ice water,” but even that is still unprompted and the water is chilled.
In Europe they have water but you have to ask for it, along with any refills, and the format is not large glasses of ice water.
Never felt dehydrated in Europe. I think some of it is just being out and about and traveling you can get dehydrated because you’re busy seeing things, finding your way around, not knowing where easy sources of water might be, etc…
Although I will say that free access to potable water and free public toilets are much more ubiquitous in the US than Europe.
I carried my water bottle everywhere in Spain. The problem to us is there is no FREE water. Not only is it not free, it’s more expensive than at home despite all other food and drinks being cheaper.
I would fill up my bottle from the tap at my apartment or buy an extra water bottle to fill it up as needed, but on busy days I probably spent $10+ on water.
I did not have the problem people talk about of all water being carbonated at restaurants, thank goodness. We were mostly served actual water.
It also baffled me that ALL of the water offered to me was bottled. The tap water tasted fine and was safe to drink, and filters exist, but everyone drank bottled water everywhere. People would open a single use bottle to pour into a wine glass… so strange for a country focused on producing less waste/pollution.
I was in London a few years ago and was close to needing to be hospitalized because I was so dehydrated. I was traveling solo which probably didn’t help to remind me to drink water. But I found myself feeling disoriented and just generally terrible one day. I got back to my hostel and drank two liters of water over the course of an hour and a half when I got back. Might’ve been the lack of availability of water bottles and drinking fountains paired with my forgetting to look for water to drink that was the culprit.
Something about Europe sucks the water from our heads, causing us to talk loudly🤔
I haven’t no. Just walk into the one of the hundreds of corner markets and get a liter of water for a euro.