do I gotta carry coins from 5 countries to use the toilets in SE, NO, DK, IS and FI?
 

I am packed for an upcoming trip... one big problem popped into my head.

I will be visiting 5 countries:

Sweden,
Norway
Iceland
Denmark
Finland

Does that mean I gotta carry from each of the 5 countries if I want to use public toilets? (4 types of currency, since Iceland and Finland both use euros) Or is there an alternative method of payment? :) :(

Thanks!

Iceland doesn't use euros.

Finland uses the euro. Iceland uses Icelandic krona. And the answer to your question is yes: You'll have to get local currency for cash payements. The currency union between SE, NO, DK and IS has been scraped decades ago (in the 1910s or 1920s IIRC).

Yes, you gotta do, if you gotta do a doo-doo…

Interesting problem you wish to consider, I have never seemed ‘inconvenienced’!

I guess I'll just have to sure to put away the country's coins as I'm crossing the border... and get the next country's coins... don't want to be caught in a bathroom emergency without the correct coins. :D

I've been in those countries and don't remember ever having to pay to use a toilet. I found them available in hotels, restaurants, museums and the like.

My experience was strictly with Sweden and here's a thread where I asked about it many years agao:

https://www.thelocal.se/discuss/inde...howtopic=23832

most of the tourist attractions, train stations and some of the fancy(i.e. expensive) restaurants/bars that I went to all wanted money for toilets...

IME Norwegian toilets take card payments

I'm still never paying for a toilet with my own money, at least not while my urinary systems are functioning normally... but my clients seem to be happy to pay for my toilet usage, as long as I don't take the piss (ha ha ha :rolleyes:)

If I need the toilet in countries where most toilets are chargeable, I try to get on a train for 1 stop. I almost always have a daily travel ticket so that isn't a problem. (I also keep a stock of tissues, usually taken from airlines - on a recent A3 flight in J, I was given about 8 tissues that I didn't need, which would otherwise have gone into the bin completely unused)

One of the stops on the Iceland Golden Circle had paid toilets, but I forget which. They did have a credit card swiper though, which I used to buy a pee token.

You're thinking of Gullfoss. The restrooms are across the walking path from the souvenir shop.

I don't suppose it accepts Apple Pay? :)

Maybe I'll just look into adult diapers for travel?

Coffee shops often have restrooms that don't require payment to access the restrooms. This may or may not require buying something and/or getting a bathroom access code, but the larger and busier the coffee shop in this region and the further away it is from a major public transit hub, the easier it will be to use such restrooms without having to pull out coins.

Also, malls and large department stores are more likely to have free restrooms for customers/potential customers.

There are probably some apps that list where the free restrooms are around in some of the cities on such itineraries. It's rare that I find a restroom in the Nordic area where bank card or contactless payment options are an option, and in this regard Norway is more an exception than Sweden and Denmark.

I once visited a brothel in [undisclosed EU nation] and they provided customers with free tokens for the toilet. (paying customers... not those who are just browsing inside) I didn't use the toilet and kept the token as a souvenir after all these years. It's nothing remarkable and made out of aluminum or something.

Other guests pay extra for getting golden showers :D.

BTW: Looking in a brothel for a toilet is certainly not going to go down well when traveling with +1.

we went there together.... yes, our marriage is built on trust and willingness to have fun.