I NEED A WEE.....!
Everyone needs a wee now and again, especially kids. Public toilets are difficult to find, but there are clean ones at various places around the town (see map below) such as the Station, Academia bridge, San Marco, and Arsenal. Some of these are staffed by an attendant, so you have to pay to use them (usually about 1 euro).
Another option is to go into a café, pay for a coffee, and use their toilet. Please make sure that you buy something to support these local businesses!
nappy changing
For nappy changing, things get a bit more difficult. Many toilets in the restaurants and cafes are small and it is rare to find one with specific changing facilities. When our children were very little babies and were still in a pram, we would hoist up the pram hood and discretely change them in the pram. We would also often go into a hotel and ask to use the toilets in the lobby, which are usually quite clean. As we all know, Italians love babies, so everyone we ever asked always agreed with a smile. Similarly, some museums or galleries have toilets in the entrance hall, so you could sneak in to use these even if you are not visiting the exhibition. The toilets in museums and galleries are generally clean and many have a changing table.
honourable mentions
If you are in the San Marco area there are clean toilets with nappy changing facilities in the Biennale building Ca’ Giustinian, which can be found at the end of an alley behind Lois Vuitton (there’s also a soft play area for kids here). The toilets at Ca’ Rezzonico can be accessed without having a museum ticket. The public toilets in the train station are very spacious and clean. Near Rialto there are large toilets in the department store Fondaco dei Tedeschi, and near the Fenice Theatre you can get coffee and some gorgeous cakes in the Hotel Bar Ristorante La Fenice then use their spotless toilets, which also have a changing table. Boresso in San Stae also has changing tables – don’t forget to always buy a coffee or cake if you use the facilities in a cafe.
restaurant toilets
In the restaurant section we also mention places with particularly good loos. We include bathroom ratings as “basic” (sometimes just squatting type of toilet), “acceptable” (generally ok but nothing special or “good” (particularly clean or spacious). Places with changing tables are given a special mention including Ristorante da Memo on Pellestrina and Boresso in San Stae.
Squat toilets
Warning: there are quite a few squat toilets in Venice.
