Travel Tips: Avoiding Expensive Bottled Water in Italy. How to Get Tap Water for Free - Where Milan (2024)

FAQs

Where can I get free water in Milan? ›

Walking around Milan you can see street green fountains with running water. Not everyone knows that this water is drinking. You don't need to buy bottled water in bars and supermarkets in Milan. Just fill up your bottles in the green fountains.

How to order tap water in Italy. If you just order water when eating out in Italy, you will get bottled water (“acqua in bottiglia”), so if you would like tap water, you need to specify this. The Italian for “tap water” is “acqua del rubinetto”.

Most European restaurants have paid for water from a bottle or sparkling water, so the costs of buying bottled water are passed on to the customers. Plus, in general, waiters may find it rude to ask for a free drink when dining at their enterprise.

Rome's nasoni fountains provide free fresh drinking water.

Rome is blessed with more than 2,500 drinking fountains, known as nasoni, which provide residents and visitors with free fresh water all year round.

Ordering water in Italian restaurants is pretty straightforward. If you would like to ask for tap water, you can simply ask for “acqua del rubinetto.” If you are looking for bottled water, you could ask for “acqua naturale” (still water) or “acqua frizzante” (sparkling water) depending on your preference.

Almost all restaurants in Italy offer bottled water to its customers and there is no custom in Italy for customers to drink tap water in restaurants. In some restaurants, tap water is provided to the customers on demand.

Water bottle

Some guides advise bringing one with you from home. But plastic water bottles work just as well, and they're sold in every cafe in Italy. Buy one when you're here and just keep refilling it at the fountains you'll see everywhere.

The short answer is yes. Drinking water from the tap in Italy is considered safe. Tap water in the major cities and towns around Italy is safe for consumption, and there are thousands of old-style water fountains dotted around cities, like Rome, where you can fill up water bottles.

Not only can you drink tap water in Italy, but you can safely and easily use it to brush your teeth. If you are ever concerned or not sure if the water is safe to use, run the tap first.

Can you drink hotel bathroom tap water in Italy? ›

Yes, you can drink any tap water in Rome.

Tap water throughout Italy is filtered and completely safe. During my 4 days in Rome, I filled my water bottle multiple times from my hostel bathroom. Not only is the water safe, but it's also very fresh and tastes pure.

The short answer is yes. Drinking water from the tap in Italy is considered safe. Tap water in the major cities and towns around Italy is safe for consumption, and there are thousands of old-style water fountains dotted around cities, like Rome, where you can fill up water bottles.

In Italy, don't shock your waiter by asking for tap water

You might occasionally be offered filtered — but you'll still be expected to pay for it.

Even so, tap water in Milan is perfectly drinkable and safe, since it comes from real mountain springs. Nonetheless, the Italians' preference for bottled water might be due to the common misconception that their tap water isn't actually safe.

Second Tip: Look for a Street Fontanella

A curiosity: Milan's drinking fountains are more than 500 and called by locals “vedovelle” (young widows) because they never stop “crying”. Their design dates back to the early 1930s and the oldest one is in Piazza Scala (map of Milan's vedovelle).

In the municipality of Milan there are over 400 small drinking fountains originally installed in public gathering places such as flower and vegetable markets, public parks, churches and cemeteries.

Many communes have water refill points which have been used by locals for years! Tuscan towns will typically have a central drinking fountain, usually near the main piazza. These should have a sign with 'potabile' translating to 'drinkable'.

In the municipality of Milan, there are hundreds of fountains called “vedovelle” or “draghi verdi” (green dragons).