water

You body is adjusting to a lot of things--jetlag, new food, and water. In Europe in only get bottled water if I need the plastic bottle to carry it in. BTW in The Czech Replublic beer is cheaper. ; )

I drank the water in Paris, Rome and all over Germany for 4 weeks and never had a problem. I took over the counter tummy stuff but never had to use it. I think part of it also depends on the person. I know some people have more problems than others with water from different places.

Other than some non-EU members (Moldova, Albania, Kosovo, etc) and certain parts of Russia, you are unlikely to stumble upon any municipal water supply in Europe that is not safe to drink... and even in Russia, this precaution is probably just a remnant from the 1990s.

I have drank the water in France, England, Italy, Germany , Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, and lived to tell of it.. I think unless you have a very sensitive tummy you will be fine.
With soda costing 3-5 euros a crack in Paris, my kids get one a day at a restaurant, and the rest of the time its " une carafe de l'eau s.v.p. " .

Travelled RTW last year. Drank local tap water just about everywhere. Only place in Europe I had to drink bottled water for a short stint was Ireland because Galway had a few problems with their municipal water supply last year (that's been resolved now).

Totally safe, didn't ever make me sick. Might taste slightly different than what you are used to - but you'll find this same thing happens when you travel from region to region in the U.S.

Bottled spring water is just an added expense. Bring a sports bottle and feel free to fill it up each day from the hotel.

The tap water in Germany has a bad flavor : in Munich the water tastes like dirty rocks, or like water that construction tools were washed in. The German people do not drink tap water. In a restaurant in Munich the server (waiter) did not speak any English. I gave him a paper on which was written "tap water" in the German language. Aparently, he never saw those words before. He brought me a bottle of "water with gas". That is the kind of bottled water that I do not like. Buy bottled water in a grocery store. Or bring a small water filter.

It's not that much of a problem on the mainland of Europe and in the British Isles but it can be a huge problem on some of the mediteranian islands; Malta, the Greek Islands and the Spanish Islands in particular.

A good way to check is to have a look around small local shops, if they sell bottled water in quantities larger than four litres, you know the locals drink bottled water and you're well advised not to drink the stuff from the tap.

Ron,

your experience is very typical. Germans usually don't drink tap water not because it isn't safe or tastes bad. They simply prefer "bubbly" water. It's sold everywhere. Even with impeccable German language skills (it's my mothertongue) I do have difficulties ordering tap water in restaurants - just because it's something they hardly ever get to hear. Even when I'm among friends and family I get a weird look and "are you sure???" when I ask for tap water. It's perfectly safe and I quite prefer its taste over that of bubbly water. And it's easier to take along with you as the bubbly is usually sold in glass bottles.

I don't order tap water in restaurants. It's not a safety issue. It's just not a normal order (especially if you're in a cafe not frequented by tourists) and takes too much explaining to get accross. Instead I order tea, house wine, local brew or the fizzy water. I never liked the fizzy water here because I thought it was like drinking alka seltzer. An option is the low fizz water, I can drink and actually enjoy that. I buy regular bottled water at a grocery store to carry with me. If I buy a pop, it's at the grocery store because it's too expensive at restaurants.

My sister lives in Mannheim and she hates the water there. She survives on bottled water.

We drank the water in many parts of Europe and never had a problem.

One thing my kids won't miss is "pop, or soda" as some call it here. We don't buy that stuff in the States so there is no need to buy it over there. Wasted calories and have absolutely no nutritional value.

I travel for a living and consistently drink only bottled water because I do have a sensitive stomach. While I drink tap water here at my house, the simple transition to my parents house outside of Atlanta means having to drink the bottled stuff to avoid gastric irritation.

You know your body best. If you should experience any "rumblings" I'd switch to bottled to be sure.

But.... (And this is important!!!) beware of the higher sodium contents of some of Europes bottled waters. Nothing worse than swelling up so much from fluid retention that you can't get your rings off, or your shoes on.

Bottled water is a ridiculous, trendy, environmentaly disastrous rip off as far as I am concerned. Fill up at the hotel, the local fountain...whereever.