Difference in the tap water in europe?

I always drink the tap water in Europe and have never gotten sick.

Our first trip this summer was over 30 days to Amsterdam, Belguim, France, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany. We brought our own metal water bottle and filled it in hotel sinks, drinking fountains, etc. Not one problem for my wife or I. Of course, this is just our experience, but haven't seen anything that says you shouldn't drink tap water like in other parts of the world.

I recently spent six weeks in France and Germany and always drank the tap water. I have a touchy stomach but had absolutely no problem. Just practice good hygiene, wash your hands, wash fruits and veggies etc. Plus, remember, the US is a large country and I bet the minerals aren't all the same all over either. Have fun on your trip!

Like Laura, I drink tap water everywhere in Europe and have never had a problem. I do really like Badoit bottled water in France, though. Yummy.

Funny, I like Badoit also,, just a touch of bubbles , not all fizzy like Perrier.

Kallie, I drink the tap water all over Europe . It IS fine,, really. On our Rick Steves tour last summer, we went to Italy France, Austria ,and Switzerland, and tap water was at every table.. we all drank it and all were fine.

I did not drink it in Greece, but it has been many years since I was there, perhaps now it is fine there also,, ( I would still drink bottled on the islands there though)

As for your German friends, my SIL is German ( just over for last 8 years,but she goes home to visit her mom every year still) and she says the tap water is fine to drink in Germany but people PREFER to buy water.

You won't get sick from drinking the tap water in Germany. Unless you drink sea water, the difference in mineral content in tap water isn't large enough to cause any health problems. Even the industrial run-off in the water in the former GDR has been cleaned up. Don't worry about it.

I went to school for a year in Germany, and I always used to refill my large water bottles with water from the sink in my dorm room. Never got sick once. Just like here, I don't prefer the taste of tap water, but it was fine...

Just from a medical standpoint, what minerals could possibly make a person ill? Germs, bacteria and virus' make people ill, not minerals. Your friends might have been ill from something else and decided to blame it on the water. I have worked with literally hundreds of Americans who have moved over here, mostly with the military and have never once heard anybody complain about the water.

We had some trouble with our water in the 70s in Mainz, but that was a looong time ago.

For the longest time Germans wouldn't drink their own tap water and we were always offered 'sprudel' or mineral water when we would visit. Things have changed in the last few decades. There was even a big advertising blitz to encourage Germans to drink their tap water. I've never had a problem. On the contrary, when my relatives visit me in California they complain about the funny smell and taste of our water.

It's probably one of those cultural things that takes a long time to break. For most of the history of European civilization, the water was extremely unsafe to drink... that's why the wine and beer industries were traditionally so important (the alcoholic concentration was much lower). Universally safe drinking water is a relatively new development for most of the continent.

If you're truly concerned about it, it would be cheaper to buy a Brita water bottle that you can refill and it would filter out whatever you're worried about for a week for much cheaper than buying bottled water ( which is ~1-2 euro each liter, depending on how touristy the location is).

But like everyone else has said, it's safe to drink the water here. That is just my suggestion for if you still don't want to drink it. I think the water in my area comes down from a spring up in the Dolomites, so it's probably cleaner than anything I've been used to drinking before! haha. Also, I don't think they add fluoride to it either.