Rest stops: You should definitely avoid these motorway toilets

On long highway journeys, most people have to stop sooner or later. Few people make it across the country without a quick bathroom break. Here travelers can be very lucky or terribly unlucky – because the cleanliness of the sanitary facilities in German rest stops and unmanaged rest areas varies greatly. And very often leaves something to be desired. In addition, many of the better toilets are located behind the infamous Sanifair paywalls. He knows how to turn the vouchers into money again star reported. But there are exceptions.

The portal “” has dug through countless Google reviews and analyzed what people say about the quiet little town on the side of the road on all motorways with a total length of more than 100 kilometers.

Accordingly, there are sometimes stretches where there is hardly any chance of even going to the toilet. For example, the A36 near Bernburg and the A33 near Bielefeld are among the less well-equipped routes. The A46 from Heinsberg to Wuppertal or the A92 via Munich Airport are also mentioned.

Although there will eventually be suitable contact points on all routes, it can easily take a few kilometers without leaving the motorway. But how important selection can be can be seen from the reviews. The dreaded outhouses in unmanaged rest areas in particular often live up to their bad reputation.

This is the case near Mönchengladbach, for example. As a reminder: There aren’t that many places to stop on the A46 from Heinsberg to Wuppertal – and then you don’t really want to read reviews like “motorway toilets to get rid of,” as is the case with the Herrather Linde car park.

If you think that a restaurant and a gas station are a guarantee that things are cleaner, you could be wrong. “Mietwagencheck” writes that the sanitary facilities at the Riedener Wald West service area – although they cost one euro – are also very unpopular. The valuations of the last few months reflected this.

The ones on the A3 apparently present an equally scary picture. “Bottomless mess” is the summary of one review. Conclusion: Just because you have to pay to go to the toilet doesn’t mean that a ceramic paradise awaits you there.

But there are also bright spots: “Rental Car Check” shows on a map the best places to go for travelers’ needs. In the north, this would be the Ostseeblick rest area on the way to Fehmarn, whose free toilet facilities score 4.8 out of 5 stars. Anyone who has to stop at the Serways service area Fürholzen Ost north of Munich will usually also find clean toilets.

A look at the results of the evaluation shows that there can be strong fluctuations in both poorly rated and supposedly exemplary quiet places. It’s also clear: At busy toilets, all it takes is one person who can’t behave to make the next visit a living hell. Blaming the condition of the sanitary facilities solely on the operators is often too short-sighted.

Nevertheless: Due to the high fees of one euro per visitor, Sanifair in particular is of course more obliged to offer every guest the cleanest possible environment. If this is not the case, a clear complaint is recommended.