Drinking tap water abroad: where you can, and where you can't

Travel insurance company AllClear has shared information about the places most people search for regarding water safety, indicating where you can and cannot drink water directly from the tap.

AllClear used Google's Keyword Planner to identify the places where most people checked the condition of their tap water. The researchers found that 13 of the 15 most popular places were in Europe. This information was published by huffingtonpost.co.

"Italy and Spain seem to be the most confusing for travelers, both with 4,400 searches per month for whether their tap water is safe to drink, followed by France and Portugal," explained All Clear.

The most searched places in the world are Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Cyprus, Poland, Turkey, Malta, Iceland, and Switzerland.

AllClear researchers analyzed a Yale University study that measured the number of life years lost per 100,000 people due to exposure to unsafe drinking water.

"Of the 15 countries in the world where people are most likely to ask if they can drink tap water, only two of them recommend avoiding tap water, namely Cyprus and Turkey," added All Clear experts.

If you are not sure about the water quality, be cautious not only with drinks.

"If you know that you shouldn't drink tap water in the country you're visiting, then don't forget to cover your mouth when taking a shower and brush your teeth with bottled water. It's very easy to forget, but if the tap water is not suitable for drinking, even a small amount of it while showering or brushing your teeth can cause stomach upset," advised AllClear.

They also suggest keeping an eye on the products you wash with water. If you want to be extra safe, take water purification tablets with you on your trip.

If you're looking for a truly satisfying sip, here are the ten safest countries according to a study by Yale University. The top ten countries with the highest scores are Austria, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.