18 Very Common Everyday European Things That Would Be Considered Luxuries In The US

    Okay, but if anything, I think we can all agree that the bread is something Europe does way, way better than us.

    Brian Galindo
    by Brian Galindo

    BuzzFeed Staff

    I think a lot of Americans would agree that any time we visit Europe we at some point or another during our vacation think to ourselves, Okay, these Europeans really are doing this right! Whether it's the food, the work/life balance, or the cities designed with walking or public transportation in mind, there are things that really are better in many, many countries across Europe.

    character saying, i'll walk around and do french things, be parisian
    HBO

    And recently, Reddit user meryse touched upon that very topic when they asked: "What do Europeans have in everyday life that you consider a luxury in America?"

    person on a european street
    Alexander Spatari / Getty Images

    Well, lots of Americans chimed in to share the common European things, both big and small, that they thought would be a luxury here in the States. Below are some of the top and best answers:

    1. "No gaps in bathroom stall doors — the ones between the door."

    gap in the bathroom stall
    Sarah Palmer / Getty Images

    —plan_with_stan

    "Blew my damn mind the first time I was in Europe. I just hadn’t even considered the possibility."

    —GotThoseJukes


    2. "Automatically having 4–6 weeks of vacation at time of hire."

    couple on a beach
    Viktor_gladkov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —KoRaZee

    "My current company (US) gives 24 (25 every other year) paid days off as well as 6 federal holidays for all employees. Before I worked there, in 10 years of working, I never had more than 5 paid days off in a year at one job, and no paid time off at all the others."

    —Blackfoxx907


    3. "Quality of work life."

    person at their work desk
    20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

    —Flat_Unit_4532

    "Quality of added benefits associated with work too. In Europe, people get great benefits from the get-go versus people in the States that have to stay with a company for years to get similar benefits."
    —Carbon-Base

    4. "No high fructose corn syrup in everything!!! Like, you don't even need to check the label for it."

    food label
    Ekaterina79 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —gatzdon

    "Canada is also going down this road. I have family from Europe here now and I have to teach them to read labels as sugar content is insane in NA. It's hard to find bread that's actually healthy here."

    —No_Gas_82


    5. "Those towel warmer racks, and heated bathroom floors."

    thermostat
    Jorg Greuel / Getty Images

    —peeparty69


    6. "Extremely strong consumer protection laws. A bare minimum quality/duration expectation of all services and products. I love this one because different companies or foreign products try to circumvent this all the time and they always lose."

    Abu Hanifah / Getty Images

    —Elmara5

    7. "'Bum Guns.' I want bidets to be widely accepted in the US."

    a bidet next to a toilet
    Kinga Krzeminska / Getty Images

    —JPBeanArch

    "Just order one and install it, doesn't need to be accepted by anyone else."

    —Saddam_UE


    8. "Can’t believe it’s not more prominent, but the right to privacy, and recently digital privacy. GDPR was an excellent piece of legislation."

    Nicoelnino / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —Gregor_the_headless


    9. "Fresh baked bread for reasonable prices that you can get in walking distance of your home, and aren't full of preservatives."

    bakery display
    Sbytovamn / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —Stu_Prek

    "Also, having breads without added sugars in it."

    —feminist_chocolate

    10. "Decent quality chocolate available in almost any random corner shop."

    trays of chocolate treats
    Assalve / Getty Images

    —onetruelord72

    11. "Real farmers markets."

    farmers market with lots of fresh produce
    Bruno De Hogues / Getty Images

    —lukedawg87


    12. "Good public transport outside of main cities. Germans in particular love to complain about Deutsche Bahn (and rightfully so), but compared to the USA it's just so much more versatile."

    person getting on a train
    Johner Images / Getty Images/Johner RF

    —OrciEMT

    "Yeah, I really wish we had better public transportation in the Midwest. I'd go without a car in a heartbeat if it was feasible."

    —ApplicationCalm649


    13. "Time. Time to eat in a restaurant without being shoved out. Time to sip coffee at a cafe. Time to spend with new children. Time to go on vacation. Seems like an unattainable luxury to this American."

    people at a cafe
    Dkart / Getty Images

    —Kindly-Risk2949



    14. "Can't speak for all of Europe, but workers rights. WTF is 'Getting fired on the day'? Or quitting, for that matter? You get three months here."

    person packing up their desk
    Yacobchuk / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —TheKobraSnake

    "Had to fire someone on my US team, with her newborn on her arm, couldn't even say how fucking wrong it was, for fear of getting sued. Read three sentences and put the phone down. Absolutely horrible, apparently the norm in the US."

    —MaxBulla


    15. "Food that doesn’t have a ton of artificial additives and non-food ingredients that makes you sick. I never realized that was what was causing my stomach problems until I went on vacation in Europe and within a day had no problems at all. And it came back a day after I returned. They can make great food, even packaged junk food, with just real food ingredients. Why can’t we?"

    lunch spread on a table
    Alexander Spatari / Getty Images

    —LakeCoffee

    16. "Affordable high-speed Internet. Like 1gigabyte/s (up and down!) for under €20 per month. With negligible installation fees. And it includes over a hundred cable channels."

    Jens Domschky / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —Random_Dude_ke


    17. "I'm just going to assume 'really good cheese' is a legitimate answer."

    cheese display
    Alexkozlov / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —November_Riot

    "Definitely! Quality cheeses, cured meats, and bread are expensive luxuries that I occasionally splurge on as a treat in the US but can be got for a couple euros in Central Europe."

    —Mountain_Canary1029


    18. And lastly: "Maternity leave and healthcare come to mind — in particular affordable healthcare and maternity being equally available to everyone. I know in the US some people have healthcare and some companies offer paid maternity leave, but it's not the standard."

    Designer491 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    "I know someone who works 50-plus hours a week, makes just enough to support his small family (child with special needs) and he can't afford to treat his hepatitis C because of the treatment (12 weeks of pills) costing more than he earns in 18 months. He can't afford to pay for health insurance (before a-holes start judging, he was born with it)."

    —greencoffeemonster

    You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.

    Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.