Loos with views: The best from around the world

Nature’s call has never been so beautifully answered, as Lonely Planet's latest book shows

His ’n' hers, Jericoacoara Beach, Brazil (Thomas Heinze)

As any experienced traveller knows, you can tell a whole lot about a place by its bathrooms. Whatever you prefer to call them, toilets are a (sometimes opaque, often wide-open) window into the secret soul of a destination.

Published today, Lonely Planet’s new book, Toilets: A Spotter’s Guide, is a homage to porcelain pews with fantastic views, as well as attention-seeking urban outhouses, and eco-thrones in all sorts of wild settings, from precipitous mountain peaks to dusty deserts.

The lavatory is a great leveller – everyone feels the call of nature, every day – but, like any common species, being ubiquitous doesn’t make it uniform. Around the planet, toilets have followed various evolutionary pathways to best suit their environment. ​

Among the entries you’ll find a remote toilet island in Belize, a waterfall washroom in Taiwan and a bird's-eye view bathroom from The Shard.

Toilets: A Spotter’s Guide is published by Lonely Planet (£7.99, shop.lonelyplanet.com)