8 Countries Where You Can Drink In Public (Slideshow)

While you can't drink "excessively" on the S-bahn, Germany's railway transit system, and local laws in Germany may vary regarding drinking in public places, you'll almost certainly not experience any trouble for simply sharing a bottle of wine with a friend in the park.

New Zealand has pretty loose open container laws — you can even have a container open in your vehicle, although of course you can't be inebriated while driving. Some municipalities may ban public drinking in certain places, but drinking in public is generally legal for Kiwis.

While some cities (such as Prague) have outlawed public drinking in recent years, many others are still a-ok with drinking on the streets in moderation.

Technically it's illegal to drink on public transportation or in parks, but the truth is that it's really common, and the police will almost certainly look the other way — so long as you don't create a disturbance or make a nuisance of yourself.

Here's the breakdown: it's not legal to consume alcohol on the tube, but everywhere else? You're pretty much good to go, unless you're in certain areas of particular towns, and even then, the police will just ask you to stop drinking, they won't lock you up. Sounds like a fair deal to us.

There isn't a culture of drinking on the street in Japan, but it's not illegal. While it's considered gauche to drink (or eat) on the street in Japan, and people tend to gather around a table for drinking in Japanese culture, you will not infrequently see people sipping moderately in a park. 

Unless you're a minor or you're misbehaving, you'll probably be just fine when moderately drinking in public in Italy. Some cities have looser laws than others (Florence, for instance, is pretty laissez-faire, whereas Rome is much stricter in its public spaces). 

Belgium has a very relaxed drinking culture. As long as you're being polite, it's perfectly fine to drink on the streets in this country known for producing some of the most beautiful beers in the world.