Tipping/gratuity in Italy

[Anonymous]

Definitely tip on tours. Some restaurants don’t give the option to tip with credit cards and others give you a tip option. When given the option, I tipped. I like how they don’t take your card to the back when you pay. The card reader comes to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dinner- most places we went to add a "coperto" of usually 1-2 euros per person. That is the service charge, no need to tip beyond that.

Agree there is no need to tip because service staff get paid well, relatively, wages in Italy, but the coperto is not a tip FYI. It’s a “cover charge“ fee for the napkins, breadsticks, and other items like bread and tap water.

[Anonymous]

I round up the bill a few euros and that's it. Have never left tips in hotels. And that's going to Italy regularly since the 1990s.

Not sure why some people get a guilty twist in their panties about tipping overseas. Not having to top excessively is one of the great pleasures of traveling to Europe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told always leave our housekeeper in the hotel one to two euros a day.

Wowza, isn’t that like…worse than nothing?

Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but someone specifically told us to do that. But is it really all that different than people that spend a long weekend at a hotel in the US and only leave a five to $10 tip at the end?

In the US I leave $20 every morning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just tip everybody like I’m in America and no one has ever complained. I’m rich and my country is embarrassing. Twenty euros here and there can only help.

Get over yourself. Your country is not embarrassing, but your lack of knowledge of other countries and peoples is.

Did you contribute helpful advice? No, you did not.

OP, tipping the tour guides for me kind of depends on the size of the overall group, the size of your part of the larger group, and the cost/length of the tour. Can you give some details? I’d say 10 Euro minimum and more depending on the details.

Thanks! one day we chartered a boat for half the day in Amalfi. About 500 US for the “tour”.

I would tip $50 or $100 in that situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told always leave our housekeeper in the hotel one to two euros a day.

Wowza, isn’t that like…worse than nothing?

Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but someone specifically told us to do that. But is it really all that different than people that spend a long weekend at a hotel in the US and only leave a five to $10 tip at the end?

$5-$10 per cleaning. Some people want daily cleaning and some people want no cleaning until checkout or 1-2 cleanings weekly for long trips. The staff are paid a base hourly, but it's good that people who get more cleanings pay more to the cleaners.

[Anonymous]

When paying by credit card in most restaurants, there isn’t a separate line for tip. Most restaurant staff won’t understand if you try to add on a tip when paying by credit card. Leave a few Euros on the table instead.
For a guided tour, I’d give more (the tour company should have some guidance on their website) — maybe in the neighborhood of 15-20% of the cost of the tour, in cash.

[Anonymous]

I don't tip. I never tip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were told always leave our housekeeper in the hotel one to two euros a day.

I think 5/day is the minimum.

We leave our room immaculate and often don’t request housekeeping, yet we still leave at least 5/day.

Not in most of Europe. 1-2 is the norm.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes when I am driving around in a taxi in Europe I just throw small bills out the window. Usually 5s, but I like to sprinkle some 20s in there too.

Nobody expects me to do this, obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't tip. I never tip.

Not even tour guides?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't tip. I never tip.

Not even tour guides?

I rarely use tour guides so it's never occurred to me that they'd need to be tipped because you're already paying for the service in the first place, and it's typically not cheap either. The only time I've tipped guides were on African safaris as it was spelled out clearly in every guidebook and safari travel resource.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't tip. I never tip.

Not even tour guides?

I rarely use tour guides so it's never occurred to me that they'd need to be tipped because you're already paying for the service in the first place, and it's typically not cheap either. The only time I've tipped guides were on African safaris as it was spelled out clearly in every guidebook and safari travel resource.

We are doing a golf cart tour in Rome, where they are driving you around and it specifically said on the site gratuity not included, which lends me to believe they expect a gratuity.

[Anonymous]

Restaurants - usually 10 euros or so. Much less than I would in the US

Housekeeping - 5-10 euros per day

Tour guides - 10-20% of the cost

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't tip. I never tip.

Not even tour guides?

I rarely use tour guides so it's never occurred to me that they'd need to be tipped because you're already paying for the service in the first place, and it's typically not cheap either. The only time I've tipped guides were on African safaris as it was spelled out clearly in every guidebook and safari travel resource.

We are doing a golf cart tour in Rome, where they are driving you around and it specifically said on the site gratuity not included, which lends me to believe they expect a gratuity.

We did this, it was an expensive tour as it was something like 7 hours and we had 6 people. I tipped 200 euros. Our guide was so good and everyone had fun.