Tipping % on private tours

I know that Europeans generally do not tip as much as we do in N.America. I was just wondering what the standard tip % is for private tours in Europe.

I know that Europeans generally do not tip as much as we do in N.America. I was just wondering what the standard tip % is for private tours in Europe.

If you do a search on the board you will find a lot of info on this subject.

If you do a search on the board you will find a lot of info on this subject.

Providing a link or two would be a lot more useful than the usual sarcastic, easy to type, "do a search".

I found a few threads, from 2013, that discussed tipping the higher priced limo tours, usually running about 500 euros. I didn't find anything about tipping the lower priced tours offered by companies like Walks-of-Italy, that are between 80 to 100 euros. Up until reading this post, I didn't give any thought to tipping the employee tour guide. I guess 5 euro for me and the DW, or maybe 5 euro/person?

Thanks for your reply Ron98GT. I'm starting to get paranoid about asking questions here as "do a search " seems to be a common answer lately. I actually did do a search but couldn't find any recent answers. 5€ a person seems a reasonable amount to me too for an average tour.

Some of us may be a little reluctant to post on the subject of tipping, as it is a fairly common question and we often get taken to task for suggesting that Americans should try not to overtip when traveling abroad.

In Italy, I wouldn't tip more than 10% at any time. (Well, unless someone basically picked up my wounded body on the street and transported me to the hospital...)

It is not the standard there to tip more, and licensed guides are well paid.

We generally tipped 5 EUR pp regardless of the cost of the tour. We did ship tours that were around $100 pp and tipped 5 EUR. We joined with others from our Roll Call that were around 50 EUR pp and tipped 5 EUR pp. Then we did independent and again the 8 hour tour was 100 EUR but we enjoyed the day so much we gave the taxi driver 10 EUR tip pp.

Our day in Naples started off terrible as we couldn't walk to the ferry. Had planned to ferry to Sorrento and Circumvesuviana train back to Pompeii and Naples. The Grand Princess was berthed at one end of the pier and the ferry at the other. The Captain announced there would be a free shuttle, only problem was it didn't start until 9:00 and that's when the ferry left. We sat dejected by the ship. This little Italian taxi driver came over and tried to talk us into hiring him for the day. We ended up doing just that. He was so concerned that two older ladies were travelling alone without a male escort. He became our personal driver, it was like watching "The Lives of the Rich and Famous" on TV only we were living it. He escorted us across busy streets, carried our packages, and was so pleased that we liked his choice of music (we sang along with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin). He saw I was a smoker when I exited the taxi, and told me it was okay to smoke in the car, as he was smoker. He even threw in a short mini-tour of Naples before returning us to the ship. As we handed him the fare, then the tip, he was overjoyed, giving us a hug (like we were family).

We didn't tip in restaurants at all. If you feel the driver/guide did a good job, then I feel a tip is appropriate. IF you feel they went way above and beyond and want to tip more, that is up to you too. If they ask for a tip or mention that tips are appreciated, that usually turns me off to tipping them (but it does here in the States too). So only you can decide what is the right amount to tip.

Thanks for the replies. I basically wanted to confirm that tipping is not as prevalent or at the same level as is expected in N.America. I don't want to be considered stingy, but I don't want to needlessly overtip either. It irks me that here in N.America you are expected to tip 15-20% whether or not the service warrants it.