Canada_V

And how much if yes...

My "tipping" searches on the board turned up wait staff tipping discussions but I couldn't find one.

I actually don't think I have ever been on a walking or bike tour (if I have I've forgotten, or was to young to worry about tips!), so I don't even have "how I've done it in other countries" to fall back on. We are however planning a couple when we are in Paris.

So what are your thoughts?

thanks!
V

Christina

my thought is no

yk

I've done a walking tour of Paris with the sister company of London Walks (can't recall the company name right this moment) and nobody tipped at the end of the tour.

If you are doing a private tour, then yes, I think you're expected to tip.

Canada_V

thanks for your replies.
They would be of the "Fat Tire Bike Tour", "Paris Walks" kind of open to anyone sort of tour, so so far it sounds like it wouldn't be something expected. Sound right?

thanks again!

Therese

I've never taken a walking tour in Paris, but I do generally tip a small amount at the end of those tours that I do take. I tipped at the end of each of my LondonWalks tours last month, for instance (1 GBP each time). The guides are uniformly delighted to receive them.

I used to work as a guide (in a museum, not a walking tour, so no tips at all) and know how much work they are. Seems like the larger the group the less likely anybody is to tip, similar to large parties in restaurants where the tip falls off drastically as the head count exceeds five or six.

julia_t

At the end of our Fat Tire Bike Tour 3 years ago we were told we could leave a tip if we wished.

While I had a lot of fun that evening I objected to being asked to leave one, so I didn't! Had they not asked I probably would have given the lad something.

On the other hand, when on a tour in Rome I did give a tip, and was the only one to do so.

I think it is very much up to you and how you feel at the time.

susanna

Wow, I'm surprised at the answers.

My answer, yes, absolutely!

On the Fat Tire tours, it is just young american college kids that lead them, I can't imagine not giving them something, kids always need extra money. I tend to give them a big tip, the tours are not very expensive and I think they do a great job...and I have a soft spot for young people trying to make a living and living my dream in a foreign country.

As for the walking tours, I have tipped big and small, depending of the quality of the tour, but yes, I have always given them something and I have seen others do the same.

Pegontheroad

I almost always tip tour guides.

Canada_V

Thanks to all!
How much would you normally tip? Like I said, I don't think I have ever been on a walking or bike tour in my life but we tend to be good tippers for good service when we eat out here, or I get my hair cut (the only real tipping situations we find ourselves in!) so I would like to know what would be considered a typical range of tips so we can judge accordingly! Any on-line resources I have found seem to list only taxis, housekeepers and waitstaff for reccomendations.

thanks!

susanna

Here are my personal guidelines, I only do the percent thing on restaurant bills.

Bike tour: I think that this is about 4 hours and costs about 30E. If I like the guide and there are a lot of people on the tour , 5E, if there were only a few of us, 10E, we have been on a bike tour where we loved the young girl, she kept the 4 of us for about 5 hours, I gave her 20.

Walking tours: usually cost about 10-15E, I will give a 5E if they were GREAT and just a couple of euros if it was just OK, nothing if I didn't like it and there was a huge group of people and I couldn't hear anything.

I recieve tips in my work so I am very comfortable tipping and recieving tips, many people aren't. I don't tend to follow the rules, I try to give them something that they will be able to use, such as enough for a drink or two. I appreciate waiters that try to work with me with my limited language skills in their language, and I also have no problem not giving anything for poor service. After all, the tip is to acknoledge GOOD SERVICE...whether or not tipping is expected or not in what ever country I visit, I have yet to find someone that didn't appreciate a good tip and didn't responded with a warm thank you.

nytraveler

Unless the guide is self-employed and hired directly by you - yes, you should tip. How much depends on the length and quality of the tour and the number of people (and how much attention each one got). I woud give more for a walking tour with only 6 or 8 people than for a larger group.

Christina

I've never taken a bike tour but I do routinely take walking tours in Paris that are run by independent self-employeed French guides. These are open to anyone and cost around 10 euro per person and are listed in Pariscope, etc. They are in French and these folks are running their own walking tour services and are registered with the city. I have never seen anyone tip these guides at the ends of the walk, although these are not your typical American tourist walks, so maybe that is why. In fact, I think I'm the only American I've ever run across on these guides as they are in French.

The guide is running their own business and setting their own prices, I don't even know why you would tip someone in that case. The groups can range from about 6 to 12 people on those. I don't see what the issue is about them being hired directly by you if they are self-employed and setting their own fees. This whole tipping business is something I detest, though, I dont' believe in it in principle. But, as I said, I have never once seen anyone tipping these French guides on these walks.

sweetnsaurer

We are going on several free walking tours in Paris by local volunteers, it would be nice to know what an appropriate tip would be for this situation.
Thanks.

Dukey1

Tipping: expected? by whom?

One poster here once told us that they waited until after a bus tour was concluded to see if anybody else tipped.

IMO tipping is personal and should be based SOLELY on whether or not you feel you received service/information worthy of some extra money.

We've also been scolded here by one currently posting on another thread and so unnamed on this one who scolded us for coming to Ireland and "spoiling" the locals with tips.

A tip: "You'll never miss it and they'll never forget it" and it says volumes about your own outlook and confidence IMO.

Christina

well, that is a little different than what was discussed in the history, which was reference to walking tours run by businesses or licensed guides who are setting fees.

Those "free" walking tours generally are not really free, but meant for you to pay them, they say it right on their webpage, if it's the ones I am thinking of. They just don't set a fee but you are expected to pay. These aren't "volunteers", they are English-speaking guides doing free-lance walking tours for tips, they aren't doing it for charity or just to be nice, they are doing it to earn money. Is this Discoverwalks? that is a business geared to English-speaking tourists and their own website gives details on how much you are expected to tip for this "free" tour. They say they expect 10 euro, on average, if you think it is okay. That is what I pay for French tours by professional guides licensed by the city and who are listed in Pariscope, etc, under "Conferences", so seems about right. Personally, I wonder if this tipping business is a way for them to avoid income taxes, I don't really get it otherwise, although I suppose they end up with the same amount so that is their marketing gimmick (and I do wonder about the taxes). If this is some other company (I've seen Cityfree also doing this business model), I would imagine they expect the same thing. They are competing with the licensed guides, so in one sense, if they are advertising as being "free", maybe they should be tipped less than what the licensed guides charge.

StuDudley

>>I think I'm the only American I've ever run across on these guides as they are in French. <<

I think this is the key indicator. If we're on tours in regions frequented by Americans (Paris, Dordogne, Provence, Loire) tips are often given to guides. When we are in regions where there are not many (if any) Americans (Auvergne, Picardy, Pas de Calais,) where the tour is in French and the people on the tour seem like Europeans - we see no tips offered by others on the tour.

Of course, if you see a "remember the guide" sign at the exit door - then give a tip.

Stu Dudley

sweetnsaurer

Yes Christina, it is Discoverwalks. We just got back from a wonderful tour of the Right Bank here in Paris. We thought the guide was very knowledgeable and personable. He said that the company keeps the first 5 E (I assume per person) to pay for the advertising etc and he keeps the remaining. Most people tipped 10 E. Yes he did this for his livelihood, much like people in the US who work on a "contract basis" . In the US contractors have to pay their own taxes, as does the company. Don't know how it works here. Either way, my question has successfully been resolved. Thank you for your post.

d_claude_bear

We had two volunteers from Paris Greeter (one was a regular, the other trying it out to see if he wanted to be a volunteer) who spent three hours showing us around the area near our rental apartment--roughly Parc Monceau through Montmartre. We didn't tip them, but did pay for coffee and dessert at an out-of-the-way neighborhood cafe, and both of them gave us their mobile numbers in case we had questions or needed help during the remaining three weeks we would be in Paris.

Paris Greeter is a no-charge volunteer enterprise, alhough their website encourages contributions to pay for overhead expenses.

d_claude_bear

My wife reminds me that the more formal name for Paris Greeter is Parisien d'un Jour.

Patty

I haven't tipped on walking tours with Paris Walks. I bought our guide lunch after a Context Travel tour because we had a fabulous time.

The "free" walking tours that operate as businesses (not Paris Greeter) expect tips and end up costing about the same as the paid tours.