Private tour guide in Italy: tip or no?
 

I do NOT want to start another insult hurling thread, just want to know what the custom is in Italy for a private guide with a car, taking just the two of us on a 3 or 4 hour tour.

He works through a tour agency and the fee will be about 300 euros. I'm stymied and don't want to do the wrong thing.

You pay enough with the agreed fee. Unless the tour guide does something outside his/her responsibilities to please you, I don't see why you should pay more than what you agreed on. If the agency thinks 300 Euro is not enough, they can raise the prices.

We had a private guide/driver for the Amalfi Coast. We decided to tip 10% of the tour cost because 1) we thought he did a great job; and 2) we realized that he worked for an agency and probably wasn't getting the full amount of Euros quoted to us for the trip. In talking to fellow travelers, we found that 10% was the average tip if one decided to tip. Hope that helps.

patandhank is correct. You tip unless the private guide is working for him/herself. And 10% feels about right.

Thank you Doug & Patetc. This will be our first tour guide ever and I didn't have a clue.