Tipping, Central Europe?
 

In Germany if you liked the service then round up to the next euro amount or thereabouts, and tell them when you pay. Don't leave coins or notes on the table, that's not considered good form. So 28 euros would probably get rounded up to thirty, 10.60 up to 11 euros, and so on. The practice is different for hairdressers, there tips are expected if you liked the work, at least this is the case in my experience. Not sure of the percentage.

Lavandula

What lavandula said for Germany. Service is included, but a tip is appreciated.

Service is included in restaurants in the Czech Republic, too, although the check sometimes claims differently. Tip is not included and appreciated. Same here, I round up from 380 Kc to 400 Kc. Not more than 20 or 30 Kc or (if the amount is higher) 5%, though. No idea about walking tours, I never booked one in the Czech Republic ...

Frankly, you don't need to worry about tips. It is not a *must*.

You're doing well to ask -- good job! (Though why your guidebook doesn't cover this quesiton is another matter.....)
https://www.fodors.com/news/a-foodie...in-europe-1892

Oh, the guidebook probably covered it, but I popped the guidebook in the library return slot this afternoon without checking, whoops! Thanks. Very unlikely to get my hair done, but never say never, I suppose!

It was the "must" bit I was wondering about, Ingo. I don't mind tipping but I couldn't tell what was expected. Rounding up is what I did last time, while 15% would put it in the US mindset.

Service is included in Austria (and Germany).
Any price advertised to the end consumer must be the final total, including taxes or any other charges.
A nowadays common nuisance in touristy places like the city center of Vienna (or Munich or Berlin):
Cafes and restaurants print on the bill in bold letter "TIP NOT INCLUDED!!!" (always in English).
Which is legally correct as any tip is total voluntary and has nothing to do with the amount of money you owe the restaurant.
But the purpose of this is obviously to make especially tourists from the US believe that they should add 20% or at least 15%.

Just ignore it.

Happened to me in Prague in even worse version: "Service not included." Which is nonsense.

We round up, although sometimes we leave extra (never more than 10%) if we're completely new to the place or the cuisine and end up asking lots of questions and taking more of the server's time than usual. For example, the first time we went to Mama Liu's and Kulinarium 7 in Vienna (both highly recommended). At Mama Liu the friendly, English-speaking waiter gave us a detailed explanation of the sauces, the order of putting the ingredients into the hot pot, which appetizers we would probably enjoy most based on our taste etc. At Kulinarium 7, we knew very little about Dalmation cuisine (inc the wine), so again, lots of questions.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura..._7-Vienna.html
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round up to the Euro or tens of Euros please, please leave us our cultural norms.

Nothing more to add except to say that tipping is generally more relaxed in Europe as compared to some other places. What I mean is that there is much less a feeling of 'right' and 'wrong' around tipping and practices will vary more widely as compared to the US. While many Americans are worried about not making tipping 'errors', when they travel overseas, Europeans don't really give it too much thought at home or abroad. For example, I don't think you'll find many Italians, for example, diligently researching tipping practices in Poland for an upcoming trip.

What exactly is the difference between "service" and "tip"?

I thought in Europe, you were supposed to leave the tip on the table in cash. No?

When presenting the bill we've had a number of servers in Europe say to us that the tip is not included, which in my mind is more likely to cause me to leave less. We always leave something but not like we do in the U.S. and a server making a point of this makes me want to leave zero, zip, zilch, diddly-squat...

Service is that the waiter / the waitress brings/takes the food/beverages, advises you etc. They get a salary for that, hence it is included in the price that you see listed on the menu. You are free to give them an additional amount of money - a tip - if you are happy with the service.

Service is, well, the fact that you're sitting at a table and someone brings you your food and drinks.
In many countries this is or must be included in the bill. Just like taxes.
If you order a pizza for €9 and a beer for €3 in Germany or Austria, your total bill will say €12, taxes and service included.
That's the final number. You pay €12, you leave.

In some countries, service may not be included but a fixed percentage is added to to the final bill, which you should find mentioned on the menu, e.g "Service charge 10%". Pizza €9, beer €3, service charge (10%) €1.20 - your bill will say €13.20. That's the final number.

Tipping is anything you like to give ON TOP of that for GOOD service.
It's totally voluntary, it may be customary or not, depends on the country but it's not as anal as in US where you actually compute 15 or 20%.
If you've been satisified with your €12 pizza and beer you can give a €1 or €2 tip. It's absolutely irrelevant if that's a 4.8% or a 16.764% tip.

No, it depends on the country.
If you pay cash, you'll get all the change back on a plate in Spain or Italy.
You can leave what you want and walk away.

The more North you travel, it's more customary to settle the tip the moment you pay the waiter.
Against everything you read here, it's also become customary to add the tip to the CC bill.
Usually you would TELL the total amont bill+tip to the waiter while he/she is getting the CC machine ready.

Typical conversation:
You: The bill, please. And I'd like to pay with credit card.
Waiter comes back with bill and handheld cc machine, gives you the bill.
Sometimes the waiter will also tell you the amount.
"That's 46 euros and 80 cents".
You hand waiter your CC and say "50 euros, please"
Waiter punches 50 into the machine, you enter the PIN, and leave.

While many people will tell you that you should tip in cash, this has become more and more outdated.
If only for the reason that you cannot deduct the tip if it's not on the bill or CC slip.

One of the issues with tipping, at least in the UK, is that if you add a tip on to the DC or CC bill, sometimes the restaurant keeps that tip or only delivers a % of it to the waiting staff. For that reason, many people ask if the staff do get all the tip. If the answer is no, then the temptation is to leave the tip in cash.

The good restaurants pool the tips whether in cash or on cards and divide it equally per person between kitchen and front of house staff, thus encouraging everyone to do a good job. 10% is the norm in the UK for restaurants, rounding up for taxi drivers.

" 10% is the norm in the UK for restaurants, rounding up for taxi drivers. "

It depends, some bills include a 10% for "service included" and an extra tip on top would be odd. It also depends on geography, where the inherent culture has been destroyed by more US practices (London) then a 10% tip is normal. While I'm surprised that Manchester has also succumbed to this situation in Yorkshire the figure is more like 5%

Bang on bilbo. If the bill adds on 10% or whatever, no further tip is required. Manchester's norm is 10% although you won't be treated badly if you tip less. There's a reason Yorkshire folk tip less!