I always leave a tip even when the service is included. Of course not 15-20% but in 60€ bill i may leave 3-4€tip unless i didn't like my waiter at all! Then i leave nothing and make a statement!

Hi C,

>Then i leave nothing and make a statement!

I leave a penny, if I wish to make a statement. That way the waiter knows that you didn't just forget.

((I))

You have a point :-)
But if i leave a penny, then he may think that i'm just scrooge..!!

I'm new to this board, but I find this thread fascinating. Such strong views about tipping, of all things.

I travel alone on business quite a bit. If anyone is interested, I scatter my money around almost everywhere I go. I leave a few coins on the breakfast table at the hotel and a few euros for the housekeeping staff when I check out. I tip porters and anyone who goes to some effort to assist me. I leave the (small) change from lunch and dinner bills.

All of these people may think I'm crazy (and maybe I am), but they also remember me if/when I return and certainly treat me very well.

apirone, my husband thinks the same way yours does. After reading this he will make the change and not leave large tips, but it's also our first time going to Italy next week, and what did we know about this. I was planning to ask the same question before we went. Why is it "arrogant" or not "normal logic", when one thinks this way. This is why questions are asked and if anyone has a difference of opinion or is unsure why do some of you have to insult. Really not necessary!!!

Lots of opinons about how to behave when talking to people. :-(

Anyway basically waiters in Italy will make a living wage. Drivers will make a living wage and doormen make a living wage. Tips are normally small and either round up to a 10 or add 5 to 10 % dependng on just how wonderful they have been. I generally do not tip more in an expensive place and probably tip mre in a cheap place because they are les likely to put up with my terrible Italian. To get 10% I think we are talking just short of sexual services! If it helps think "do I ever tip my lawyer"

What is worth doing is think about hotel staff. If staying in a hotel for a period of time I might (repeat might) leave the cleaning staff a tip at the start of the stay (slighlty unusual but 10 euros ensures the room is always nice)

Finally Italy does have other problems and I would recommned surfing the threads about sexual mollestation, Roumanian Gypseys, Columbian pic pockets etc. Once armed with the knowledge and not undually afeared then have a lovely time.

Please feel free to come back and ask other questions lke this. As other people point out there are a lot of threads on this subject and repetition is frustrating but I still feel we should all feel welcome here

I think some of you need to go back to the beginning and read. Yes, it would be rude if someone came here and simply asked about tipping to tell them they were arrogant not to do what is customary. But read again. Apirone clearly knew that it is not customary to tip as much in Italy as at home, yet she was clearly saying her husband wanted to do that in spite of what is local custom. "Arrogant" may have been a somewhat harsh word to use, but what would you call it when someone says, "we're going to do it our way even though we know it isn't customary". She was even asking what the reaction was going to be when they did it, and she was told.

And what St.Cirq did say in reference to the attitude of "showing we are Americans" by tipping more than the norm was "Just curious why this would not strike you as arrogant and well, kind of the classic Ugly American?" That's a question, and not an accusation, for those of you with a reading disability.

Come on people. No one was being called arrogant just because they asked a question about local customs.

I haven't been looking at this message board during our own preparations for Italy in a few days but I kind of think that maybe Apirone was reacting to her husband who sounds a bit like my husband- secretly worried about doing the wrong thing and falling back on "custom" to feel he's covering himself. I've had to go through the info on tips that I've been given (nothing much at restaurants but do tip the chambermaids and taxi drivers) and have reminded my husband a few times already that it will be "ok" to not put a big chunk of money on the restaurant tables- he's needed some reassurance that this really is ok. Some of us just get it, some need to run through it a few times. Lets all lighten up and just enjoy helpful hints and Italy itself!

This is a quintessential question that always got my interest. I seem to get different answers from different people and in fact from the same persons in a different stage of life.

When I was a student, most people in Europe seemed to agree that barely tipping was perfectly adequate in Europe. We also went to simple restaurants. More recently, I've met some of them and they definitely tip 7-10% when we go out to fancy restaurants in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany. They are Europeans not Americans so perhaps tipping may vary even among Europeans.

Hi DAX,

>..they definitely tip 7-10% when we go out to fancy restaurants in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany. <

I have been told that the Germans (maybe the Swiss too) tip more (5-10% seems to be customary) than the French and Italians.

We tipped about 5% in Germany and were neither fawned over nor sneered at.

((I))

This topic is always confusing.

One thing we learned (after we'd done it the wrong way during our entire trip!) is to leave the tip in cash on the table. Do NOT include the tip on the charge card statement, as it might not get to the wait person at all, but instead go to the proprietor. We over-tipped, but put it on the bill itself, so I feel stupid that our wait person probably didn't get it at all.
:)>-

We always tip the maid, porters and waiters in Italy. If we stop for a coffee, we leave 1 euro.

Maid - 1 week stay - 20 euros
Waiter - 5 - 10 euros at lunch and dinner
Porter - 5 euros

Our tips have never been refused and we are always greeted warmly when we return.

auldyins wrote: "Our tips have never been refused and we are always greeted warmly when we return."

Some of us are made welcome on return visits without having to bribe people as much as that.

It's funny that if someone wants to "reward" someone for giving them special or nice service, that others could consider that a bribe. What a negative attitude someone must have to turn a nice gesture into something so insulting.

NeoPatrick, you misinterpret me.

A pre-determined tip of a euro for a coffee is not a measured reward for special or nice service; it's overtipping, a practice almost as inappropriate as undertipping.

I will only agree with you if the poster says they do that even when they get bad service. I rarely if ever have "bad" service in Europe, so leaving a small tip is ALWAYS a reward. If I got bad service I wouldn't leave one.

By no stretch of the imagination would I call leaving a euro for a couple coffees a "bribe".

Tipping the chambermaids is another area of controversy. So is it expected or not?

No, it is not expected. But it would most certainly be appreciated by anyone who receives one. (except those of course who think you're trying to bribe them!).

we have been fortunate never to have bad service the 19 or 20 times we have been in Italy. We would not tip in that case.

No matter how much is said about this, I still feel uncomfortable at times. On our recent trip to France, we really wanted to tip, but were not comfortable with it. At one VERY nice restaurant my husband asked the head waiter what he should do. He really wanted to give them extra as they were all so great. He was told not to leave anything as it was not the way to do in France. We were not made to feel foolish at all. So this is what I believe to be true - if the wait staff, etc. are nice and good people they will not make you feel bad because as Americans we think you should tip. Just ask what is appropriate if it makes you feel better. Happy travels!