Hello, I'm headed off to Germany at the end of the week and was wondering if someone can give me a run down of when to tip and what percent as well as when not to tip. Thanks! John

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...n=tra&pg=3

Just round it off to the nearest euro. The tip is almost always included in the bill. In Europe tipping largely isn't usually expected. In some countries a waiter is a real serious profession.(France, I know )

Tipping is common in restaurants, for taxi, in hospitals and in casinos. There is no persentage-rate, it is more a rounding of the bill. The amount is depending on your feeling and on the total amount of the bill. A few cent for a caffee is o.k., but the amount should be a little higher for a more expensive dinner.

tom22 – tipping in HOSPITALS? Who and why?

the nurses receive a tipp for their service & support. Tyically they have a collection for all nurces within the department(called: "Kaffeekasse&quot.

A 10% tip is expectcted in restaurants. However, there is no "need" to tip.

This has all the info you need. It`s accurate and free to download. Its the german governments "handbook" for migrants.

http://www.handbuch-deutschland.de/p...land_de-en.pdf

Do a serach before posting does help as well... Same questions, same answers, again and again... ;-)

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34588203

waiters as well as taxi drivers and similar service-oriented workers receive a higher salary than in the US, they don´t need the tips as much as their colleagues overseas. Nevertheless, tipping is a nice extra and often expected, not only for particularly good service. Some examples:
I had a cup of coffee in a cafe, being served by the bartender, standing at the bar - I usually don´t tip.
Same situation, but being served at a table. I'd give a small tip. Say, the coffee was 2.80€, I´d either give 3.0€ or maybe 3.50€.
Dinner/Lunch at a pub, one course, just "filling up". Bill would be 15,30€, I´d give 17 €.
Fancy dinner, several courses, 2 persons, bill of 74€. I´d give 80-85€.
Taxi, bill of 12,40€. I´d give 13€.

mmmmmm, maybe German Nurses don't earn as much as here in Spain...but I find really , really strange to tip a nurse. They earn a lot more than I do, no way !!!

John, Hopefully this will reach you before you leave. Advice from a family member who has lived in Berlin for several years. In bars, cafes, restaurants etc it's just a matter of rounding up the bill to the nearest convenient number, often just giving them whole Euros and telling them to keep the change. If you want some change back the German way to do it is to hand over the money and tell them how much to take. So if the bill is 12 euros you could hand over 15 and say "thirteen", they'll keep a 1 Euro tip and you'll get 2 back. Otherwise if you just hand over the 15 euros they might "misinterpret" this as meaning you're leaving a 3 euro tip. Apparently it's considered very insulting to tip in the British way by leaving money on the table as you leave a restaurant.

> it's considered very insulting to tip in the British
It would be very difficult for you to insult sombody, while leaving a tip. I would suggest to throw the money on the ground plus do some shouting (mayb bl..y stu.. Krauts), if you intend to insult your waiter /waitress
In Munich a 10% tip is usually expected everywhere. Berlin may be different as they earn a lot less money up there ;-)

When my daughter worked as a barmaid in London, she would not have minded a tip at all being from canada but she was often tipped in drinks. That led to some sloppy service till she realized one did not have to drink every tip!:}