Please sign in to post.

Tipping Questions

Posted by (New Hampshire) on

Hello,

I'll be traveling to Prague this summer and had a couple of questions about tipping. I've already seen enough videos on Prague that say 10% is a normal tip when in restaurants. My questions are about other types of tipping.

1) I'm going to be taking a "free" walking tour. About 3 hours, on the day I arrive. I have never taken any kind of tour, so what is a "standard" tip for a free tour that you enjoyed?

2) I will also be taking a private/small group tours that are not free. One will be at the Prague Castle and the other at the Vysehrad Fortress. These are paid tours, the castle I think is about $57 USD, the Fortress is a bit more expensive at around $240 USD. When paying for tours, especially the $240 tour, am I supposed to tip the guide? I know I don't have to, but what is the proper etiquette?

3) and finally, I paid my hotel for a pickup at the airport, I assume standard etiquette is to tip the driver a few bucks?

Thank you!

Posted by
30243 posts

Here's the thing about the "free" tours: The company advertising the tour doesn't pay the guides anything. In fact, the company charges each guide a head tax for every traveler who shows up to take the tour. At some point pre-COVID, Rick estimated guides were being charged 4 or 5 euros, I think. I'd guess it's a minimum of (the equivalent of) 5 euros by now. Since the guide starts out seriously in the hole, it's important to tip fairly. I normally tip an amount roughly equal to what I'd pay for a not-free, public walking tour of the same length. In the past, that might have been 15 euros for a 2-hour tour; that's probably a bit light, now, and it seems you're looking at a 3-hour tour. I'd say at least the equivalent of 20 euros in Prague. It would be a bit higher, I think, for a 3-hour tour in Paris or London.

I do not like the "free"-tour business model, so I opt for standard, paid tours wherever possible and have taken very, very few "free" tours--none since 2018 that I can recall.

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.