Tipping in Paris

taxis are not tipped unless extraordinary service e.g. carry your bags into the hotel or something

Restaurants are not tipped.

Free walking tours should be tipped but I think Paris Greeters actually has a no tipping policy and asks for donations to the organization to support t.

Basically -- this is not a tipping culture; workers are paid; workers all have health care provided. US norms don't apply.

If you decide to tip your hotel cleaner, hand the money directly to the person who has done the work; don't leave it in the room for a supervisor to take.

Thanks - I see now on the Paris Greeters site not to tip!

Actually we do tip somewhat, but not like in the US. My husband and I always round up for a taxi driver or give a euro or two; those taxi medallions cost a huge amount and they barely make ends meet. It's the same for Bolt which we use instead of Uber. Hotel: two per day for the housekeeper in the hotel or maybe three. All of the food delivery riders are living on tips. Round up a restaurant bill if you want to or a couple of euros on the table. But Janet is correct that most people are salaried, though much lower than in the US, and have benefits. If a waiter sticks a bill under your nose and wants a 10% tip, ignore it.

Thanks Elizabeth, good to hear from someone who actually lives in France.

And thanks for the explanation about Paris Greeters, I was curious after BostonPhil's TR, hadn't heard of them before, sounds like a lovely organization that's justifiably proud of Paris.

You're going to find that some places now will give Americans the opportunity to tip when they pay by card. They have caught on that there's money to be made in a culture that wants to force theirs on them.

My response is almost identical to Elizabeth's. I always tip at restaurants, bars and cafes -- but just a couple of euros for a normal meal, maybe 10 or 20 if a special outing. I also tip for cabs and Bolts. But again, the amount I tip is much less than what I tip in the States.

For housekeeping, I never know what to leave (neither in the United States nor here ). A couple of euros per day ....

I was just in Paris, and several times was presented with a card reader in restaurants that had tipping options. I assume they are trying this with Americans. I felt no qualms about bypassing it, and was still thanked warmly.

I never tip. It would be a rare occasion. Tipping is neither expected nor required. If Paris Greeters are not otherwise paid, tip 10€ to 20€.

We tip at very ,very nice restaurants but maybe 10 percent.

That's it. Glad I wasn't around for the days you tipped the person at the cinema to show you to your seat.

I just came home from 3 weeks in Paris. I used Apple Pay the whole time for everything including meals. There was no tip option on the contactless readers for Apple Pay so I always just said "Add 3 euro please". I did ask one of the waiters with whom I had been chatting and he said, yes, he did get the tip when left that way. I was having lunch with a friend and we asked the waiter if we could split the bill. He was calculating that and then I asked him to add 3 to mine. He calculated it, I paid and then he said with some chagrin, oops, I added 4. That was fine because he clearly had just made an error so we laughed.

Taxi - I also did that with the taxi driver from the taxi stand at the airport. On the way back to the airport I booked ahead with the G7 app and have that set to automatically add 3E.

Tour guide tip? Depends on the situation. IF it is an owner, no tip. If it is an employee, probably a tip depending on the experience.

I do try to leave the housekeeper 2E daily. I had to laugh....the first day I only left 1E because that was all I had. The next day I left 2E and subsequently got a several Madeleines left on my pillow, hahaha.

I did an Air BnB experience with an artist and did not tip. No one else did either and afterward I wondered if I should. Instead I named her and her experience in my Trip Report and hopefully that will generate some business for her, lol.

I honestly have difficulty amassing change. Even trying to buy a bottle of water at the grocery store per day so I can get a few coins is hard, hahaha. Very few have change any more so if I was paying with a 10E note I would get back a 5 plus coins and the staff member did not have enough coins to give me change for the 5. This time I even tried to crack a 50E note leftover from last October's trip when that was all the ATM would give me and the bigger Franprix in my area was unable to do that.

What I noticed is that when the waiter/waitress/owner of a restaurant in Paris brought the credit card machine, they just took your card, swiped/tapped and handed your card back (and perhaps a receipt.) and said merci. So refreshing not to get handed the machine where before anything else, you have the option to choose 20%, 22%, 25% tip. Ugh (we're in So Cal)
So we do keep some cash on hand to leave a small tip. I could not believe how inexpensive meals seemed in Paris compared to California; which used to be reversed.

I think the main thing is not to impose American tipping which results in Americans being singled out for begging for tips.

The apartment we stay in is as far from CDG as possible so I do round up the taxi bill. And I think hotel maids have a really awful job (I know people who did this in europe and their stories wow) so I do give a couple Euros a night directly to the person who cleans my room. And sometimes a little rounding of the bill in a cafe or a Euro on the table.

But. tipping is not a big cultural norm and you don't have to be adding 20 % to everything as we do in the states.

Americans just cannot, not tip. It's a habit that some consider crass and completely unnecessary. When I dine in the US, I tip. Whether in France, Japan, or New Zealand or most other locations, I do not tip. I make every effort to follow the local norms, never assuming, not wanting to impose my personal prejudices.

The last time I left a tip in Paris was at Granite, a fabulous dining experience, and I very comfortably left 10€ on a 500€ tab.

The tension usually boils down to a clash of deeply ingrained economic habits, corporate opportunism, and simple cultural misunderstanding rather than a coordinated effort by everyday Americans to rewrite European social rules. Americans are conditioned to view tipping as a moral obligation. To an American traveler, not tipping feels like stealing from or insulting the server. When they travel to Europe, that anxiety doesn't just disappear. They just cannot think outside of the confines of the culture they grew up in.

In the US not tipping IS stealing service because that is how waiters in particular are paid. And in the US low wage jobs often or usually don't provide health care and health insurance in the US sitll leaves people with enormous bills. But it is on AMericans to understand the culture they are in and not impose those norms in other countries. I wish we could abolish the practice in the US and just pay people better and create a health care system that serves the interests of the people -- but not happening anytime soon.

Janet, I'll bet everyone in the US feels exactly as you do....except the restaurant owners.

OT, but I have become completely fed up with places that ask for a tip for handing me a cold sandwich, pastry or hot coffee over the counter. I understand tipping the barista when I order a cappuccino (a rarity for me), or for actual wait service, but absolutely everyone in the US has their tip hand extended. And the "suggested" amounts start at 20% and head north from there. And they calculate on the tax-added amount. Pfui.

Looking forward to living in the rare-tip environment of France. Dining out is much less expensive there, and the tax is already included in the price of the meal as well. A 50-euro meal actually costs you 50 euros; a $50 meal in the US will cost you at least $80 when everything is added up.

Even with the current terrible exchange rate our meals out are a bargain without 10-15% in added taxes and then a 20% tip added on. Our biggest meal so far was 80 Euro for the two of us at a wonderful little neighborhood gem -- and that i what it cost -- no added charges.

What Pam said! I like to leave 2-3 e for housekeeping but how in the world do you come up with the change when you charge everything most of the time?! I’ve wondered about going into a bank and buying a roll of 1 or 2 e coins. I assume that should be possible? I would love to hear from our Paris or France residents.

Thank you sherryjb for letting me high jack your topic 😁

lyndash, you can't just walk into a French bank and get a roll of coins. Doesn't work that way in France.

It is difficult to accumulate the coins for the housekeeping tips when you are on a short stay because most of the time we use our bank cards for daily expenses. However, when I know I have a hotel stay coming up, I'll break a bill whenever possible and keep the one and two-euro coins for tips. I paid drinks for three at a café today and managed to get two 2-euro coins mixed in the change, a major win.

Thanks for the input, Elizabeth. Surely businesses must be able to get rolls of coins from banks but I guess asking for them to break a €5 bill into coins would not be a done thing either. I’ll just plan on using cash more often than necessary.

Just like anywhere else, the best way to get some coins, whether €1, €2, or 50, 20, and 10 cents coins , is to pay in cash. Nothing new there.

By using €10 or €20 bills for a few well-planned purchases calculated to give you some change back, you should end up with some coins for tipping, or even to buy a croissant or baguette at the bakery, or a quick espresso at a bistro.

+1 for JoLui’s response. Dead simple to get coins. I usually end up with a heavy coin purse after about day 3. Then I try mightily to get rid of them before I leave.