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Private Tour Tipping/Multi Day,especially Romania

Posted by (S.F Bay Area (Marin)) on

No Romania forum so I am posting in General.

I have looked through previous posts but have found nothing specific to Romania.
I have searched on the internet and the advice is all over the place.

My wife and I will be on a private tour in Romania. It is listed as 5 days but in fact is 3 days driving bookended by 2 nights in Bucharest with no tour.

I prefer a per day amount rather than a percentage because that just seems more relevant to me but I want to do what is appropriate . Based on what some information I saw for the 3 days an appropriate tip would be about 500 Romanian Leu, which is just over $100. Doesn't seem like that much by US standards but by Romanian? Others say 10 percent or more which would be triple the other recommendations. I get the feeling that some of these websites are used to promote extra tipping from Americans.

Any suggestions? What have you done in Romania or other locations? I want to do what is right but don't want to massively under or over tip.

Thanks!

Posted by
5522 posts

I had a private tour in Romania albeit not a multi day one such as yours. I did not tip the guide as there was no reason to. She charged a set fee and that is what I paid. I'm assuming your private tour is not free so why do you feel the need to tip?

Posted by
19948 posts

There are those that will say "Tipping in Europe" is not a thing.

But tipping is part of Romanian culture.

20 to 40 lei a day is adequate to be polite, but if you loved the guide and the experience then you do what feels good to you. Even 10% I dont think will be more than USD25 a day unless you have an expensive guide.

Where did i get this? Two guides I know in Romania, 3 trips to Romania and a little verification on the internvet.

Oh, if it is a self employed guide, tipping can be in a grey area. But I would. It's just not that expensive to express gratitude especially when you earn 10 to 20 times what the guide does.

Posted by
8161 posts

$100 for a three day tour is too much.

On our last two week tour of Egypt, we tipped our guide $200 for the two of us. That was more than the tour company recommended.

I would recommend $20 per day for two persons.

Posted by
287 posts

Thanks all for your comments...

JC... In a perfect world there would be no tipping but in the real world in some places tips are an integral part of a service person's
salary . It should not be that way. Prices should include all that but they don't. So I expect to tip in those places where it is expected. I will not protest this by withholding the tip from the employee as it is not their call.

On Rick Steves Tours there is a stated no tip policy because he prefers to pay an adequate salary. Most tours state that tips are expected.

geovagriffith... Was your tour a group or private? On group tours there is a multipier effect so that would make sense but not so on a private.

Mr. E.... your comments.. resonate the most with me. I would rather show more appreciation than not enough. If we are traveling, we can certainly afford it.
I am likely to give 500 leu and maybe a lunch or 2 if all goes well unless I get convincing comments beore my tour which is this comi g Saturday.

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