Tips on tipping

There have been several discussions, on this site, of the so-called free tours, which you can find using the search function. I said so-called, because the expectation is that you will tip the guide. That's how they make their money. Also, they have to pay the company that organizes the business. Personally, I prefer to pay an up front price. The free tour seems exploitative of the guides and just generally a little shady. Do check the previous postings for a more detailed discussion.

thank you, I gave that a search but without any results.
Best,

Perhaps I can share the guidelines that were given to me as a part of guided tours recently. The suggested tip for a local guide would be $3-$4 per person.

Js,
Thank you for sharing this - but I would assume it would be highly dependent on the country in question, perhaps?
I also find the range rather unusual - $3 to $4, really? Are you supposed to convert it to euro or other local currency? Does it then become, say, 2.56 Swiss Franks or 160 to 212 roubles?

For free tours you should be tipping at a higher level as most of these gudes have to pay the organisers for everyone on the tour.I would suggest something closer to $10-15 in the local currency depending on the lenth and quality of the tour.
on the Tours you are paying for there is no need to tip at all,I know this will be completely alien to you but you DO NOT NEED TO TIP.
if the guide has been good .went out their way and you had a good rapport with them then the equivelent of 2 or 3 dollars is fine. Please tip in local currency i am sure you can work out the exchange rate.

If you are going to pay a 15€ tip, why not go on a higher quality tour that costs 15€ or less, where the guides don't need to pay for you being on their tour? I will never understand the logic of this. Most of these "free Tour" guides have not lived in these cities very long and have only memorized a script.

i would agree.I have a friend who is a tour guide in Prague has his own company and does small group tours of no more than 6 people, he only charges around 25 euros per person for a 2-3 hour tour.
Free tours usually have around 30 people on them sometimes more,not my idea of fun.

I strongly prefer the tours where you pay the flat free up front rather than the 'free' tours that you're expected to tip at the end. This way the guide doesn't have to be paranoid about people slipping away during the tour. On a pay in advance tour, if you've got a kid who starts to get cranky, or the weather starts to turn bad, you're fine just to just drop off at any point, your tour guide has already been paid the 15 Euros (or whatever the upfront cost is.) I've done Beatles tours in London that end at Abbey Road, but since I've seen it a couple of times, I'll often skip that last part of the tour since it involves a tube trip and then a walk to the studio and then back to St John's Wood tube station.

On the 'free' tours, you really are obligated to stick with the tour during the entire duration so you can tip at the end. That's a drawback for me. The pay in advance tours usually have guides who are very knowledgeable about the tour they're leading . Some of the 'free' tours have guides who have basically learned a script and are just doing the job for extra money.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents about why i favor pay in advance tours, hope it helps.

Another thing about the "free tours" is that the guides rarely report their "tips" as income and therefore don't pay taxes. Plus the guides don't have any of the security that comes with being an actual employee. All this gives these tours unfair advantages over the proper tours, where the guides are qualified employees, receive a fixed wage and pay their taxes. "Free tours" are the Uber of the tourist industry.

We have taken the Free Walking Tours in several places and not been disappointed with any of them.

I tipped about 10 Euro pp.

Since this is a thread about tipping, what do you tip the manicurist in London? I might stop for a manicure and need to know the protocol including if the manicurist is the owner of the business. Thanks.

you don't ,you pay for the service,no need to tip

If you let us know which cities you will be visiting, perhaps we can give you some tour company suggestions.

Since this is a thread about tipping, what do you tip the manicurist in London? I might stop for a manicure and need to know the protocol including if the manicurist is the owner of the business. Thanks

Why would you tip the manicurist? They are offering a service for a fee, the fee is what you pay, nothing more, nothing less. Do you pay extra when you buy your groceries or slip the bus driver a few more notes when you buy your ticket? Forget everything about tipping culture in America when you visit Europe, it just isn't the same.

Besides, if the manicurist is the owner of the business rest assured that she's probably doing very well. Also bear in mind that many of the 'nail bars' in the UK are fronts for money laundering from the UK based cannabis production factories that plague towns and cities up and down the UK.

Both commercial and “free” tours have worked well for me. Different models. Due diligence is a prerequisite.