Tipping & Tickets in Italy.

We normally tip guides. the amount depends on the length of tour and the guide. The policy for taxi service is to round up the fare. If you have a special driver - give him/her a few $.

For meals, general advice is to round up. If you go to well recognized tourist restaurants, then the pressure to tip will be more overt. Bars, coffee places and self serve, no need to tip, maybe the remaing small coins at a bar. I have not stayed a place that I felt I needed to tip bellmen, maids, doormen, etc.

As for ticket validation, trams, subway, and buses are an open system, so your ticket is validated on entry and good for a period of time. Validate and verify that the print is mostly legible, especially with multi-day tickets. Keep your current ticket in hand or alone in a pocket, make sure you toss old tickets, they do check, you do not want to shuffle through multiple tickets.

My father was a city bus driver in Florence when I was a small kid.

Taxi drivers make way more than bus drivers in Italy (they are all owners of their taxicabs, not employees of a company).

If you leave a tip to a taxi driver in Italy (which nobody does) it is my expectation that out of fairness (and guilt) you leave a much bigger tip to city bus drivers when you use a bus.

I had a tough childhood in Florence because of the North American tourists’ failure to leave a tip to my dad, while the taxi drivers’ children who went to school with me could afford much fancier toys than I could.

In all seriousness, tipping in Italy is not the same as it is in North America. Here, it is a significant part of many service employees income. In Italy, most service employees are paid a decent, living wage with benefits regulated by the state. Tipping is generally not expected or needed, and those that ask or pressure are just trying to scam you since many North Americans are used to tipping.

Having said that, it's fine to tip a tour guide for a good tour. With taxis and waiters, many round up to the nearest whole number, if for no other reason than to avoid loose change. Tips should be given directly, not left on a table. Even if you do receive great or extra service and want to give a little something more, it generally shouldn't be more than a couple euro or 10% without going overboard.

Any bus or train ticket that is not for a specific train and seat will need to be validated. Look for validation boxes at the ends of platforms and near the bus entry. Don't forget to validate and always keep your ticket until your ride is completely over and you are out of the arrival station.

You are changing "the table sometimes round up the bill at restaurants when there is a real reason to" into "italians usually round up the bill".

Italians don't, Italians usually wait for their change and go away.

Tipping taxi drivers makes no sense, if you really have money to waste there are lot of charities.

Coin change in the Euro world can be quite a bit of money, since the smallest bill is 5€. Rounding up a few cents is one thing, but rounding up a couple euro (let’s say paying 30€ instead of 28€) means giving up two espressos or one glass of prosecco.

Thank you for all your tips and information. they really helped me.

I'd tip a private tour guide—the relationship is much closer than most others in the service industries. I used to round up taxi fares. But I don't any more, because of one time. This was in Perugia, and the fare was €13.50. I gave the driver €15 and told him that that was fine. He insisted on giving me the change. In restaurants, just don't. In fact, I usually don't wait at the table for the tab. I go up to the cashier/captain's area. They know your table and will total up your bill. Just pay that. In bars, don't tip, but if you're feeling generous, pay for another coffee. The barista will give a free coffee to someone who looks like he or she needs it. Most waiters, baristas, etc., are paid a decent-for-Italy salary, which unfortunately is much lower than some salaries in the U.S. and Canada. The good side of that is once you're out of the tourist zones and where real people live and work, prices are much, much gentler. My grocery bill in Italy, for example, is half of what I pay for similar food in New York.

if you're feeling generous, pay for another coffee. The barista will give a free coffee to someone who looks like he or she needs it.

This is a southern, mostly neapolitan, tradition that is almost unheard of In the northern regions. Do it in Piedmont and all you'll get is a puzzled face.

Incidentally, even in Naples many bars do not want people so poor to enter and ask if there is a "suspended coffee" anymore.