Free Wallking Tour Tipping

I have no idea about your private tour, but I can explain how the “free” tours work. They will take a picture of the people going on the tour when it starts. The guide will then be charged by the company for each person in the photo. The guide depends on tips to make money and not have to pay the company more than they receive in tips. I would say a minimum of €10 per person and more if you were happy with the tour.

Agree with Andrea's response. Guides are usually charged per capita, and their pay is the surplus of the tips less the head fees taken by the company. So not only is the compensation to the guide contingent on tips, they need the tips to just break even. 10-20 Euros per person seems reasonable.

I've never taken one because I've been uncomfortable with the concept and the thought of being stressed during the tour of what to pay. Here's a couple articles I found on the business model of free tours.

The first describes a typical model where the guide pays the tour company $4 per person and keeps the rest (article is from 2019). https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/free-tour-business-model-why-its-broken-john-o-sullivan#:~:text=Guides%20pay%20a%20fixed%20cost,the%20tour%20has%20been%20worth.

The 2nd article just says the marketing fee the guide pays the company varies from place to place and timing of the tour, but the typical tip is €10-20pp.
https://medium.com/@olga.rub/free-walking-tours-101-19be37de4a24

After reading these I've learned that guides usually work two models; the tipping model and the traditional model of paying upfront for a tour and the guide also gets a guaranteed payment. In that case, it makes sense that if I've paid upfront, than an additional tip at the end is not necessary.

I think 10 to 20 EUR per person is about right. I would consider what commercial companies charge for similar group walking tours and adjust up or down based on quality. For example, London Walks charges 15 GBP which is about 17 EUR. Paris Walks charges 25 EUR.

I’ve only taken one “free” tour (in Krakow, Poland) and I was pleasantly surprised. The guide was a young guy who had recently finished a degree in tourism and was very knowledgeable about the city and Polish history. The downside was that it was a large group (at least 30). They passed an envelope around at the end for payment. Because the tour was good quality, I think I paid the equivalent of what London Walks was charging at the time.

I hate that business model but have occasionally taken a "free" tour when it seemed the only game in town. My usual tip is in the 15-euro range; all such tours have been in central or eastern Europe, where costs tend to be lower.

I was in Tallinn earlier this month and heard a tourist office employee mention an upcoming walking tour to another traveler. I said I wanted to sign up and asked the price. It was a "free" tour with the guide working for tips. I was surprised the T.O. had an arrangement with that sort of company. The guide was knowledgeable and a native English speaker. He worked hard, answered questions and gave us a tour that lasted nearly 2-1/2 hours. I gave him 20 euros. I doubt if others handed over that much, but it was a fair-sized group, so I hope giving the tour was worth it for him.

I usually tip €10 per person. I took the free walking tour of the Bari Gotic in Barcelona with Runner Bean Tour and enjoyed it.

As of 2016 the tourist office offered a well-priced tour of the Barri Gotic. The tour was very good, and our group was quite a bit smaller than the "free" tour groups in the same area at the same time. I always prefer tours run or ticketed by the T.O. when they are available, because I have more confidence in their accuracy. That said, I recall multiple positive comments about Runner Bean on this forum.

I have done may free tours by foot, specifically in Venice, Florence, Rome, New Orleans, Paris, London, Boston and they have all exceeded our expectations. Tour guides were professional and shared a wealth of knowledge about their cities. Fantastic. Don't stress about the tip, but 10 -20 euros pp seems to be the average.