Tipping in Italy: all you need to know. When to tip, when not to and why the difference matters

All you need to know about tipping in Italy: when to tip, how much to leave, how to do it.

Tipping in Italy is a common gesture to show appreciation for services received and, during your travels, you will likely see people tipping in cafes, restaurants and other selected situations.

However, leaving a tip is not as widespread a practice as, for instance, in the United States and it very different when it comes to the amounts expected and the situation in which tipping is considered appropriate.

Even when it is done, the amount given is often lower than what you may be used to back home.

Deciding how much to leave as a tip in Italy is a delicate act for you and for the professional you are tipping.

For you as I know that if you come from a high tipping culture, not leaving a tip may genuinely make you very uncomfortable (but bear with me, see below why it is good to do it our way while in Italy!)

For the professional as a tip can easily come across and condescending or that you are feeling sorry for them

Not knowing how much to tip can be stressful so, today, I have put together this guide that I hope answers all your tipping in Italy questions.

We will look at:

Tipping etiquette in Italy

When it is appropriate to tip in Italy

How much to tip in common situations you may encounter during your Italian vacation.

Tipping in Italy TL;DR

In Italy, WE DO NOT TIP FOR PAID SERVICES.

This means that we do not tip taxi drivers/ chauffeurs, tour guides, golf cart drivers or any other professional whose services you have paid for: all these professionals are paid for their work and their salary is covered by the cost of the service you have bough.

The only time we leave a small gratuity is often at a restaurant, in the form of few euro at the end of the meal (see below). This is never compulsory, but it is common especially in Rome and the South.

Why it is important to tip like Italians

Following Italian tipping rules is important.

Let me state this again: In Italy, we do not tip for paid services. And this is why:

One of the reasons why tours in Italy are expensive is that their cost also covers the salary (and all the tax and relevant protections that come with a salary) of the people who provide the service.

Tipping on top of this salary is therefore not only unnecessary but potentially problematic.

First of all, tipping generously gives an excuse to the employers to pay professionals less, since ‘they’ll get tips anyway’. This is not right!

A salary comes with protections while tips do not: by tipping generously, you feel you are doing right to them but in reality, but contribute to them having less protection and less right to negotiate a proper salary with their employer.

Also, it may come across as rude: tipping them basically tells them you have reason to believe they are not appropriately paid

Last but not least, and this is crucial: cash is untraceable and never gets taxed.

With the level of tourism we get, what may seem like a general gesture to you, is a way to contribute to tax evasion which is rampant in Italy as tips amount to rivers of untraceable cash. Untraceable cash means that the few that pay tax (because they get paid above board) have to bear the burden of those who wrongly do not.

If you want to be a respectful, sustainable visitor, please follow local tipping rules.

What is the rule for tipping in Italy?

The rule about tipping in Italy is that we do not tip for paid services, with very few exceptions.

In restaurants in the South (Rome and below), leaving a tip at a restaurant for instance is a courteous gesture that shows the person who provided a service to you, that you appreciated their help.

Leaving a tip is entirely up to you and never mandatory.

However, there are situations when not leaving a tip can come across as rude and a sign that you were unhappy with what you got.

My rule of thumb for tipping is: in restaurants, if happy with the experience, tip (see below how much is appropriate)

For other paid services, do not. Also: we never tip the owner of a business.

Since tipping in Italy is not mandatory, you will find local people tipping differently from each other, based on family habits and where they grew up.

I am from Rome and I always tip at the end of a meal if I am happy. I also usually round up the change for taxi drivers (if they are nice), I tip junior staff at the hairdresser and the (literally) poor immigrant at the petrol station if they go above and beyond helping me with something.

For this guide, I put together what I do and what I have observed to be the most common practice from friends and visitors.

When to tip in Italy and how much to tip: overview

Where you are	Is tipping common?	How much to tip	How to do it
Restaurant	Yes	A few Euro, up to 10% of the bill	Leave cash on the table when leaving or tell your waiter to keep the change
Coffee at a ‘bar’	No	Up to 20c	leave a coin in the tipping jar if available or hand the coin when placing your order
Brunch, sit down breakfast, small sit down meal, aperitivo with food, etc	Yes	1-2 Euro, up to 10% of the bill	Leave cash on the table when leaving or tell your waiter to keep the change
Taxi drivers (short trips)	No, but increasingly so	Round up the charge up to a couple of euro	Tell the driver to keep the change or give cash
Tour guides (free tours)	Yes, since this is not really a tip, more a ‘pay what you want’ type arrangement	Whatever you feel appropriate for the service you go	Cash at the end
Tour guides (paid tours)	No	This is not an Italian custom. US visitors tend to tip like back home but there is no standard rule as in Italy it is not done
Hotel porters	Yes	1 Euro per bag, usually up to 5 Euro	Cash
Hotel housekeeping	No, but appreciated for longer stays	No standard amount	Cash at the end of the stay, to the person or via the reception desk
Hairdresser	Junior staff only	5 Euro	Give cash to the person who did your hair after settling your bill at reception
Petrol station	Only for extra services such as checking your oil or tire pressure, clean glass etc	Up to a couple of Euro	Cash

Tipping in Italy: when not to do it

In Italy, you never tip a paid professional.

In Italy, we also do not tip the owner of a business.

At the hairdresser’s, you may leave tip to the junior member of staff doing your styling but not to the owner who has their name on the salon door.

The same goes for small business owners such as owners of guesthouses or family restaurants

We also do not tip for gelato or street food (it is kind however to tip for food delivery to your home).

We also never leave a tip if we are unhappy with the service.

If you are less than satisfied with the service, never feel obliged to leave a gratuity: the service you paid for covers the salary of the person who worked for you.

Anything on top of it is a sign of appreciation and of outstanding service: only leave it if you feel it is deserved.

How to tip in Italy

You usually leave a tip in cash, even when paying by card.

In many cases, it is not possible to add your gratuity to the bill on the card machine as the amount needs to match the one on the till.

It is good practice to keep change on you: if possible, opt for larger coins (50c, 1 and 2 Euro) over coppers. To avoid coming across as rude or condescending, do not leave a handful of 1c or 2c Euro coins and don’t go overboard with big notes for small services.

20 or 50 Euro notes are big amounts and can be voluntary payment towards a free tour, but they are too much as a gratuity.

Tipping your tour guide

Tour guides in Italy are paid professionals and therefore we do not tip them.

They are trained professionals, very often owners of their own business (even if they work under the umbrella of a bigger operator) and their salary is covered by the high cost you have already paid for your tours.

Sometimes, since they know that Americans come from a different tipping culture, they will put pressure on you to leave a tip and guilt trap you. Please, do not fall for this pressure and remember what we said above tax and salary protections!

Free tours usually count on voluntary contributions: a few euro per person are usually appreciated.

Tipping taxi drivers in Italy

Tipping taxi drivers is becoming increasingly common in Italy, especially if you get a driver who is particularly helpful with your bags, makes sure you are comfortable during the trip or goes out of their way to get somewhere fast/avoid traffic.

The most common way to tip a taxi driver is by telling them to keep the change. A taxi charge of 9.50 Euro can easily be rounded up to 10.

Taxi cars on the city street. Rome taxi sign, Italy

Tipping private drivers in Italy

Private drivers are paid professionals and therefore we do not tip them.

Tipping in Italian restaurants

I always leave a tip at the end of a nice meal in an Italian restaurant.

The amount depends on the bill total, how happy I was with the meal and the type of restaurant you are at.

In general, I find myself leaving a couple of Euro for smaller meals or telling the waiter to keep the change.

You may go as high as leaving close to 10% of the bill however, this would be considered rather generous unless you are in a high scale establishment: do not feel pressured into it by what you may be used to back home.

To give a practical example, if you have a restaurant bill of 37 Euro, it would be common to leave 40 Euro and just not ask for change.

It would also, however, be acceptable to leave just a 2 Euro coin, for instance, if you are paying by card and this is what you have handy to leave on the table.

Need to know! You often read articles saying that you don’t tip in Italian restaurants as the tip is already included in charges such as ‘coperto’ (cover charge) or ‘servizio’.

This is not entirely correct.

‘Coperto’, is not a charge that goes to the waiter but a charge that covers the space used during the service and things such as use cutlery, tablecloths etc.

‘Servizio’ on the other hand is a service charge. Servizio goes to the owner, not the staff, but it is common not to leave a tip if services is included.

‘Coperto’ on the other hand has no bearing on your decision to tip or not.

Coperto is a controversial charge.

It dates back from the Middle Ages and makes little sense nowadays, so much so that conversations are ongoing about banning it entirely.

Lazio, the region of Rome, has banned it (read about tipping in Rome here) and national legislation requires coperto and service charge to be explicitly indicated on the price list. You can find official rules (in Italian) here.

Tipping in Italy when ordering coffee

If you order your coffee standing up at the bar, you do not need to tip.

You usually pay for your coffee at the till, get a receipt and then head to place your order: if you got change of 10c or 20c, you can use that coin as a tip, either putting it on the bar with the receipt or dropping it into the tipping jar, if available.

I personally never tip for coffee however, you may come across locals who do. Either approach is ok.

Tipping in Italian hotels

Tipping in Italian hotels is not common for short stays, in B&Bs and guesthouses and not a rule for long stays.

However, in bigger hotels with a porter, a waiter who regularly serves you at meals or in the case of longer stays, tipping is appreciated.

A tip of 1 Euro per bag to the porter is common and for a longer stay is a nice gesture towards a waiter who looked after your consistently during the stay or for an outstanding housekeeper. For instance, we are recurring clients to a specific hotel and stay for up to 2 weeks at a time: we usually leave 50 euro to reception to split among the staff. This is by no means mandatory.

I hope you found this essential guide to Italian tipping rules useful. Safe travels!

Planning a trip to Italy? Don’t forget to also check out our 100+ Italy travel tips and our guide to planning a first trip to Italy!