Travelers who first go to a country, in addition to its attractions, are also interested in some nuances of behavior in this country. What to do in certain cases, so as not to cause amazement and sometimes resentment among the local population?
First of all, this concerns the tip. It is no secret that in some countries they can be regarded as a bribe or insulting giving, alms. Therefore, before traveling, you should in advance inquire about such nuances. In this article we will tell you all about tips in Italy: how much euro should be given, how, to whom and in what cases.
It will be useful to remember that in some institutions the cost of services is already included in the total bill. In other cases, the employee, according to the accepted tradition, expects offerings from you.
So, let's look at individual situations in life when you need to tip, and when it is better to refrain from this.
Border
First of all, a foreign tourist arrives at the international airport. If he travels by land, then he crosses the border with the European Union in Poland or in other eastern EU members.
Therefore, when entering Italy from Germany, France or Switzerland, no one will check your passport. The traveler passes border and customs control in only two cases: in air harbors (if the flight arrived from a country that is not a member of the European Union) or in seaports.
Do I need to tip in Italy to the staff of these services? In no case! Any amount of money, no matter how “symbolic” it may be, will be regarded as an attempt to bribe government officials.
In addition to trouble, you will also find a particularly thorough search. The logic is clear. If a person tried to give a bribe, then everything is not in order with his documents or baggage.
Transportation Services
Tipping in Italy is called coperto (pronounced "coperto"). By the way, the locals themselves give them extremely rarely.
The logic of reasoning here is also simple. If an employee of the service sector will receive “for tea” for each work done, then he will demand a copy from all clients. Therefore, in general, he will treat his duties negligently. This is what waiters in Russia often do, serving with subservience only those who can be tipped.
If you hire a porter at the train station or airport, do not tip him. His services are fixed. However, if he is quick and does more than what is required of him (for example, he will call you a taxi, bring you to the front desk of the information service, etc.), then you can thank him for his extra work by paying from 0.5 to 1 euro.
You can also give a gas station employee “for tea”, because the client must insert the right gun into the tank of his car and pay for fuel. If you find it difficult to understand foreign columns, pay an employee (and not another driver who will kindly come to your rescue) from 0.5 to 1 euro (38-76 rubles).
Transport
Is it customary in Italy to tip taxi drivers? It depends on the region.
In tourist places, such as Venice, Florence, Milan, taxi drivers are accustomed to receive from clients from five to seven percent of the total bill. And they will be extremely surprised if you rake all the change in the palm of your hand and leave.
But with a tip, they expect to profit exclusively from foreign tourists. The Italians themselves simply round the score up, that is, leave coins to the taxi driver.
Another thing is if you hired a car with a driver, for example, for a self-guided tour for the whole day. Unlike a simple taxi driver who just takes you from point A to point B, the driver of the car must adapt to your schedule, wait for you, and sometimes entertain with conversation. Therefore, it will be natural to thank him for his work worth ten euros (760 rubles).
Cafes, bars, pizzerias
According to Italy travel guides, tips in this country are usually paid in the amount of 10 percent of the amount of the order. But it is not so.
In fast food establishments, tips are not accepted. Therefore, in pizzerias relax and calmly wait for your order.
In Italian cafes, as well as in French, there is a rule that tourists need to know in order not to get into a mess. The same cup of coffee (or a glass of wine), drunk at the bar or at the table, costs different money.
Even more expensive than in the hall, gatherings on the veranda will cost. The thing is that table maintenance automatically includes servizio e coperto.
That is, tips are already included in the bill. Therefore, do not be surprised if a cup of coffee, which on the menu costs one and a half euros (113 rubles), will cost you 6.5 (492 rubles).
But the more expensive your order, the lower the percentage of servicio e copertos. In the bars at the counter you can sometimes see a saucer for tips. You can leave one or two euros there (76-151 rubles).
Restaurants
This is where the guidebooks are right when they ask whether they should tip in Italy, so it is with respect to waiters in expensive catering establishments. At the same time, 10% of the order of servicio e coperto is already included in your account.
But Italians feel obligated to add another five percent. Again, not always, but if you liked the cookbook, the service of the waiters, the surroundings of the restaurant.
After all, Italians go to a restaurant not to eat, but to enjoy life. At the same time, they pay the tip to the waiter not for quickness (where to rush?), But for the fact that he will advise one or another dish, and to him - the best wine, will effectively serve it all, will be attentive when you need something else.
If you haven’t finished a serving and ask to pack your food with you, be sure to leave about five euros for tea (378 rubles).
Meal at the company
Consider now a very sensitive issue. Suppose you were invited to a restaurant where the check is paid by the receiving party.
It’s good practice that you at least try to do your bit. If the inviter begins to object emotionally, show him that you are very happy with the meal, leaving a tip in the book with the paid check.
In Italy, it is customary to pay coperto in restaurants for copert. Therefore, do not be surprised if your companions put notes in the book of the same denomination as you.
What should be the size of the tip? It depends on the status of the institution. In restaurants with Michelin stars, they should be at least ten euros (760 rubles).
In Italian taverns “for tea” they give five percent of the order, but not less than 5 euros (378 rubles). But this is only in cases where you really liked the service.
Tipping in Italy at the hotel
Particular confusion with excess payment is observed in hotels. The price for staff services is already included in the price of the hotel room.
But you must admit, it’s somehow inconvenient not to give anything to the porter who delivered your suitcases to the third floor (albeit by elevator)? In this case, stock up with a 50 cents coin.
How many tips in Italy give the employee who served you breakfast in your room? It depends on the status of the hotel.
In two-star hotels, the reward may be 50 cents. But the higher the status of the hotel, the more tips should be.
The same applies to other services: shoe shine, laundry. Switzerland is not accepted for tea. The exception is the bright holiday of Christmas (December 25).
In the period preceding this joyous event, it is customary to give ushers 0.2 euros (15 rubles) per person. If he calls a taxi for you, then thank him for your efforts with the same amount.
Other hotel staff
If you really enjoyed your stay at the hotel, when paying the bill, give the concierge at the front desk an amount equal to 15 percent of the check. But this applies only to inexpensive hotels.
Tipping the maids in Italy is customary to give. The average amount of their remuneration is euro per day.
But do not think that maids in Italy for this money will twist you “swans” from towels. Regardless of the tip, your room will be cleaned carefully. Therefore, if you have every euro in your account, you can do without a tip.
Or, if you live in a hotel for a long time, for a week, for example, then when leaving your room, leave there five euros for the entire period of your stay. If breakfast is included in the price of the hotel, then the waiters are left with euros per person on the last day.
Private apartments
In Italy, there are small guesthouses where the hostess is often a maid and a cook. Are tips in Italy left in such establishments?
More likely no than yes. Service charges are already included in the bill, and the hostess of the apartment may be offended by the additional charge, considering this a hint of an insufficient level of service.
Of course, money is not superfluous, but it is better to leave a small gift instead of a tip. It is better to let it be some souvenir from your homeland, which will leave pleasant memories about the guest than a couple of euros.
Some apartments provide that the guest carefully cleanes the room. This is stipulated in the rules at check-in.
The room has cleaning facilities. But if you do not want to sweep and mop the floor, you may well leave an adequate amount for this work.
Excursions
Do guides tip in Italy? It depends on situation. If the guide serves the group, then he should not be paid in excess of the norm.
Another thing is if you hired a personal guide. He will tell and show you much more interesting than provided by the program. You can ask him questions that interest you, clarify things that you did not understand the first time.
The guide must be rewarded for such an individual approach to the client. The amount of a copy depends on the time the guide spent on you.
If he took you to a museum / gallery / cathedral, that is, one attraction, give him from 1 to 2 euros. City tour deserves to be rewarded 5-10 euros.
Venetian gondoliers also expect to profit at the expense of a foreign tourist. It is customary to give such a boatman ten percent more than the agreed amount.
Public places
In Italy, in tourist places, toilets are mostly paid. In Venice, for example, the entrance to such an institution is quite expensive.
In museums, toilets are free. Moreover, it often happens that the entrance to them is to the place of ticket check. That is, theoretically, everyone can get there.
But there is a third category of public toilets - the so-called shareware WC. There are no automatic turnstiles that turn when you throw the desired amount into the machine.
But unlike completely free toilets, there is a table at the entrance with an eloquent plate with a few coins in it. An old woman with a mop is bustling around with a pleasant appearance.
This cleaning lady is counting on your tip. In Italy, coperto decided to give just this category of people.
Cleaners are a low-paying job, and they will be happy with any little thing, even copper. But if you don’t have any coins, don’t be embarrassed, go boldly and use the toilet for free.
Stylist services
In Italy there are two types of such establishments: fashionable beauty salons and traditional hairdressers. The latter are most often visited by men who instruct professionals to care for a beard or mustache.
Do stylists tip in Italy? Their prices are so high that payment by check with them will be enough.
But these masters of scissors and hair dryers have their own attendants. It is these workers who will wash your head, put on a peignoir, dry your hair, and perform many more minor actions for which, they hope, they will be rewarded.
Their services are already included in the bill, but they can still be encouraged to try 1 euro. Manicurists should increase the tip amount to three euros (227 rubles).
In men's barbers, barbers are usually left to tip. But this applies only to those cases when you really liked their work. With a small reward of 1-2 euros you will show that you were satisfied.
Shop consultants and other staff
In showrooms, girls showing clothes do not need to give anything. You should generally abandon the habit of throwing money right and left.
In Italy, tip is very rare. True, this does not apply to the promoted tourist areas, where spoiled staff is waiting for offerings for any, the most insignificant service.
But even there you should not poke coins for cloakroom workers in a museum, consultants in stores. Such actions cause not only bewilderment, but also resentment.
If you call a nanny or a baby sitter for a child, then it is also not worth giving anything in excess of the agreed fee. In Italy, there is no custom to feed and drink a worker who has come to repair something or give him “for tea”.
Locksmiths, plumbers and electricians just have to do their job. Doctors, even those on call, are also not given tips. Believe me, their salary is quite large, and a few euros can just offend them.
How to tip in Italy
People in this country are distinguished by sensitivity and southern expansiveness. Therefore, tips should be left very delicately so as not to offend anyone.
Coperto should be perceived precisely as gratitude, as an expression of the highest satisfaction for the service rendered, and not a payment for it. In agritourism, in small family hotels, a small practical gift or souvenir will be more appropriate than a tip.
If you still prefer to pay with money, do it after the service is provided. After all, if you give them before work, this can be regarded as a bribe so that it is performed well.
But the employee should try in any case, right? Do not give a copy in a pointed manner. It is enough to put a premium along with the payment of the main bill or to say that change is not necessary.
Let's summarize
So, are tips in Italy accepted? As you can see, in this European country monetary incentive in some cases causes bewilderment and even resentment. But at the same time, in other situations, the copy is legalized.
In restaurants you need to carefully study the bill. Coperto is a fee "for bread and tablecloth", in other words, for table setting and service. Such tips may be 10 percent of the bill. In this case, the waiter is not required to leave anything.
In large tourist cities, it is customary to tip gondoliers, guides, hotel maids, etc. But the provinces have completely different customs. Sincere praise and the human attitude to the hired employee are more valued there.
The Italians themselves believe that tips do not encourage labor, but ultimately lead to a negligent attitude to official duties. After all, the employee begins to selectively treat customers, trying for some and neglecting others.