Here’s how much you should tip in different countries around the world

You’re all set for your summer holidays: you’ve packed everything you need, you’ve changed your currency and you’ve learned how to order a beer in a foreign language.

But when you get there, you realise you’ve forgotten one important thing – you have no idea how much to tip. Your mangled attempts at speaking French or Spanish are bad enough without the social awkwardness of falling a 10 Euros short of what the waiter expects.

Tipping culture varies from one country to the next, but GoCompare have made things easier for us and made sure we don’t have to do any really hard maths while we’re sipping sangria.

The comparison site has unveiled this clickable world map that allows you to figure out how much you should tip in a number of the world’s most popular holiday destinations for British tourists.

They have provided the percentages, but we’re going to go one better and give you some cold hard numbers. We’re nice like that.

Here’s how much you should tip for a meal that costs in the region of £50, or the equivalent in other currencies – i.e. the fancy one on the last night or the cheap one on the first, depending on how much you plan to splash out when you’re abroad.

France

Just €2.50 (so around 5%) should suffice, as restaurant tips are lower than on this side of the Channel, but tips for drinks are higher in France. You can expect to tip bar staff between €1 and €4, depending on the size of a round.

Spain 

An easy 5-10% of the bill means you won’t be tipping more than €5 on top of your €50 meal, while GoCompare tells us the same goes for drinks, albeit rounded up to the nearest whole number.

Portugal

Portugal might share a border with Spain, but if you’re crossing from one to the other you’ll need to prepare for change. A full 10% is standard there, i.e. €5, but it might be already included in the bill so make sure to check.

Ireland

Between €5 and €6.25 on a €50 bill, depending on the quality of service. If you’re just going for drinks, a Euro or two after a long pub session should suffice.

Italy 

Tips are usually included, but that shouldn’t stop you rounding it up for good service. If you’re drinking at your hotel, they’ll be used to tips of €1 and up.

Croatia

All your mates are doing Croatia these days. Seeing the sights in Dubrovnik during the week and going big at the weekend. It should be a bit confusing, what with them having the Kuna out there instead of the Euro, but no biggie – tips are generally included in the bill so nothing to worry about there. Still worth checking, though, to make sure you don’t look like a dick.

Hungary

We are reliably informed that €50 is equivalent to just over 15,000 Forints, which can be confusing when you’ve been overdoing it on cheap Hungarian lager. You want to show that you’re the sort of tourist they like there, though, so you’ll stick to the standard 10%, adding 1,500 Forints to your bill. That goes for restaurants and bars, but if you’re spending 15,000 Forints on beers in Budapest then you’ve had a very big night.

Turkey

You get about four Turkish Lira to the Pound, and the standard tip is 10-15%. That means you’ll be chipping in up between 20 and 30 Lira for on a restaurant bill of 200.

UAE

Off to Dubai this summer? You’ll want to be familiar with the tipping culture, and GoCompare tell us it’s between 10 and 20 Dirham depending on quality of service. That seems to be a flat amount, rather than varying with the price of a meal. 

USA

Here’s where it can get expensive: the standard in the US is 15-20%, or $7.50-$10 on top of your $50 bill, but you should also carry some dollar bills if you’re going to a bar. The standard there is $1 per drink – it might not be cheap, but at least it’s easy to remember. 

Australia

If you’re off Down Under then you’ve probably spent enough on your plane fare to not be too worried about extras when you go out for a meal. But you needn’t worry anyway, as tipping isn’t expected there. The standard is to pay only if service is particularly good, and even then only up to 10%. £50 is roughly 84 Australian dollars these days, so that means an extra AU$8.40. Easy. 

The full GoCompare map features the lowdown on more than 40 countries around the world, and also includes details on tipping for taxis and hotel staff – all bases covered.

(Feature image: iStock. Other images: Pixabay)