Tipping for Private Tours in Turkey

[Suefranss]

We will be taking a couple of different private tours in Turkey which include both a driver and a guide. I wonder how we should plan on tipping these individuals, or if tipping is expected.

 

Any advice?

 

Thank you.

[hawkeyetlse]

Everyone will tell you that it is totally up to you, whether to tip and how much, but American customers are kind of expected to tip well. Tom Brosnahan of the Turkey Travel Planner website suggests tipping private guides $10 to $15 per day for the entire group (not per person). I think most Americans would have a really hard time leaving such a low amount, so go ahead and give more if you are happy with the service provided. But don't go overboard, either! 10% for the guide and 5-10% for the driver would be more than generous, in my opinion.

 

Of course if the service is not good, give nothing and don't think twice about it.

Edited August 6, 2015 by hawkeyetlse

[waterbug123]

We had two private tours in Istanbul and the tour website indicated that it was customary to tip 5-10 Turkish Lira per person. Well that is about $4-5 which seemed really low to us so we tipped more.