Excursions

[lawk]

How much is the customary tip for a full day tour?

[kyriecat]

Depends on what kind of trip it is and the length of time. If we have a guide who leads the tour, does a good job of giving us an overview of the history of the area and the culture, makes a point of showing us a few things "off the beaten path", etc., we'll usually give around $10-15 pp. If we get one of those "guides" whose sole job is to make sure you get on the bus and pass you off to other people at the stops, then it's more like $5. Occasionally we'll get a guide who just really goes out of their way to make the visit amazing so we'll give more. We've also occasionally run into a guide who was surely, yelled at people, ended the tour early because he had a date, or whatever and didn't tip at all.

[cb at sea]

Tips for excursions are not required. If they go above and beyond, then a tip is a nice gesture. If they only do exactly what the excursion stated they'd do, then it's up to you whether it's worth a tip. (You pay alot for these trips!)

If it's just a bus ride, with no interaction, then you've paid for your ride--you don't need to tip!

[petesweet]

Depends on what kind of trip it is and the length of time. If we have a guide who leads the tour, does a good job of giving us an overview of the history of the area and the culture, makes a point of showing us a few things "off the beaten path", etc., we'll usually give around $10-15 pp. If we get one of those "guides" whose sole job is to make sure you get on the bus and pass you off to other people at the stops, then it's more like $5. Occasionally we'll get a guide who just really goes out of their way to make the visit amazing so we'll give more. We've also occasionally run into a guide who was surely, yelled at people, ended the tour early because he had a date, or whatever and didn't tip at all.

 

Wow! I believe in showing my appreciation, but I guess I am a severe UNDERTIPPER!:eek:

[Traveler723]

I believe in tipping but I think those suggested tips are very high. I also find in recent years that everyone and his brother is looking for a tip. I tip for outstanding service, not just for the sake of tipping.

[kyriecat]

Wow! I believe in showing my appreciation, but I guess I am a severe UNDERTIPPER!:eek:

That's why I was trying to say it depends on the tour. We had some great all day (8+ hour) sightseeing excursions in Europe where the guide was with us the whole time and ran us all over, spent the whole time talking about life, religion, history, pointing out sites of interest, etc. I'm surprised the guides didn't end up hoarse by the end. One of our guides in Turkey took us to his mosque and gave us a brief overview of the Muslim religion besides showing us through Ephasus, the Virgin House, and several other sites. Women and non-Muslims aren't normally allowed to enter the mosques so we felt he went out of his way to make the trip special and allow us to learn something about his culture. We tipped those type guides about 20 euros (which was around $30 at the time).

 

For a 4-6 hour sightseeing tour where the guide is really good, we might tip around $20 for the 2 of us. If the guide just "does their job" but doesn't really seem to be enthusiastic or go out of their way to make us feel like we've learned something about the area, we'll just give around $5. If we're on a snorkel type tour where the guide takes us to a couple places and talks a little about the sea life we'll see, that's more like a $5 tip because the primary focus of the tour is us doing an activity and not the guide interacting with us.

 

Unless the OP replies about where s/he is going, what is "all day", and what the tours are, it's hard to really set a standard. For us, it depends on the length and type of the tour, the enthusiasm of the guide, and how much time the guide actually spent with us. We tend to tip guides from ship tours less than those we choose for non-ship tours because of the amount and quality of time they spend with us.

 

We have stiffed guides before because they did nothing to make the tour special for us. We've had a guide in Rome that left our 10 hour tour 2 hours early because he had a date. We were left in the care of a bus driver who barely spoke English to drive us around Rome. The driver pointed at sites and gave a name, but couldn't explain any significance or history because of the language problem. If we'd had an emergency, no one on the bus spoke Italian so I don't know what we would have done. We booked that tour through RC and complained at the excursion desk, but I don't know if they took any action against the guide.

 

I guess my tipping method is more complicated than the OP probably expected. ;)

[lawk]

I was thinking of $20 for 4 people.

[petesweet]

That's why I was trying to say it depends on the tour. We had some great all day (8+ hour) sightseeing excursions in Europe where the guide was with us the whole time and ran us all over, spent the whole time talking about life, religion, history, pointing out sites of interest, etc. I'm surprised the guides didn't end up hoarse by the end. One of our guides in Turkey took us to his mosque and gave us a brief overview of the Muslim religion besides showing us through Ephasus, the Virgin House, and several other sites. Women and non-Muslims aren't normally allowed to enter the mosques so we felt he went out of his way to make the trip special and allow us to learn something about his culture. We tipped those type guides about 20 euros (which was around $30 at the time).

 

For a 4-6 hour sightseeing tour where the guide is really good, we might tip around $20 for the 2 of us. If the guide just "does their job" but doesn't really seem to be enthusiastic or go out of their way to make us feel like we've learned something about the area, we'll just give around $5. If we're on a snorkel type tour where the guide takes us to a couple places and talks a little about the sea life we'll see, that's more like a $5 tip because the primary focus of the tour is us doing an activity and not the guide interacting with us.

 

Unless the OP replies about where s/he is going, what is "all day", and what the tours are, it's hard to really set a standard. For us, it depends on the length and type of the tour, the enthusiasm of the guide, and how much time the guide actually spent with us. We tend to tip guides from ship tours less than those we choose for non-ship tours because of the amount and quality of time they spend with us.

 

We have stiffed guides before because they did nothing to make the tour special for us. We've had a guide in Rome that left our 10 hour tour 2 hours early because he had a date. We were left in the care of a bus driver who barely spoke English to drive us around Rome. The driver pointed at sites and gave a name, but couldn't explain any significance or history because of the language problem. If we'd had an emergency, no one on the bus spoke Italian so I don't know what we would have done. We booked that tour through RC and complained at the excursion desk, but I don't know if they took any action against the guide.

 

I guess my tipping method is more complicated than the OP probably expected. ;)

 

Thanks. With that fuller explanation, I understand and agree with you. When we were in Russia, that's how we tipped. I was thinking more of those bus driver type of tour guides who give a few facts while driving the bus.

 

We feel that tipping is a joy because we love to reward good people. But we can't afford to overtip either.