St. Petersburg tipping

[azam71209]

Four of us are doing a private 3 day tour. Does anybody know what the rules are for tipping?

[brian_uk]

We were just there albeit we flew in from London for 3 nights.

 

We used Red October who were great and they gave us an inclusive price to include ALL tours and transportation etc. Only food was extra.

 

At the end we (there were 4 of us) gave our Guide 120 Euros as a tip with the request that she give something to the drivers that we had (there were 3 because we had problems with poor air conditioning in the vehicles) and she seemed delighted.

 

Beware the expensive Hotel Restaurants they may suggest for lunch......we paid 80 euros for 4 sandwiches and soft drinks the first day) and I suggest you visit " The Pie Shops " very local and very good.

 

Brian

[treasure4two]

It was recommended, by the tour company rep, that the tip would be, for good service, $10 per day, per person for the guide, and $3-4-5 per day per person for the driver, which works out to $60 per couple for guide and $24-30 per couple for driver for a three day tour and is paid at the end of the two or three day tour. Sounds fair to us. One thing she brought up, is that when tourists go to tip, they miscaluculate the tip, give 100 Russian rubles thinking it is a great tip, when in fact, it is only about $3. We plan on tipping in US dollars to avoid any problem, but any currency is fine.

[j!m]

i dont think there are any "rules" about tipping

 

we have just returned from SP and the two of us did make our own private arrangements for 3 days of touring.

 

we thought our guide did a great job for us and she was fun to be with for 3 days, same for the driver we had

 

so we tipped the guide $100 and the driver $50

[world~citizen]

From Trip Advisor:

 

Tipping is increasingly encouraged in Russia. 10 to 15% is the accepted rate of tipping for restaurant servers. For coat check and luggage attendants, anything from 20 to 50 rubles per item is acceptable, although many people don't tip them at all. Tip drivers or tour guides $10 per day or more, and housekeeping staff the equivalent of $1 to $2 in Rubles, usually left in an ashtray or on your pillow daily. Note also that restaurants do not allow you to add a tip to the credit card charge, so even if you are paying with a credit card, the tip must still be left in cash.

 

 

I would add restaurants increasingly allow tipping on Credit Cards.

 

Smooth sailing...