Who you’ll tip, and who’s already paid
Tips on a land tour are a budget line, not an etiquette test. Know the number before you pack the cash.
You’ve booked the tour and seen the line that says “gratuities not included.” What it doesn’t say is how much, or who.
Each operator answers that differently. Some print a per-day figure, some leave it to you, and a few bake every tip into the fare.
Every operator’s guidance, side by side
Read across a row and you’ll see the pattern: porters and meal servers are usually covered, the people who run your days usually aren’t.
| Operator | Tour leader | Driver | Local guides | Porters & included meals | Prepay? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trafalgar (Classic, Saver) | $5–7 / day | $3–5 / day | $2–3 half day, $5 full day | Included | Most tours |
| Trafalgar Premium (ex-Insight) | No figure | No figure | Extra outside the Americas | Included | At booking |
| Globus | No figure | No figure | Not included | Included | Not Europe |
| Cosmos | No figure | No figure | In S. America prepay | No hotel porters | Not Europe |
| Collette | ~$11–14 / day, all staff | In the package | +$3 per extra guide | Housekeepers extra | AU/NZ sites |
| Tauck land | No figure | No figure | Included | Included | Not offered |
| Tauck river, small ship, Bridges | Included | Included | Included | Included | In the fare |
| Rick Steves | Included | Included | Included | Included | In the fare |
| O.A.T. | $10–14 / day | Included | Included | Housekeeping $1 / day | Ask |
| Intrepid | 4–7 USD/EUR / day | Not stated | Not stated | Carry your own bag | Premium includes |
| G Adventures | $6–10 / day (CEO) | $5–10 / day | $5–10 / day | Signature only | Signature includes |
| Contiki | Optional | Optional | Optional | Some | Not stated |
| Adventures by Disney | Extra on land | Included | Included | Included | River fares |
| Abercrombie & Kent | Extra (ask) | Ask | Ask | Most, ask | Ask |
“Included” means the operator says the tip is in the fare. Per-day figures are per person. Sources: Trafalgar’s tipping guide (updated January 2025); Insight’s on-your-trip page; Globus and Cosmos FAQs and terms; Collette’s US FAQ and its Australia and New Zealand pages; Tauck’s FAQ and 2026 general information; Rick Steves’ tour conditions; O.A.T.’s 2026 Dalmatian Coast trip guide; Intrepid’s Japan trip notes; G Adventures’ Costa Rica Adventure page; Contiki’s know-before-you-go page; an agency FAQ for Adventures by Disney; a third-party comparison for A&K.
Why so many blanks
Globus, Cosmos, Tauck (on land) and Collette’s US site leave the amount to you; their FAQs and terms name who to tip, never how much. Where a company won’t name a number, Trafalgar’s $5–7 and $3–5 are the closest published yardstick from a comparable coach operator.
The tip calculator
Load an operator, set your days and party size, and you’ll get a total plus a rough envelope count. Overwrite anything; a tip is yours to set.
Tip calculator
How much cash to set aside
Pick an operator to load its own per-day guidance. Then set your days and how many of you are traveling, and overwrite any figure you’d rather change.
Trafalgar’s own guide: $5–7 and $3–5 USD per person per day, and $5 for a full-day Local Expert ($2–3 for a half day). Waiters, housekeeping and hotel porters are already in the fare.
Figures are each operator’s published guidance, per person, read October 26, 2026, and ranges load at their midpoints. They’re suggestions, never charges; your trip documents have the final word.
Days with your leader usually means every tour day, arrival and departure included. Count local guides only where your operator says they aren’t already covered.
How the published numbers compare
You’re comparing two tours and one says “tips extra.” This is what extra means at each company that will put a number on it.
Bars use the top of each range: the most you’d be asked for. Collette’s is its Classic prepaid package (currency unstated); G Adventures and Intrepid set figures trip by trip; these are their Costa Rica and Japan trips.
The spread is wider than it looks. A 10-day Trafalgar tour for two runs about $160–240 in leader and driver tips at Trafalgar’s own range.
On safari the same couple, at Asilia’s midpoints, would set aside about $500 over the same 10 days. Budget the tour you’re actually taking, not the average.
When the tips are already paid
If your fare covers the tips, a second tip is a gift, not an obligation. Check which group your trip sits in before you change money.
Every tip in the fare
These trips include the leader’s tip as well as everyone else’s. Leave the envelopes at home.
- Rick Steves Europe: all guide, local guide and driver tips; guides are salaried and can’t accept tips
- Tauck river cruises, small-ship cruises and Tauck Bridges: Director, crew, drivers and guides
- Roam by Tauck: all gratuities
- Adventures by Disney river sailings: Adventure Guides included too
Everyone but the leader (and sometimes the driver)
The supporting cast is covered. The person who runs your trip is yours to thank.
- Tauck land journeys: local guides, luggage, bellmen, doormen and dining-room servers; the Tauck Director and driver are yours
- O.A.T.: local guides and motorcoach drivers; the Trip Experience Leader is yours ($10–14 a day)
- Adventures by Disney on land: drivers, Local Experts, bellmen and included-meal staff; the two Adventure Guides are yours
- G Adventures Signature: activity, meal and porterage tips; the Expedition Leader is yours
Porters and waiters only
The classic coach model. Hotel and meal service is covered; the Tour Director, the driver and often the local guides aren’t.
- Trafalgar Classic and Saver: waiters, housekeeping and hotel porters
- Trafalgar Premium: included-meal tips, service charges, hotel baggage handling
- Globus: waiters at included meals (not hotel meals in Europe) and porters; prepay the Director and driver outside Europe
- Cosmos: hotel porterage usually not included, so porters are on you too
Tipping as a choice
These operators say tipping is up to you and publish little or nothing about amounts.
- Contiki: Trip Managers, drivers and local guides, optional, no amount
- Intrepid Premium style: tipping included
- G Adventures: tips not in the price; suggested amounts in each trip’s documents
Safari tipping runs higher
You’re flying into a bush camp with a guide who’ll spend every waking hour with you. Plan the cash before you leave home, in the small US bills Asilia recommends.
A safari splits the work differently. You’ll have a guide, sometimes a tracker, and a whole camp behind the scenes.
Asilia, which runs camps in East Africa, suggests US$10–20 per guest per day for your guide and US$5–15 per guest per day for the camp staff tip box. Trackers get US$5–20.
Rhino Africa frames it per couple: about $25 a day for the guide and $20 for a tracker. Trafalgar’s own guide says $10–20 a day for safari guides in Tanzania and Kenya and $5–10 for drivers.
Most guests tip once, on the final morning, Asilia says. Many camps keep envelopes at reception.
Bring the right bills
US dollars are widely accepted in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, so bring $1, $5 and $10 notes. Many East African banks won’t take US notes printed before 2006, or worn and marked ones.
Booking a safari through a tour company? Ask whether its guide is the same person as the camp guide, because on some trips you’ll tip both.
Read our African safaris guide for how the formats differ.
Where tipping isn’t the custom
A tip that’s generous in Rome can be awkward in Kyoto. Match the country, then match the operator.
Japan
Japan’s national tourism organization says it’s not common to tip in bars, cafes, restaurants, taxis or hotels. Private guides and interpreters may accept a tip, but it isn’t expected.
If you do tip, put it in an envelope and hand it over discreetly. Small envelopes are sold at convenience stores and 100-yen shops.
Trafalgar and Contiki both say tipping can come across as impolite there. Trafalgar says the same of South Korea.
One wrinkle: Intrepid’s Japan trip notes still suggest 4–7 USD or EUR a day for the group leader. On a tour, follow your operator’s documents, not the café custom.
See our Japan land tours guide for the operators that run it.
Restaurants on your own
Meals off the tour have their own rules. Insight’s guidance puts typical restaurant tips at about 15–20% in North America and about 5–10% at European table-service restaurants.
Check the bill first. Trafalgar notes a service charge is often already included in Western Europe, and Contiki says the same.
On a G Adventures trip in Costa Rica, the trip page says about 10% is customary in restaurants.
Tipping etiquette, step by step
Tick these off as you plan. The envelope step sounds fussy; it’s the one Tour Directors notice.
Before and during your tour
Cruising as well? Shipboard gratuities work on a different system.
Read our guide to cruise tipping beyond automatic gratuities before you board.
Prepay or cash at the end?
Prepay if
- Your operator offers it (Trafalgar on most tours, Premium at booking, Globus and Cosmos in North America, South America, Africa and Asia)
- You’d rather not carry a stack of foreign bills for two weeks
- You want the whole trip’s cost settled before you leave
- You’re traveling with a group and want to keep the math simple
Tip in cash if
- Your tour is in Europe with Globus or Cosmos, where prepaying isn’t offered
- You want to tip according to how the trip actually went
- You’re on safari, where envelopes on the last morning are the custom
- Your fare already includes tips; then you don’t need either
Our take
Tip the people who run your days, and price them in before you compare fares. A tour that looks $200 cheaper can lose the gap in envelopes.
Where a company names a number, use it. Where it doesn’t, Trafalgar’s $5–7 and $3–5 a day is a fair, sourced yardstick.
Would you rather never think about tips? Book an operator that includes them: Rick Steves, Tauck on the river, or Roam.
Look elsewhere for a fixed rule if you want one; there isn’t a universal figure. Run the calculator for each tour on your shortlist.
Before you change money: related guides
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What travelers ask us about tour tips
How much should I tip a tour guide in Europe?
Of the big coach operators, Trafalgar is the one that prints a per-day number. It suggests $5–7 per person per day for its Travel Director, $3–5 for the driver, and $2–3 for a half-day local guide ($5 for a full day). Globus, Cosmos, Tauck (on land) and Collette’s US site publish no per-day figure. On Rick Steves tours every tip is already in the fare.
Do you tip the bus driver on a tour in Europe?
Usually, and separately from the Tour Director. Trafalgar suggests $3–5 per person per day. Tauck’s 2026 general information says Director and driver tips are included only on its cruises and Tauck Bridges trips, so on its land journeys the driver is yours too. O.A.T. and Rick Steves include drivers in the fare.
Which tour companies include tips in the price?
Rick Steves includes every guide, local guide and driver tip, and its guides aren’t allowed to accept tips. Tauck includes the Director’s tip on river, small-ship and Tauck Bridges trips, and Roam by Tauck includes all gratuities. Intrepid’s Premium style and G Adventures’ Signature trips include some or all tips. Most coach tours include porter and included-meal tips but not the Tour Director or driver.
Can I prepay tips, and what does prepaying cover?
Often. Trafalgar offers optional prepaid gratuities on most itineraries, and its Premium tier (formerly Insight) offers it at booking on most tours. Globus and Cosmos sell a per-person base rate for the Tour Director and driver in select destinations; Globus names North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Europe, South Pacific and Independent tours are excluded, and local guides are covered only in South America. Collette sells a prepaid package on its Australia and New Zealand sites; its US site lists no amount.
When do you tip the Tour Director and driver?
At the end of the tour. Trafalgar says Travel Directors and drivers are usually tipped at the end, and local guides at the end of their segment. On safari, Asilia says most guests tip on their final morning, using envelopes that many camps keep at reception.
Should I tip in US dollars or euros?
Trafalgar says local currency is generally preferred, with US dollars fine where they’re accepted, so in the eurozone that means euros. On East African safaris, Asilia says US dollars are widely accepted; bring small, clean bills printed after 2006, because many banks there refuse older notes.
Do you tip tour guides in Japan?
Usually not. Japan’s national tourism organization says tipping isn’t common for restaurants, taxis or hotels. Private guides may accept a tip, but it isn’t expected, and you’d give it discreetly in an envelope. Trafalgar and Contiki both say tipping can seem impolite there. Intrepid’s Japan trip notes still suggest a leader tip.
How much do you tip on an African safari?
Asilia, a safari operator, suggests US$10–20 per guest per day for your guide and US$5–15 per guest per day for the camp staff tip box. Trafalgar suggests $10–20 a day for safari guides in Tanzania and Kenya, and $5–10 for drivers.
Sources · 26 links · checked October 2026
- Trafalgar: Tipping on a Trafalgar tour
- Trafalgar: US booking conditions (2022 edition)
- Insight Vacations (Trafalgar Premium): On your trip
- Globus: Frequently asked questions
- Globus: Terms and conditions
- Cosmos: Frequently asked questions
- Collette: Guided travel FAQ (US)
- Collette: Pre-paid tipping (New Zealand site)
- Collette: Travel questions (Australia site)
- Tauck: FAQ
- Tauck: 2026 European Land Journeys general information (PDF)
- Tauck: Roam by Tauck 2027 portfolio (press release)
- Rick Steves: Tour conditions
- Rick Steves: Ten commitments
- O.A.T.: Hidden Gems of the Dalmatian Coast & Greece 2026 travel guide (PDF)
- Intrepid: Japan, Land of the Rising Sun trip notes
- Intrepid: Everything you need to know about travel styles
- G Adventures: FAQ
- G Adventures: Costa Rica Adventure
- G Adventures: Signature Egypt
- The Travel Corporation: Contiki know before you go
- Dreams Unlimited Travel: Adventures by Disney FAQ (agency)
- Global Journeys: Abercrombie & Kent vs. Tauck (agency)
- Asilia Africa: How to tip on safari
- Rhino Africa: Your guide to tipping in Africa
- Japan National Tourism Organization: Tipping in Japan