Tipping in Egypt: What to Pay Restaurants, Drivers, Guides and Hotel Staff

Tipping in Egypt goes by the Arabic word baksheesh, which covers anything from a small tip for a service to a gift of a few coins. Visitors meet it often: at the restaurant table, in a taxi, at the hotel door, at the restroom entrance and at the end of every guided tour. Visit Egypt describes tipping as expected in nearly every situation. Tipping is customary rather than legally required, and skipping it breaches etiquette in many settings.

No government agency publishes tipping rates. Every figure in Egypt’s tourism guidance is a customary range, and the sources do not fully agree. This article gives typical amounts for each situation. It also explains the service charge that many restaurants and hotels add to the bill, which rarely covers the person who served you. That charge confuses first-time visitors more than anything else. Most amounts below are in Egyptian pounds (EGP). Exchange rates move, so check the current rate before you travel.

Restaurants: read the bill before tipping

Many restaurants in tourist areas add a service charge to the bill automatically. Visit Egypt puts the charge at 10–14% of the bill and says it usually does not reach the staff. My Way to Egypt reports that most restaurants in Cairo, Luxor and Aswan add 12–14%, which typically goes to the restaurant rather than the waiter. Egypt Tours by Locals gives a slightly lower range of 10–12% for restaurants in tourist zones and advises checking the bill before deciding on a tip.

The rule that follows is simple. If the bill already shows a service charge, add about 5–10% in cash for the waiter when the service was good. If the bill shows no service charge, leave 10–15% of the total. Hand the cash to the waiter or leave it on the table, and do not add it to a card payment unless the restaurant confirms the tip reaches staff. Travel To Egypt says cash is the customary form and that tips go on a credit card only if the provider allows it.

Why the bill can run well above the menu price

The service charge is only part of the markup. The Egyptian Tax Authority said in May 2025 that tourist restaurants licensed by the Ministry of Tourism pay 14% value-added tax (VAT), a sales tax that appears on the bill, and that establishments serving tourist-specification meals or imposing a service fee must collect and remit it. A later report carrying the Authority’s clarification notes that the VAT exemption for non-tourist restaurant meals is conditional, not absolute. A July 2023 statement by the then-head of the Tourist Establishments Chamber put the combined extra at about 26% of the food price, made up of 12% service and 14% VAT.

For a visitor, the final bill can be well above the menu prices before any tip is added. A cash tip on top of that is still customary, because the service charge goes to the house. The same 2023 report lists hotline 19654 for restaurant complaints such as short portions or poor service, which gives you somewhere to turn if the bill does not match what you ordered.

A 2026 VAT comparison from Tabres adds that a mandatory service charge is taxed at the meal’s VAT rate, while a voluntary tip usually sits outside the tax base. In practice, a tip you hand over in cash goes to the person you hand it to, without a tax layer on top.

Cafés, street stalls and local restaurants

Smaller venues follow a lighter scale. At casual cafés and street stalls, My Way to Egypt suggests rounding up or adding about USD 0.20–0.40. At local restaurants outside tourist areas, Egypt Tours by Locals suggests leaving 10–20 EGP on the table, which it describes as appreciated though not always expected. Room service, according to Egypt Time Travel, warrants 10–15% of the bill, and a spa or salon treatment, per Pyramidsland, 15–20% of the service price paid after the treatment.

Taxis and ride-hailing apps

For a street taxi, Visit Egypt gives no percentage and says to round the fare up to the nearest 5 or 10 EGP. Travel To Egypt agrees that rounding up is enough and treats an extra 5–10 EGP as optional for exceptional service, such as a driver who helps with heavy luggage. It also advises agreeing on the price before you get in and not haggling over the tip afterward. Pyramidsland says a traditional taxi tip is effectively included in the agreed fare, which reinforces the point that the negotiation happens before the ride.

What a metered Cairo white taxi costs

Cairo’s white taxis run on meters, and the tariff changed in 2026. A March 31, 2026 report on the decree lists the following fares for white taxis within Cairo governorate:

• The meter opens at 15 EGP, which covers the first kilometer.
• Each kilometer after the first costs 4 EGP.
• Waiting time costs 32 EGP for the first hour and 15 EGP for each additional hour.

The same report says drivers must display the new fares on their windscreens and that enforcement of compliance will be tightened. The tariff covers metered taxis only. It does not apply to app rides and it does not set tipping amounts. Knowing the rate helps you judge whether a quoted flat price is reasonable and whether rounding up still leaves a fair total. A 4 EGP per-kilometer rate means a short ride can be cheap, so a 5 or 10 EGP round-up is a meaningful share of the fare.

Uber and Careem

Both apps are widely used in Cairo, and Egypt Photography Tours says fares are fixed upfront, which removes the haggling step. Tipping is optional. Visit Egypt suggests 5–10 EGP for a pleasant ride, in the app or in cash. A 2026 estimate from Pyramidsland is higher, suggesting rounding up or adding 20–50 EGP at the end of the ride. Egypt Tours by Locals says a tip for Uber is optional but appreciated. A first-time visitor who wants a single rule can round up and add a small bill when the driver helped with bags or navigated a difficult pickup.

Felucca, camel and horse rides

Boat and animal rides have their own convention. Pyramidsland suggests 100–200 EGP per hour in total for a felucca captain, a traditional Nile sailboat, handed over at the end of the ride. A camel or horse handler gets 50–100 EGP after the ride. For the felucca, the amount is a total for the boat, so travelers sharing a boat can split it.

Tour guides and private drivers

Guides and drivers receive the largest tips of any trip, and the amounts depend on whether you booked a group tour or a private one. Dollar figures are common here because many guides work for operators who quote in dollars, but the same amounts apply in Egyptian pounds at the going rate.

Guides

Visit Egypt puts the lowest range at 100–200 EGP per day for a guide, with more for excellent service, and says tips may be pooled and shared among a group. Operator guides are higher and quoted in dollars. My Way to Egypt values a full-day licensed Egyptologist guide at USD 15–25 per couple or group, or roughly USD 8–12 per person in a larger group, with a half-day guide at about USD 4–6 per person. Nile Empire gives USD 5–10 per person per day for a group guide, USD 15–25 per day for a standard full-day private guide, and USD 30–40 per day for a specialist such as a historian, Egyptologist or desert-safari expert. Egypt Tours by Locals calls the day-tour guide tip the most important of the trip and puts it at USD 10–20 per person.

These ranges overlap more than they conflict once you separate the cases. A reasonable reading is that a private guide for a full day earns about USD 15–25 for the party, a guide on a group tour earns a few dollars to about USD 10 per person, and a specialist or an unusually generous guide earns more. Egypt Day Tours cites 200–400 EGP per day for a private guide, which falls at the low end of the dollar scale.

For multi-day guides, My Way to Egypt advises tipping at the end of the trip, with a small daily tip optional. Egypt Tours by Locals puts the multi-day figure at USD 15–25 per person per day, given at the end of each day or at the end of the tour.

Drivers

A driver is tipped separately from the guide. Visit Egypt gives 50–100 EGP per day. My Way to Egypt puts a full-day private driver at USD 10–15, and Egypt Tours by Locals and Nile Empire both say USD 5–10 per day for a private day-trip driver, with more if the driver helps with luggage, stops or water. Airport transfer drivers get USD 2–2.50 each way according to Nile Empire. If the driver also acts as your guide, tip at the private-guide rate.

Desert excursions have smaller figures: My Way to Egypt gives USD 2–5 for a desert-safari guide and USD 2–3 for a jeep or 4×4 driver.

Budgeting for a tour day

Nile Empire suggests budgeting USD 30–40 per person per day for guide and driver tips combined. That figure sits at the top of the range for the individual amounts above, so a couple on a private tour can expect to land lower than that ceiling by pooling the tip between them. Putting the money in labeled envelopes the night before a tour prevents fumbling with large notes in front of a group.

Hotels, airports and Nile cruises

Hotel tipping works in small amounts spread across several people. The table collects the typical figures from Visit Egypt, Nile Empire, Egypt Tours by Locals and My Way to Egypt.

Leave the housekeeping tip each day, in the room or on the pillow, rather than one sum at checkout, because different staff members may clean the room on different days. My Way to Egypt suggests an envelope on the pillow so it is clear the money is meant for housekeeping. Concierge tips apply when the concierge did something concrete, such as arranging a driver or securing a restaurant table.

Hotel service charges

Some hotels add their own fee to the bill. Nile Empire says many resorts add a small service charge that "rarely replaces direct tipping" and that a direct tip for exceptional service is still appropriate when a hotel charges a 10% service fee. Luxor has a local wrinkle: a May 2025 governor’s decision set a 1% service fee on the total bill for tourist and hotel establishments in Luxor governorate. The reporting does not say whether it appears as a separate line on guest bills, and at 1% it is small enough that it does not change the tipping picture.

A Cabinet directive reported in August 2026 bars new fees or price increases for tourist establishments unless they are approved first. It covers fees charged to businesses, so it does not affect guest tips or a service charge paid by guests.

Travel To Egypt notes that the hotel staff member who books a standard taxi for you needs no tip. For a special arrangement or a custom itinerary, 100–500 EGP may be appropriate, depending on how complex the arrangement was.

Nile cruises

Nile cruises use a pooled system. My Way to Egypt suggests USD 10 per person per night, placed in a shared kitty and handed over in an envelope at reception near the end of the trip. The cruise staff, from the cabin crew to the dining room and deck staff, divide it. A traveler who pays this one envelope does not need to tip individual crew members separately, though a small extra for a particularly helpful steward is a personal call.

Cash, small bills and everyday tips

Tipping is easier with the right bills in hand, and the sources agree on this. Visit Egypt recommends tipping in Egyptian pounds whenever possible and carrying small notes of 5, 10 and 20 EGP. It adds that foreign coins are not accepted by banks or money changers, so leftover coins from home have no value to the person you give them to.

Egypt Tours by Locals advises arriving with USD 1 bills and small EGP notes. My Way to Egypt splits the approach by size: small everyday tips of about USD 0.25–1 per interaction should be in Egyptian pounds, while larger tips of about USD 5–25 can be in dollars, euros or pounds sterling. It advises breaking large notes early, at a hotel desk or supermarket, because a large note is useless for a 10 EGP tip and nobody wants to wait for change. Travel To Egypt also advises handing tips directly to staff rather than leaving them on a table or in a room, which makes sure the right person gets them.

Restrooms, vendors and informal helpers

Restroom attendants expect 5–10 EGP, so keep a few small notes in a separate pocket. At street stalls and shops, Visit Egypt says tipping is not expected at the point of purchase. Small tips are asked for in other situations, such as when someone points out a place, helps you with a photo or assists with entry at a site. Giving a small bill in those moments is routine, and a polite refusal is also acceptable when no real help was given.

What tipping means to the people receiving it

Visit Egypt says tipping is "culturally rooted" and ties it to the low base wages that some workers earn. It adds that failing to tip "will rarely offend" but "may be a breach of etiquette." Pyramidsland puts the average monthly salary in Egypt at roughly USD 300 and notes that tips are a large share of many workers’ income. Together, these points show that a dollar or two is not a small gesture to the person who receives it. Measured against local pay, the amounts are larger than they look to a visitor.

Travel To Egypt suggests setting aside 10–15% of the total trip budget for tips. This figure is for budgeting and does not set a tip amount. A traveler who plans a week of private tours, a Nile cruise and hotel stays will find it more useful than adding up each line item in advance, because the total adds up quickly when a guide, a driver and a hotel are all on the list.

When you are unsure what is right in a specific situation, Egypt Tours by Locals advises asking your hotel or tour operator, who can tell you what is typical for that venue or trip. A tour operator in particular will often have a standard recommendation for the guide and driver on your itinerary, and following it avoids both under-tipping and overpaying.

Key Takeaways

• Check the bill before tipping at a restaurant: A service charge of roughly 10–14% is common and usually goes to the restaurant, so add about 5–10% in cash for good service, or leave 10–15% when no charge is listed.
• Carry small Egyptian pound notes: Bring 5, 10 and 20 EGP notes for porters, restroom attendants and drivers, and break large bills at a hotel desk early in the trip.
• Budget the most for guides and drivers: A private full-day guide typically gets about USD 15–25 and a private driver about USD 10–15, paid separately, with multi-day tips handed over at the end.
• Round up taxi fares and agree on the price first: In a street taxi, round up to the nearest 5 or 10 EGP, and tip on Uber or Careem only if the ride was good, at 5–10 EGP or up to 20–50 EGP by a 2026 estimate.
• Tip hotel housekeeping daily: Leave 20–50 EGP per night so the money reaches whoever cleaned the room, and use a shared envelope of about USD 10 per person per night on a Nile cruise.