Tipping in Morocco: How Much to Leave at Restaurants, in Taxis, at Riads and on Tours

Tipping in Morocco, called a pourboire in French (literally "for drinking"), means handing cash to the person who served you, on top of the listed price. A tip is customary, but no law requires it. Guides, drivers, porters, waiters and housekeepers all expect something for good service. The amounts look small by US standards because the local currency, the dirham (MAD), is worth roughly 10 MAD to 1 US dollar.

For a first trip, the basic rules are these. Leave about 10% at a sit-down restaurant when the bill does not already include service. Round up taxi fares to the next 5 or 10 MAD. Give porters 10 to 20 MAD per bag and housekeepers 20 to 50 MAD per day. Tip guides and drivers the most, usually 100 to 200 MAD for a full day. Carry small bills, because most tips are paid in cash.

How tipping works in Morocco

No law requires tipping. In Morocco, tipping is common, especially in restaurants in large tourist cities such as Marrakech and Agadir. MerzougaWay says tipping is never legally required and describes tips as built into service workers’ pay, and GuideMe calls it customary and appreciated. Morocco Beauty Spots calls it voluntary.

Service workers count on tips as part of their income. Those who spend the most time with you rely on tips the most. Serenity Morocco Tours says guides rely on tips, which is why the largest tips go to guides and drivers and the smallest to café staff.

A tip rewards ordinary good service. The amounts below are a starting point. Leave more when someone solves a problem, carries heavy luggage up several flights of riad stairs, or spends extra time with you. Leave less, or nothing, when service was poor or when the bill already includes a service charge. The figures come from travel operators and guides, not an official tariff, so treat them as customary ranges. No one will check your math, and a few dirhams more or less will not offend anyone.

First, decide before the trip how much to spend on tips each day, so you do not work out the amounts at a restaurant table. A traveler who eats two sit-down meals, takes a few petit taxis, stays at a riad and hires a guide for one day will spend a few hundred dirhams in tips over that day, which is a few dozen US dollars at most. Second, keep tip money separate from spending money. A pocket with 5, 10 and 20 MAD notes and coins lets you tip quickly without pulling out larger bills. The cash section below explains why that matters.

Restaurants and cafés

At a sit-down restaurant, plan on about 10% of the bill when service is not included. Serenity gives about 10% as the sit-down figure. For restaurants aimed at tourists, Morocco Journeying gives a 5 to 10% range. That suits mid-priced places in the medina where the food is good but the service is basic. At upscale restaurants in Gueliz and Hivernage in Marrakech, and at five-star riads, MerzougaWay suggests 10 to 15%, which is close to European norms.

At casual local eateries, such as a grill house or a counter serving tagine and skewers, tip a flat 5 to 10 MAD, or round the bill up by that much. For a café or a glass of mint tea, leave 2 to 5 MAD per person, or just your small change. On a 200 MAD meal at a tourist restaurant, 15 to 20 MAD falls within the 5 to 10% range and is a reasonable tip.

Check the bill for "service compris"

Before adding a tip, look at the bill. In French-influenced restaurants the bill states either service compris (service included) or service non compris (service not included). A service charge is uncommon: Moroccobuzz says a "service compris" line is rare in Morocco and appears mostly at very high-end tourist places, and that when no service charge appears, a 10% tip is generous. If the bill does say service is included, a percentage tip on top is not required. eSIM Maroc says an extra 5 to 10% is still appreciated, so adding a few dirhams for a waiter who looked after you well is a courtesy and nothing more.

A service charge on the bill does not always reach the person who served you, which is one reason some travelers add a small cash amount anyway. That is a personal choice. If the bill is silent on service, tip as you would at any sit-down restaurant.

Paying the tip by card

If you pay by card, expect to tip in cash. Restaurants rarely have a tip field on the card terminal. MerzougaWay says some upscale places let you add a tip by card, but cash is more reliable because card tips may not reach the server. The simplest approach is to pay the bill by card if you like, then leave the tip in cash on the table or hand it to the waiter directly.

Taxis

Morocco has two kinds of taxi, and the tipping habit differs between them. A petit taxi is a small city taxi with a meter that takes up to three passengers within city limits. A grand taxi is a larger, usually older car or van that runs fixed routes between towns or across a city, carries passengers who share the car, and has no meter.

Petit taxis

For a petit taxi, round the fare up. Round up to the nearest 5 or 10 MAD, for example paying 25 MAD on a 22 MAD meter (MerzougaWay). Welcome Pickups says tipping is not expected in Marrakech taxis but that rounding up for good service is welcome. When the driver helps with heavy bags or goes out of the way to help, seamlesstaxi.com puts the extra at 10 to 20 MAD, and for a long trip or a day of driving, 50 to 100 MAD is generous.

The amount you round up from depends on the fare, and fares are low. Rabat’s minimum fare is 6.50 dh, set by the regional authority in February 2020, and taxi unions have asked for 8 dh, though the 6.50 dh minimum applies until a new order is published. In Fès, an order from the governor sets a 6 DH minimum. On short rides, round to the nearest 5 MAD. On longer rides, round to 10.

Use the meter first

Ask for the meter first, so the fare is fair. Moroccotravelandtourism.com advises saying "compteur, s’il vous plaît" and agreeing on a fixed price only if the driver refuses. Night fares carry a 50% surcharge that starts between 20:00 and 21:00, and Marocnomades says it also applies on Sundays and public holidays. A higher late fare is normal, so it is not a reason to withhold a tip. For a rare fixed-price ride, such as the airport to the Marrakech medina, Destination-Marrakech gives a posted fare of 70 DHS and says a price below 100 DHS is a good deal and above 150 DHS is not advised.

Grand taxis

A grand taxi has no meter, so agree the price before you get in, as espace-maroc advises. eSIM Maroc says no tip is expected but 5 to 10 MAD extra is fair for help with bags. MerzougaWay calls 5 to 10 MAD per person generous for a longer route. Skipping the tip after agreeing a fare is acceptable, and a few dirhams for luggage help is appreciated.

Hotels and riads

A riad is a traditional Moroccan house built around an interior courtyard, often turned into a small guesthouse. Riads have few staff, so one person may carry your bags, serve breakfast and clean your room. That makes tipping more personal than at a large hotel.

For porters, Serenity suggests about 10 MAD per carry, or 20 to 30 MAD for a long carry with heavy bags. Other guides give 10 to 20 MAD per bag, including Morocco Beauty Spots. Riad owners often send a porter to meet you at the edge of the medina and wheel your luggage through the alleys, and that long carry deserves the higher end.

Housekeeping has the widest range of recommended amounts. MerzougaWay recommends 20 to 50 MAD per night, left in the room each day instead of as a lump sum at checkout, and puts boutique riads and mid-range hotels at 20 to 30 MAD. Morocco-Tips and others stay in a similar range. At the high end, Serenity mentions about 100 MAD per room per day, left at checkout, which is more than most guides suggest. Leaving 20 to 50 MAD each day covers the typical range. Leaving it daily also means it reaches whoever cleaned the room that day, since shifts rotate.

Shared tip boxes and service charges

Some properties pool tips. Culture Insider says most riads and hotels keep a shared tip box, and if none is visible, ask the manager. This is common at riads with a small staff, where one box for everyone is easier than tracking who did what. Before tipping separately, check whether the room rate or bill already includes a service charge or staff pool, as Morocco Beauty Spots advises. Look for one on the bill.

Other small services follow the same logic. For a concierge who books a restaurant or arranges something unusual, MerzougaWay suggests 20 to 50 MAD. Lovin Morocco suggests 10 to 20 MAD per night for riad staff generally, which fits a stay where one person looks after you throughout. If you stay several nights, leave something on the first morning rather than waiting for checkout, since you will get better service for the rest of the stay.

Guides and drivers

Guides and drivers receive the biggest tips of the trip because they spend the most time with you and rely most on tips. Published advice differs most on them, so it helps to know what the ranges mean.

Licensed guides

Official guides carry a guide card issued by the Ministry of Tourism, according to Serenity. The profession is regulated under Law n° 05-12 and Decree n° 2-14-553 of 2015, as laid out in a legal summary of the implementing texts. Hiring a licensed guide gives you someone accountable for the quality of the tour, and the tip rewards the same thing.

For tips, the common ranges are 50 to 100 MAD for a half day and 100 to 200 MAD for a full day, and Morocco-Tips gives both ranges. Morocco Beauty Spots allows up to 300 MAD for a full day. For a private city guide, MerzougaWay puts the figure higher, at 150 to 250 MAD, while Serenity gives 100 to 150 MAD for the whole party. For group tours, Serenity suggests 20 to 50 MAD per person per day to be split between guide and driver, and eSIM Maroc suggests 50 to 100 MAD per person per day when only a guide is involved.

Per person or per group

Advice differs on whether the figure covers the whole party or each traveler. GuideMe and Moroccan Travel Trips describe a single amount for the group, while Morocco Journeying and Lovin Morocco describe a per-person amount. A pair of travelers who tip 150 MAD per person for a full day spend 300 MAD, double what a group-based reading would suggest. Ask the operator or guide how tips are usually handled when you book, and plan around the answer. For a family of four, settle the amount before you travel.

If a separate local guide joins you at a kasbah or village, Moroccan Travel Trips says that person is tipped separately from your main guide. For multi-day private tours, MerzougaWay says to give the driver-guide 100 to 200 MAD per day, usually at the end of the trip so you can judge the whole experience.

Tips come on top of the fee

Guide fees are separate from the tip. Triplo gives indicative private guide rates of 200 to 400 MAD for a half day and 400 to 800 MAD for a full day, and Morocco Prices gives 300 to 600 MAD for a half-day city walk and 500 to 900 MAD for a full day, per group. The tip comes on top of those fees.

Hammams, desert camps and other services

A few other services also call for a tip. In a hammam (a traditional steam bath where an attendant scrubs and washes you), MerzougaWay gives 30 to 50 MAD for the attendant at a local hammam. For a spa massage at a luxury venue, 50 to 100 MAD is the range given. Hand the tip directly to your attendant at the end of the treatment.

Desert trips involve several people who do much of the labor out of sight: the camp crew, camel handlers and guides. For the camp crew, Serenity suggests 50 to 100 MAD per person, and MerzougaWay gives the same range per person for camel-trek guides. Both are different from the tip for the driver who brings you to the edge of the dunes, so a Merzouga overnight can involve three separate tips: driver, camel guide and camp staff. It is worth asking the tour operator beforehand which of those the tour price already covers, because some tours pay the camp crew from the fee.

For small, unplanned moments, such as a staff member who finds a taxi for you or carries a package up a staircase, a 5 to 10 MAD coin or note is enough. The figures for hammam attendants and camp teams are less standardized than those for restaurants and taxis, so treat them as starting points and adjust to the quality of what you received.

Cash, small bills and exchange rates

Tips are paid in dirhams, in cash. Morocco-Tips says hotel staff, drivers, guides and porters generally cannot be tipped by card, and the restaurant card-terminal situation described earlier points the same way. Keep dirhams for tipping even if you pay for everything else by card.

Small denominations matter. GuideMe advises carrying 5, 10 and 20 MAD notes plus coins, because staff often cannot break large notes. Moroccan Travel Trips lists banknotes in 20, 50, 100 and 200 MAD, with the 10 MAD as a coin. When you change money or withdraw cash, ask for plenty of small notes, and break larger notes at shops where you are buying something anyway.

The exchange rate is easy to remember: about 10 MAD is roughly 1 US dollar, with GuideMe citing Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, as the reference. MerzougaWay puts 10 MAD at roughly 0.91 euros or 1 dollar. At that rate, a 10 MAD porter tip is about a dollar, a 100 MAD guide tip is about ten dollars and a 20 MAD housekeeping tip is about two dollars. Each of these sums is small by US standards.

A quick reference for the figures above:

Key Takeaways

• Treat tips as customary, not mandatory: No law requires them, but guides, drivers and service staff count on them, so budget a few hundred dirhams per busy day.
• Check the restaurant bill for "service compris": If service is included, a percentage tip is optional. If the bill is silent, leave about 10% at sit-down places and 5 to 10 MAD at casual ones.
• Insist on the meter, then round up: Ask for "compteur, s’il vous plaît" in petit taxis and round the fare up to the nearest 5 or 10 MAD. Agree grand taxi prices before getting in.
• Tip guides and drivers the most, and ask how: Plan on 100 to 200 MAD for a full-day licensed guide and 50 to 100 MAD for a half day, and ask whether the amount is per person or per group when you book.
• Carry 5, 10 and 20 MAD notes and coins: Most tipping happens in cash, and staff often cannot make change for large bills.