Tipping in Peru: What to Leave at Restaurants, in Taxis, at Hotels and on Tours

Tipping in Peru (propina in Spanish) is voluntary, and the amounts are small by US standards. Restaurants are the one place where a charge may already be on your bill. Many add a recargo al consumo, a service charge that Peruvian law caps at 13% of the value of the services. If your check shows that charge and the service was good, you can sign and leave. If it does not, about 10% is the standard tip at a sit-down restaurant. Taxis do not expect a tip, and a round-up of S/1 to S/2 is the usual gesture. Hotel housekeeping gets about S/7 to S/10 per day, and tour guides get roughly S/20 to S/50 per person depending on the length of the tour.

Peru’s currency is the sol (plural soles, written S/). Most tips are left in cash, and the amounts below are in soles unless a source quotes US dollars. Guides and porters on multi-day treks are the exception, because their recommended tips run higher and are often quoted in dollars.

The restaurant service charge and what the law says

The service charge comes from Decreto Ley 25988, passed in 1992. Its fifth complementary provision lets hotels and food and beverage businesses charge up to 13% of the value of their services, by agreement with their workers. IGV, Peru’s 18% sales tax, is not calculated on the charge. The law does not require restaurants to add it, but many do. It usually appears as a line near the bottom of the check, mostly at higher-end places.

The charge is separate from a tip, although diners often treat it as one. Both Infobae and LP Derecho report that many customers assume the money goes to the waiters, while the current rule leaves the distribution entirely to the establishment. Staff may therefore receive all of it, part of it, or none. A tip placed on top of the charge goes to the waiter only if you hand it over in cash or the restaurant passes it on.

LP Derecho gives a worked example of how the numbers stack up. On a S/100 bill before taxes, 18% IGV and a 13% service charge bring the total to S/131. A 10% tip calculated on that total would add still more. Adding a 10% tip on top of a 13% charge raises the cost of the meal well above the menu price, so check the line items.

A restaurant cannot force you to tip. Lawyer Roberto Shimabukuro told La República in July 2025 that a restaurant cannot legally compel customers to leave a tip, because the amount has to be voluntary. The same article says the service charge should not exceed 13%. A diner who disagrees with a charge can write in the restaurant’s libro de reclamaciones (the complaints book every establishment must keep) or complain to INDECOPI, Peru’s consumer protection agency.

A less formal option is to ask. Business school professor Carrillo of Pacífico Business School told Libero in 2024 that, because tips are voluntary, a diner who notices a charge can ask for the bill to be reissued without it. He said this happens more often at luxury restaurants. Most travelers will not need to do this. It helps when a charge appears that nobody mentioned.

Before you pay, scan the check for the words recargo de consumo or a percentage line. Infobae advises checking for it because staff explanations of the charge are often unclear. A bill that already shows the charge needs nothing more from you if the service was good. Enigma Peru, Peru Machu Picchu Tours and Huillca Expedition all give the same advice. If service was exceptional, a few extra soles in cash handed to the waiter reaches the person directly.

A bill now in Congress would change who receives the money. Bill 5173/2022-CR, filed in May 2023, would give workers 100% of the service charge and of tips, paid no later than the end of the calendar month. It would also require businesses to disclose the charge before customers order and to post a notice. The congressional labor committee approved it unanimously in November 2023, and Infobae reported in August 2024 that it was still being debated. The bill does not change the 13% cap. Check the current status before your trip if the question matters to you, but plan on the present rules.

How much to tip at restaurants, cafés and bars

Where no service charge appears, plan on about 10% of the bill. Salkantay Trekking puts the typical figure at around 10% when service is not already included, and notes that most bars and restaurants do not add a tip to the check on their own. Published ranges for mid-range and upscale restaurants run from below 10% up to 15%. Huillca gives 10% to 15% for formal restaurants and 15% for high-end ones, while Enigma Peru gives a lower range, up to 10%, for mid to high-end places. A reasonable approach for a first trip is 10% as the default, rounding up for attentive service and dropping lower when the meal was ordinary.

The tradition itself is looser than in the United States. The lawyer quoted by La República said there is no strong custom of tipping waiters in Peru. Another view, from AHORA Perú’s former president as quoted by Ojo, is that tips should be a reward rather than an obligation, and that 10% is the most common amount. For visitors, a tip is appreciated, with 10% as the usual baseline, and no one should chase you for it.

Casual places follow a different pattern. Evolution Treks says smaller local eateries do not usually expect a tip but appreciate any amount, and Explorify Expeditions says locals typically leave about S/3 to S/5 in casual restaurants. A cheap set-lunch menú at a neighborhood spot calls for a few coins on the table, not a percentage. Buffets and self-service restaurants require no tip, though Huillca says S/5 to S/10 is the usual amount when someone served you well.

At bars, Salkantay suggests S/1 to S/2 per drink, or 10% if you also order food. Enigma Peru’s guidance for pisco and cocktail bars is S/5 to S/10 per round, or up to 10% of the tab. Enigma also describes 10% as the standard in Lima’s fine dining restaurants and stylish bars when service is not already on the bill. If you order a pisco sour at the counter, a coin or two is plenty. If a bartender mixes several cocktails for your group at a table, S/5 to S/10 is in range.

To keep it simple, check the bill first. If it shows a charge, tip nothing, or add a few soles in cash for standout service. At a sit-down place where the bill shows no charge, leave 10% in cash. For a cheap local meal, round up or leave S/3 to S/5. Because a card slip often has no tip line, carry soles for this purpose even when you pay the check by card.

Taxis, ride-hailing apps and buses

Street taxis in Peru do not run on meters in most cases. You negotiate the fare before getting in, and that agreed price is the whole cost. Salkantay says tipping taxi drivers is not an expectation and that most locals pay the agreed fare. Hootling reports the same for Lima and Cusco: fares are negotiated in advance and no tip is expected. Caravan Tours goes further and says standard taxis do not accept tips because the fare was set beforehand.

Rounding up is the common courtesy. iSouthAmerica calls rounding up the easiest method and gives the example of paying S/20 on an S/18 fare. Peru Explorer gives a range of 1 to 2 soles. Add a couple of soles if the driver carried heavy luggage or went out of the way to help. Because you settle the price up front, negotiating well matters more to your wallet than any tip. Agree on the fare before you get in, and have the right change ready so you are not left rounding up by whatever the driver says he cannot break.

Ride-hailing apps such as Uber, inDrive, Cabify, Beat and DiDi work differently, since the fare is set in the app. Tipping is optional, and the published suggestions vary. Caravan says drivers may accept a small percentage for excellent service. GetPeru says tipping is not expected but appreciated and suggests rounding up or adding S/1 to S/2 for good service. Ohlalima suggests S/2 to S/5 for Cabify or Uber rides, and Peru Machu Picchu Tours says most apps allow an optional in-app tip for exceptional service. Given the spread, S/1 to S/2 for a short ride and a bit more for a long airport run is a sensible range. Payment rules also vary by app and by ride. Machu Picchu Viajes describes payment as going through the platform, while GetPeru lists cash or card, so check the payment and tip options in the app you plan to use before you land.

The fare examples in GetPeru’s Uber guide give a sense of scale. Rides within Miraflores, a Lima neighborhood popular with visitors, cost about S/5 to S/10 on Uber or DiDi. An airport ride to Miraflores costs considerably more than a short local ride. Surge pricing applies during rush hour and in the rain. On a S/10 ride, a S/1 or S/2 tip is already a sizable percentage of the fare, so small amounts go a long way.

Public transportation needs no tip. Fertur says tipping is not expected on buses, micros and combis, which are the minibuses that run fixed fares. Caravan adds that public bus drivers cannot legally accept tips. Pay the posted fare and keep your coins for other situations.

Hotels, spas, airports and the cash you will need

Housekeeping is the main hotel tip. Caravan describes S/7 to S/10 (about US$2 to US$3) per day as a polite amount for each staff member who serves your room, left for the length of the stay. Hotel staff are tipped per room rather than per guest, so a couple sharing a room leaves one amount, not two. Other guides give slightly different ranges: S/5 to S/10 per day for housekeeping appears in several, and Peru Explorer suggests 10 to 15 soles daily for multi-night stays. For a first trip, S/7 to S/10 per night is a safe middle. Leave the money each morning, not all at checkout, so the person who cleaned your room that day gets it. Housekeepers rotate between rooms.

Bellhops and porters get S/3 to S/5 per bag. Peru Explorer gives 3 to 5 soles per bag, or 3 to 7 depending on service quality. Enigma Peru quotes US$1 to US$2 per bag for porters. Evolution Treks puts a doorman who hails a taxi at about S/1, and airport porters at US$1 to US$2 per bag. Salkantay lists airports among the places where tips are expected. A traveler with two suitcases and a carry-on can reasonably budget S/6 to S/15 at a hotel arrival and a similar amount at a hotel departure.

According to Caravan, high-end spas such as the one at the JW Marriott El Convento Cusco customarily receive a higher percentage tip per service, while casual spas are happy with S/1 to S/5. The same guide says public services, medical services and religious services are not tipped.

Cash makes all of this work. Caravan advises tipping in cash and says travel professionals do not recommend tipping by credit card. Its list of useful denominations is S/10, S/20 and S/50 notes plus S/1, S/2 and S/5 coins. Salkantay adds that many service workers earn around the national minimum wage, which explains why small tips are valued, and that rounding up is appreciated but never obligatory. Small bills are harder to find than you might expect. Inca Trail Reservations advises getting them early because Cusco ATMs run short of small notes. Break larger notes at a pharmacy, a supermarket or a hotel front desk when you can, and hold a stack of S/10 notes and a handful of coins in a separate pocket for tips.

Tipping guides on day tours

Published suggestions vary most for guided day tours. For half-day tours, Illa Kuntur Travel suggests S/20 to S/30 per person, and for full-day tours S/30 to S/50. Salkantay’s 2026 guidance for day-tour guides falls in a similar range. Evolution Treks takes a percentage approach instead, putting the tip at a percentage of the tour cost. Tour Guides Peru lists about S/10 per person for a short tour of an hour or two and S/30 to S/50 for a full day, and suggests a pooled amount for groups of five or six. An older page puts the figure at US$5 to US$10 per person per day, which falls in the same range.

Plan S/10 per person for a short walking or museum tour, S/20 to S/30 per person for a half day, and S/30 to S/50 per person for a full day. If you booked a private guide, the higher end of those ranges makes sense because the guide works only for you. If your group is large and the tour was low-priced, the lower end is acceptable. Tips are typically handed over in cash at the end of the tour, and a driver who works alongside the guide can be given a smaller share of your total.

For guides at Machu Picchu, Boleto Machu Picchu says guides at the entrance are authorized by DIRECETUR, the regional tourism authority, and gives a range of about US$10 to US$20 for a well-prepared guide, with US$1 to US$5 for poor service. Tips are usually given at the end of the tour. Since the guides are authorized, it is worth confirming that yours is an official one before you hire. MINCETUR, Peru’s tourism ministry, keeps a national directory of qualified guides that listed more than 5,000 as of 2018. Official guides must carry a visible ID card, a carné, showing name, training institute, languages and card number. Asking to see it takes a few seconds and tells you whether the person is registered before you pay or tip.

Group size changes the total. In a large group, a tip of S/30 each from a full-day tour adds up to a substantial sum for the guide, so most guides in that setting are paid well by tips. In a group of two or three, the same per-person amount is a more modest sum. This is one reason many travelers lean toward the upper part of the range on small or private tours.

Inca Trail and multi-day trek tips

Treks need their own budget line, because tips are not included in the price. Inca Trail Reservations says tips are left to the traveler and recommends a set per-trekker amount on a 4-day trek for the whole crew of porters, cook and guide. Most groups pool this in one envelope that the crew leader divides by role, with porters receiving the largest share because they carry the most.

Timing matters. The same operator recommends giving the envelope on the last evening, after dinner on night three, rather than the final morning, because porters often leave early to catch the train. Hand it to the crew leader and not to an individual porter, so the split is handled in one place.

Other operators give different figures. Machu Picchu Travel Guide says most trekkers tip guides, porters and cooks on the final day, and summarizes a SAM Corporations recommendation of US$10 to US$20 per person per day for the communal tip plus a direct tip to porters of US$5 to US$7 per person per day. Uros Expeditions suggests a per-passenger amount for the porters’ common fund and a separate per-passenger amount for the main guide. Ask your operator what it recommends, then check that against the ranges above. Older forum advice describes a minimum group tip fixed by contract and paid in advance. Current operator guidance treats tips as optional, so confirm with your own booking.

Porter pay is relevant to how you tip. Ley 31614, passed in November 2022, sets load limits of 20 kg for men and 15 kg for women. It also sets minimum pay at 3% of the UIT (Peru’s tax unit) per day worked, which Inca Trail Reservations calculates at S/165 in 2026. A 2024 amendment, Ley 32137, made porters independent workers and replaced the five-rest-day rule with mandatory weekly rest. The operator says the law still lacks an implementing regulation, and it cites a senator’s August 2026 statement that loads above the limit were still being carried. It also reports two porter deaths on 18 August 2026.

For travelers, a tip adds to fair pay. It does not replace it. Inca Trail Reservations treats a very low-priced 4-day trek as a warning sign, and Machu Picchu Trek advises caution with a standard 4-day group booking under US$500. Choosing an operator that pays porters properly will do more for the crew than any tipping strategy, and the envelope on night three then adds to a fair wage.

Key Takeaways

• Read the restaurant check first: A recargo al consumo of up to 13% may already be on the bill, and if it is and service was good, sign and leave. Without it, tip about 10% in cash at a sit-down restaurant.
• Round up for taxis and buses: Taxi fares are agreed before the ride, so S/1 to S/2 extra is optional. Buses and combis run fixed fares and need no tip.
• Budget S/7 to S/10 per room per day at hotels: Add S/3 to S/5 per bag for porters, and leave the housekeeping tip daily rather than at checkout.
• Plan S/20 to S/50 per person for day-tour guides: Use the low end for half days and the high end for full or private tours. Confirm that your guide carries an official ID card.
• Set aside a separate budget for an Inca Trail crew: Pool it in one envelope, give it to the crew leader on the evening of night three, and choose an operator that pays porters fairly.
• Carry small soles notes and coins: Get them early, since credit card tipping is discouraged and small bills run short at Cusco ATMs.