How much to tip in Peru?

Tips in Peru are appreciated, people who work in tourism expect a tip from tourists. The amount of tip you leave will depend on the excursion you take.

1. Free Tours in Perú

  • Leave your tip in cash, we don’t accept cards
  • We only accept Peruvian Soles, USD, Euros and Pounds
  • Is it mandatory? Your Duide doesn’t have a salary, he/she fully counts on your donation
  • So why do you call it “free tour”? The dynamic is simple, first we provide the service, then you reward your Guide with your donation, this is how free tours are worldwide, otherwise book pre-paid or paid tours
  • Tourists normally leave 10 USD, another 20 USD, another 50 Soles pp — it will depend 100% on the tour quality
  • h = hour
  • pp = per person
Free ToursDuración Suggested tip pp
Free Tour Classic Cusco2.5 h10 USD (30 Soles)
Free Tour Sacsayhuamán Cusco3 h15 USD (40 Soles)
Free Tour Museums Cusco2.5 h10 USD (30 Soles)
Free Tour Lima leaving from Miraflores3.5 h12 USD (35 Soles)
Free Tour Lima from the historic center2.5 h10 USD (30 Soles)
Free Tour Barranco2 h7 USD (20 Soles)
Free Tour Miraflores Pyramids2 h7 USD (20 Soles)
Free Tour Chorrillos2 h7 USD (20 Soles)
Free Tour Arequipa2.5 h8 USD (25 Soles)

2. Paid tours in Perú

  • Leave your tip in cash, we don’t accept cards
  • We only accept Peruvian Soles, USD, Euros and Pounds
  • Is it mandatory? No, it’s totally optional because you already paid for the tour, if you want to add something, it’s all up to you
  • What if the service is bad? Don’t leave any tip
  • pp = per person
  • h = hour
  • d = days
  • Group: Shared service with other tourists
  • Private: 100% personalized, no strangers
  • The excursions of several days can be packages of cultural tours or trekkings.
Paid toursDurationTip for Group tours ppTip for Private tours pp
Half day excursions 5 h5 Soles10 Soles
Day trips 8 h10 Soles15 Soles
Full day trips 16 h15 Soles20 Soles
Multi-day excursions2 d 20 Soles30 Soles
Multi-day excursions3 d 30 Soles40 Soles
Multi-day excursions4 d 40 Soles50 Soles
Multi-day excursions5 d 50 Soles60 Soles

3. More about tips in Perú:

At Hotels

It is very common to leave the tip in the restaurants of the hotels in Peru; an average of 20% of the Consumption is left. Tips in Peru are an established custom as in any country, although somewhat more flexible. Leaving a tip in the restaurant of your hotel is very much expected, especially if you are having dinner. Nowadays plastic money is very popular meaning the usage of credit cards, you can add to the total consumption 20% so that the waiters can be rewarded, however we strongly suggest tipping in Cash, Why is that? Because some waiters are lazy, some of them are cool, and if you tip in cash the money will go directly to your favourite waiter and won´t be splited up among those ones who are not good at their job.

Are you staying in a Hostel or Air BnB, if so tipping is much more flexible!

1.- Bellboys

how much to tip in peru: hotels bellboys

Some people at a hotels will help you to carry your luggage, we call them Bellboys, please do tip them, most of the expect from 1 to 2 dollars per luggage.

2.- The receptionists

The receptionists at hotels usually don´t expect to be tipped since most of them have a great salary, nevertheless there are cool tourists who also give tips to the receptionist, because they know that they ensure that everything they request during their stay will be sent or resolved in the shortest possible time. If you happen to leave a tip, please leave them in between 10 and 20 USD.

how much to tip in peru receptionist

3.- Taxi Drivers driving you to your hotel

Some of them expect tips but we know that most of them also overcharge you for example from the Airport of Callao to Miraflores, you should pay 18 USD max, but many of them charge you 50 USD therefore we suggest to find out well about the correct prices before taking the service of one of them, if you know that the price you are paying is fair enough and he is a cool man, he is even helping you to put the luggage inside the taxi or bring your luggage out from the taxi once you arrive to your hotel, then tip your man, like 5 dollars extra!

4.- House Keeping Team

Most of them also expect to be tipped as it happens in most parts of the world, the person who cleans your room during your stay in the hotel will be very happy to receive some tips, most tourists tip 5 to 10 USD per day, please do always tip them personally  in cash, don´t leave it at the reception desk.

how much to tip in peru house keeping

5.- Room Service

how much to tip in peru room service

In the case of requesting room service, your wervers will also expect tips, you can tip from 3 to 5 USD.

At restaurants

It is suggested to leave as a tip 20% of the consumption, Consider that No Restaurant in Peru will automatically charge your card for the tip, it is not like in some countries such as Argentina where the tip is automatically charged to your card, they call it “table set up”, and this ussue does not appy in Peru. When we travel we are fascinated by discovering the new cultures to which we are exposed, and one of the most wonderful pleasure is to know the local gastronomy and but don´t forget about your servers or waiters who will take care of you by bringing you your delicious peruvian food with smiley faces and they will asisst you with anything you may need to enjoy your food better.

how much to tip in peru restaurants

There are countries where there is nothing more than “thanks” or a little change and others instead where a very specific percentage is stipulated, so that you do not get embarrassed and nobody is offended, we tell you what are the standards to tip in Peruvian Restaurants, as mentioned above already is average 20% of the total  consumption however as mentioned before tip in cash to your servers, we know that if you tip electronically the tip does not even arrive to the hands of the waiters but the owners of the restaurants keep it for them We must say that this does not happen frequently, not all restaurants have bad habits although we still recomend you to tip in cash.

how much to tip in peru

Taxi

how much to tip in peru: taxi

No, Peru is not like other countries or other cities, for example in New York many taxi drivers ask for a tip, in Peru this does not happen unless you really like the job of your taxi driver and you know you are paying a fair price for the ride. You can find out the correct price to be paid by comparing the prices with Uber, as simple as that. Note that in Peru taxis don´t have a taximeter.

Peru Etiquette at restaurants

The high-end restaurants will expect you to wear something else than jeans or Bermudas. A nice pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt will do much better. In wintertime (on the coast of Peru means from August to November), you will look sharper by using a blazer or a leather jacket.

If they say to you come in:

  • “Sport Elegante” means you will be wearing a long sleeve shirt, jeans, black or brown shoes and a coat but no necktie.
  • “Elegante” or “Formal” will mean for sure you will wearing similar to a Penguin, yes! wear a long sleeve shirt, tie, coat, black pants, black shoes, etc.

Smoking Areas in Peruvian Restaurants

You can ask for a smoking area at some restaurants. Be sure you make reservations ahead of time, especially for dinner at well-known restaurants because most of them do not have an smoking area since smoking in Peru is not popular, have you seen any Peruvian smoking on the streets or anywhere? Most likely the answer is “no”, if you see a Peruvian smoking that would barely happen.

Note, we don´t mean nothing wrong if you smoke, none of our business!

Events

Peruvians are not known for their punctuality. If you are invited to a house, you will normally be expected to arrive at least 30 minutes after the invitation time, if you are invited for lunch, food will normally be served after 1 pm, for dinner after 9 pm.

For weddings, you should arrive 30 minutes after the hour of the invitation at the church. We call it “Peruvian Time”, we sorry for this but this is how it works in Peru.

General Courtesy

  • If you want to impress your Peruvian, girlfriend and future parents-in-law be sure you are always courteous to her. Open her car door before you get in. You should do the same upon arrival to your destination.  Ladies always before you, when entering an elevator or a room.
  • When a woman is sitting next to you at a restaurant stands up, you are also expected to do the same. When she returns to the table, you should also stand up.
  • When wine or drinks are poured, everyone waits to be served and everyone says “salud” before you start drinking.
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