Tipping in Egypt on a Private Trip: Who, When and How Much

Tipping is customary in Egypt, and tips are not included in any journey on this site. Customary tips are US$30 to 50 a day for a private guide, US$15 to 20 a day for a driver and about US$10 to 15 per person per night for a Nile cruise crew. Two sources describe tipping the guide in cash at the end of the trip.

Are tips included in a private Egypt journey?

No. Tips are not included in any journey on this site: every journey lists them under Not included, next to domestic flights, which are booked and paid separately. The written proposal for your trip names what is included and what is not, so the tips you plan for sit outside it.

Some packaged cruise programs work differently. Uniworld, for example, lists gratuities for onboard and onshore personnel as included on its Splendors of Egypt & the Nile program. When you compare a private journey with a packaged cruise, check which side the tips are on.

Customary tips at a glance

The amounts below are customary, not rules, and each range is one that two published sources support. Published suggestions for guides in particular differ widely between sources, so treat the ranges as a guide to what is usual rather than a fixed rate.

Your private guide and driver

On land, the guide, the vehicle and the driver are for your group alone, so these are the main tips of a private journey. The customary tip for a private guide is US$30 to 50 a day for a full day. The customary tip for a private driver is US$15 to 20 a day in total; a second source gives US$10 to 20.

Two sources describe tipping a guide at the end of the trip or on the last day, in cash, at the traveler's discretion. If a different guide meets you in each city, tip each one for their own days. A driver who stays with you for several days can be tipped the same way, as one amount at the end.

Tipping on a Nile cruise or dahabiya

A Nile cruise crew is customarily tipped through one pooled envelope: the customary tip is about US$10 to 15 per person per night, and a second source gives US$10 to 12. On a cruise ship the ship is shared with other guests, while the guided visits are private where the journey lists private guided sightseeing. Your guide is not part of the crew, so the guide's tip is separate from the envelope.

Because the crew tip is counted per night, it grows with the length of the sailing: the Luxury journeys use 4-night cruises on The Oberoi Philae and 3-night cruises from Aswan to Luxor on The Oberoi Zahra. For a dahabiya, the sources give no separate two-source figure, so ask how the crew shares tips when you book. The vessels are on the luxury Nile cruises page.

Hotels: porters and housekeeping

Hotel tips are customarily given in Egyptian pounds (EGP): 50 to 100 EGP per bag for a porter and 50 to 100 EGP per day for housekeeping. Two sources advise keeping small Egyptian notes ready for tips; one names 20 and 50 EGP notes, and says banks, hotel reception desks and exchange offices can give them.

Restaurants, site guards and offers you did not ask for

Restaurants often add a service charge to the bill, and sources say that charge may not reach the waiter; they suggest a small extra tip on top.

At temples, tombs, mosques and museums, guards, caretakers or attendants expect a tip when they explain something or help you. The same sources advise declining services you did not ask for. At Giza, Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum, unofficial helpers may offer guidance and then ask for payment. With your own guide beside you, a firm, polite no thank you and walking on is enough.

Cash, currency and small notes

Tips are given in cash. On the currency, sources disagree: one operator guide prefers US dollars for larger tips such as guides and drivers, another says either currency works for them, and two other guides advise Egyptian pounds. Two of the sources advise against US$1 bills for tips.

For pounds, two sources advise withdrawing Egyptian pounds from a cash machine on arrival. One of them says cards work at some higher-end hotels and restaurants, but cash is widely needed.

When to hand tips over

• Guide: at the end of the trip or on the last day, in cash.
• Driver: one total for each day, which can be given as one amount when the driver's days with you end.
• Nile cruise crew: one pooled envelope, counted per person for each night on board.
• Hotel porter: for each bag carried.
• Housekeeping: for each day of the stay.

Planning tips into a private journey

The written proposal names the route, the hotels and room types and any Nile vessel, which tells you how many nights you spend on board and in each hotel, and so where tips will come up. Ask for one through the contact page; sending a request costs nothing and is not a booking. For the rest of the packing, see what to wear in Egypt.