Short answer: Tipping, called baksheesh, is customary in Egypt, but no government source sets amounts. Wikivoyage, checked on 29 October 2026, lists small cash tips for drivers, bellmen and bathroom attendants in the local currency, and amounts shift with the exchange rate. A 12% service charge may already be on your restaurant bill, so read it first.
Key facts
- Date checked
- 29 October 2026; amounts are guidance from Wikivoyage, not official rules
- Amounts
- Wikivoyage quotes local currency only; no source we opened gives a US dollar guideline
- Tour driver, bellman, doorman
- Tipped in small local notes (Wikivoyage)
- Nile cruise crew
- One pool shared among all staff; ask the ship how it is handled (Wikivoyage)
- Restaurant
- No tip needed, though a 10% to 12% service charge may be added (Wikivoyage); the law adds 12% for service (Al-Ahram Weekly, December 2020)
- Currency you may carry
- Up to 5,000 Egyptian pounds in or out; declare foreign currency above US$10,000 (UK Foreign Office)
What is baksheesh and who expects it?
Baksheesh is a small cash payment for a service. Wikipedia says the word comes from Middle Persian and can mean a tip, a charitable gift or a bribe, depending on the language and the country. In Egypt visitors meet the tip sense most often: a driver, a porter, a bathroom attendant or a cruise crew member who has done something for you.
Wikivoyage says a tour driver will still ask for a tip from his passengers, and that in areas frequented by tourists you should not be surprised if a photographer asks for one. Our own rate sheet for the Nile cruises says sightseeing is not included in the cruise rate, and that drinks, tips and other extras are paid on board. That is a rule for our ships, so check what your own booking says.
Related tripsEgypt tour packages63 private trips from 2 to 15 days.What do the sources actually give?
Very little in the way of official figures. The UK Foreign Office and Government of Canada pages we opened on 29 October 2026 give no tipping amounts. The national tourism portal Experience Egypt gives none either. The only sourced list we could open from an allowed source is the tipping section of Wikivoyage’s Egypt page, which is a secondary, community-written source.
That is why this page is shorter on numbers than most. Tour-company blogs publish many more figures, but their writers sell the trips the tips are for and they disagree widely with one another, so we do not use them. Where a figure below has no source, we say so, and we do not guess.
What do the sourced figures cover?
Wikivoyage gives its tipping figures in the local currency only, and no source we opened gives a US dollar guideline. Because this site shows money in US dollars, we do not list pound amounts or convert them. Our own arithmetic would add a second layer of guesswork on top of a community-written source.
| Who | What Wikivoyage says |
|---|---|
| Tour driver | Expects a tip from passengers, counted per day per person |
| Hotel bellman | Tipped for carrying all bags, or per bag |
| Hotel doorman who flags a taxi | Small tip in the same range as a bellman |
| Taxi driver | Not necessary when the fare is agreed; rounding up a little is now common |
| Cruise staff | Per day, divided among all staff; depends on the initial price |
| Bathroom attendant | The smallest sum on this page; more at major tourist sites |
Wikivoyage says the cruise figure depends on the initial price, and it does not say whether it is per person or per cabin. Ask the ship before you decide. It also warns that prices in older guides are unreliable after the 2024 devaluation, so check the date on any tipping advice you read, including this page. Amounts vary, so ask your operator or your hotel what is usual on the day you travel.
How much should I tip a tour guide?
We found no allowed source that gives a figure for guides, so we do not give one. Wikivoyage’s tipping list stops short of guides, and the Ministry and national tourism pages are silent. The honest answer is to ask your operator before the trip what is customary for your itinerary, and to hand the tip to the guide in person at the end of the service.
Wikivoyage adds a useful warning about package tours: many demand additional payments for camels, local guides, boat trips and similar extras. Ask at booking which extras are inside the price, so that you know which payments are tips and which are fees.
How much should I tip a driver?
Wikivoyage says a tour driver will expect a tip from each passenger for every day of service, and it quotes the amount in local currency only. Whether a given sum fits depends on the length of the day, the number of people in the car and the service you got. Ask your operator before the trip what is customary for your itinerary.
For taxis, Wikivoyage says a tip is not necessary because the fare is always agreed in advance, and that rounding up a little is now common. The Government of Canada adds that many taxis have no working meter, so agree the fare before you get in. Rounding up then replaces a separate tip.
How much should I tip hotel staff?
Wikivoyage lists a small tip for a hotel bellman who carries all your bags, or a little per bag, and the same range for a doorman who flags down a taxi. It gives no figure for housekeeping or room service, and we found none in another allowed source. If you want to leave something for housekeeping, a small note on the bedside table at the end of your stay is a reasonable gesture, and the amount is yours to choose.
Keep a few small notes ready before you reach the hotel. The bellman who carries your luggage upstairs will not have change for a large note.
How much should I tip in restaurants?
Wikivoyage says no tip is needed, though in fancier restaurants a service charge of 10% to 12% may be added to bills. Al-Ahram Weekly explains where that charge comes from: in December 2020 it reported that, according to the law, a 12% charge is added to customers’ bills in return for the service they receive, and that the tourism syndicate had signed an agreement to redistribute it among hotel and restaurant staff.
So read your bill before you add anything. If a service charge is printed, it already exists to pay the staff. Whether the charge reaches the waiter in full depends on the place, and we found no allowed source that measures it. A small extra cash tip for a waiter who looked after your table well is a personal choice, not a rule.
How much should I tip on a Nile cruise?
Wikivoyage gives a per-day figure for cruise staff, depending on the initial price, divided among all staff on board. On our own ships, tips are paid on board, as the rate sheet says. Most ships collect crew tips as one pool, so ask at reception on the first evening how the ship wants it handled. See our Nile cruises for the sailings.
Tipping the crew pool and then tipping individual staff again for the same service is a common way to overpay. Ask the ship, then follow its method.
What about bathrooms and small services?
Wikivoyage lists a small tip for a bathroom attendant, and a larger one at major tourist sites. It also describes people who offer toilet paper at the entrance as a service, so expect to pay a small amount if you take it. These are the smallest sums in this article, so carry coins and the smallest notes for them.
Wikivoyage also notes that photographers in tourist areas may ask for a tip. Decide before you hold up a camera whether you want to take that offer, and say no politely if you do not.
Who should you not tip?
Wikivoyage says officials in uniform, such as police officers, should not be tipped. It says a tip for a stranger who gives directions is not necessary and may even be considered offensive. And it says you do not have to tip if you received no service or the service was bad, and nobody will take offence.
Pay only for a service that you asked for, and say no before the help starts, not after. A tip is a thank-you for something done, not a fee that anyone can demand because they stood near you.
What if someone demands baksheesh for help you did not ask for?
Wikivoyage names scams and hassle as the main concern in Egypt, especially in Luxor. It warns that many Egyptians who start a conversation with you want your money, that small favours often come at a hefty price, and that people outside museums may claim the museum is closed to steer you elsewhere. Its advice is to say la shukran, meaning no thanks, politely and keep walking.
The UK Foreign Office says scammers and touts sometimes target foreign nationals in tourist areas. If a person is unpleasantly persistent, ask a hotel or the tourist police on 126 for help. For a longer list of tricks, see our guide to tourist scams.
How do you get small notes?
Plan for it before you land. Experience Egypt lists banknotes of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 pounds, with the one-pound unit also circulating as a coin. Wikivoyage says Egypt has a perpetual shortage of small notes and coins, and advises hoarding small bills, breaking large notes at big supermarkets and using ride-hailing apps so that you keep your small notes.
It also gives an ATM trick: withdraw an amount that ends in 50, because the machine should then give you useful small notes. Experience Egypt says commercial banks offer ATMs with currency exchange 24 hours a day. Wikivoyage advises avoiding one operator of cash machines and letting your home bank do the currency conversion for the best rate. For the rest of the money picture, see our guide to money, ATMs and cards.
Should I tip in dollars or Egyptian pounds?
The Egyptian pound is the local currency, and Wikivoyage gives every tipping figure in it. Experience Egypt says Egypt is still largely cash-based, especially for taxis and small shops, so carry enough local cash. The Government of Canada adds that some tour operators and travel agents ask for payment in US cash only and that many merchants charge fees for card payments. That concerns payments for tours, not tips.
A practical rule that fits all of that: carry small local notes for daily tips. If you also bring a few small dollar notes for the end of a trip, keep them in small denominations, and ask your guide or ship what they prefer.
What does the exchange rate do to a tip?
It changes the value of every local-currency figure you read in a guide. Wikivoyage points to a currency-conversion site for current rates and warns that older guides are unreliable after the 2024 devaluation. A tip that was a large sum for a visitor before the devaluation can be a small one now, which is why we give no converted amount here.
Check today’s rate on your bank’s app before you work out a tip in your own currency. If your trip is a few weeks away, check again just before you fly.
How much cash can you bring?
The UK Foreign Office entry page says you can bring up to 5,000 Egyptian pounds into or out of Egypt, and that you must declare foreign currency worth more than 10,000 US dollars on arrival. It says there is no limit on how much foreign currency you can bring. For tipping, the point is that you should not need to carry large sums: small notes matter more than large amounts.
How do you plan a week of tips?
Because no source gives a US dollar guideline, the useful plan is a list of who you will tip, not a total. Here is a way to structure a 7-day trip for two people with a tour driver for part of it and a short Nile cruise.
| Item | When it comes up | What to settle first |
|---|---|---|
| Tour driver | End of each day or end of the service | Ask your operator what is customary for the itinerary |
| Cruise staff | Final evening, into the crew pool | Ask whether the figure is per person or per cabin |
| Hotel bellmen | Each hotel change | Keep small notes ready before you arrive |
| Guide | End of the service, in person | No sourced figure, so ask your operator |
Restaurants, taxis and small services come on top. The table shows why the first step is to read your booking terms and ask the ship how it handles crew tips.
Keep readingTourist scams in Egypt: the common ones and how to avoid themScams reported in Egypt include unrequested guides, camel and horse rides with a changed price, friendly...Are tips included in all-inclusive packages?
It depends on the provider, so read your booking terms. We found no allowed source that states a general rule on whether all-inclusive packages cover gratuities. On our own cruise rate, tips are an extra paid on board. If a package says tips are included, ask in writing which staff they cover and whether you should still leave something for a guide or driver.
Which mistakes cost money?
- Tipping the crew pool twice, once to the individual and once in the pool. Read the ship’s policy first.
- Counting on a service charge to cover everything. It is a charge on the bill, and a bill can show it without telling you how it is shared.
- Carrying only large notes, so that you overpay because there is no change.
- Paying a stranger who offered unrequested help.
- Using an old guide’s local-currency figures after the 2024 devaluation.
How do I keep it simple?
- Check what your booking says about gratuities, service charges and extras.
- Carry small local notes for daily tips.
- Read the restaurant bill for a service charge before you add a tip.
- Check the exchange rate before you leave, because every local-currency range moves with it.
- Hand the tip directly to the person, or follow the ship’s method for the crew pool.
