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Istanbul Insider

Istanbul travel guide and advice by locals.

How Much and When to Tip in Istanbul

Tips or gratuities are custom in Istanbul, or Turkey for that matter. The good news is that tipping (başiş) won’t hurt your wallet since you are only expected to spend rather humble amounts. But Turks don’t tip anywhere. Here is the lowdown on where and how much you are expected to tip in Istanbul. You’re of course free to raise the bar for excellence. On the flip side, you can lower or skip the tip if you were unhappy with the service you received.

Picture of plate with tipping money in Istanbul, Turkey.
Plate with tipping money. © Photo by Lea Latumahina

General Tipping Rules

As a rule of thumb, you are expected to tip 5-10% in restaurants, cafés and bars. Hotel staff expect, depending on their duties, between 2-10 Euro for their services. Turks don’t tip taxi drivers, but round up cab fares.

How to Tip?

  • Cash — In bars, cafés and restaurants, waiters will bring the bill to your table, on a plate or in a small booklet. You can pay the bill cash or by credit card. Unfortunately, contrary to some Western countries, there is no way to add an extra amount to the bill before paying it by credit card. Tipping always occurs with cash money, so be prepared to have some with you!
  • Turkish Liras — Although I list the amounts in the more stable Euro currency, the staff prefers to receive Turkish Liras. Both notes and coins are fine. Foreign currency is appreciated too, as long as it is paper money and not change. Foreign coins cannot be exchanged into Turkish Liras.

Where and How Much to Tip?

  • Airports — Every airport has professional porters, operating by an official tariff. In case the tariff is not prominently posted, tip 1 Euro per suitcase. In case it totals less than the official tariff, be reassured that the porter will let you know.
  • Taxis — For taxi drivers, don’t tip, just round up the fare. So, a fare of 20.60 TL, will become 21 TL. The only time people tip cab drivers is when they carry your luggage or bags to and from the car.
  • Minibus (Dolmuş) — No tip.
  • Hotels — For porters and room service, it is customary to tip 2-3 Euro. For housekeeping, people tend to leave 5 Euro in the room, especially on the bed. Guests usually leave a tip at the reception after checking out, mostly around 10 Euro.
  • Restaurants, Cafés & Bars — As mentioned earlier, 5 to 10 percent is common. In more up market eateries, it’s appropriate to tip 10 to 15 percent.
  • Musicians — Some establishments (meyhanes, fish restaurants) have strolling musicians. They play for tips. If you don’t want them to play at your table, it’s not impolite to graciously wave them away. However, it’s not done to have them play a few songs and not reward them. The correct technique is to slide lira note worth 3-5 Euro behind the strings of the violinist when he leans over the table. Alternatively, you can just drop some money in his pockets.
  • Turkish Bath (Hamam) — There is no way you can avoid or forget tipping the Turkish bath/hamam attendant(s). Before you leave, they will all come ‘to say goodbye’, so make sure you have some cash money on you. You normally divide 10 to 20% of the total amount you spent among the attendants.
  • Tour Guides — Tour guides don’t work for tips, you already paid for their service. Having said that, they of course do hope to receive a tip, which is token of your appreciation for a job exceptionally well done by the tour guide. Typically, people don’t tip the guide(s) individually, but as a group. Between 10-15 Euro is common.

Further Recommended Reading

  1. Turkish Customs & Etiquette
  2. How to Get an Istanbul Kart, and Is It Worth It?
  3. Tips to Prevent Popular Istanbul Taxi Scams

Filed Under: Money, Plan Your Trip, Visa, Safety, Money & Health

Comments

  1. Monica says

    November 24, 2021 at 2:14 am

    Hello! How much could it be now to tip somebody that helps to carry suitcases at a hotel now that the lira’s value has changed? 1 euro today is 14 liras

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      November 24, 2021 at 6:07 pm

      Hi Monica,

      A very valid question. Maybe I should update this page based on USD or EUR.

      Reply
      • Asil says

        October 3, 2022 at 10:09 am

        Did you update? Is now almost a year later and 1 euro = 20 lira. (Not the smallest note)I was worried if i have offended anyone and under tipped. When i just handed the smaller notes but realized too late that 5 lira is just 25 cents. Which is far from the €2 suggested in the text. I know i should have looked up the conversion rate but never would i have realized such a significant drop in exchange rates. So i just started tipping how i would normally tip. And hopefully do not offend anyone else.

        Reply
        • Erlend says

          October 3, 2022 at 5:36 pm

          When I updated the post, I replaced the TL values with percentages or an amount in Euro, but apparently forgot to take the smallest note phrase out.
          It has happened to me as well before, wanting to tip 5 € but instead tipping 5 TL by accident.

          Reply
        • Yanett C. says

          November 19, 2022 at 5:05 am

          We tipped our bellboy $100 TL last night
          Equivalent of $5 usd (aprox 5€)

          Reply
  2. Sharon Bennett says

    November 3, 2021 at 6:14 pm

    Can I tip them in USD ?

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      November 3, 2021 at 7:16 pm

      They would be very happy I’m sure, as long as you use notes.

      Reply
  3. Jv says

    July 15, 2021 at 7:27 am

    Seems weird that the tip equates to almost nothing un USD. Will definitely be tipping on my trip. Thanks for the article.

    Reply
  4. Sajj says

    October 24, 2019 at 7:18 pm

    How much this costs if staying for 5 days?

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      October 25, 2019 at 9:10 am

      Hi Sajj,

      I don’t know by heart, but when you google Rent n Connect Istanbul I’m sure you can find it. You should also know it’s included in the Istanbul Tourist Pass.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply
  5. Calz says

    July 14, 2019 at 12:25 pm

    That is a great piece of a tour guide on what to be cautious about while in Turkey. There is one area that you have not addressed, the issue on the internet access. I got a pocket WiFi from Skyroam and the internet speed was low until when someone recommended me to Rent n Connect who are very expensive though reliable

    Reply
    • Erlend says

      July 14, 2019 at 2:42 pm

      Hi Calz,

      Thanks for the compliments and recommendation. I did try out RentnConnect just this week and it indeed works very well.

      Reply

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