Tipping in South America: A Guide to 11 Countries

Tipping in South America is discretionary almost everywhere and settles around 10% in restaurants, but the detail changes at every border and the exceptions are what catch travellers out. In Chile, Colombia and Suriname a service charge is usually already on the bill. In Brazil the 10% is printed as “serviço”. In Argentina a “cubierto” cover charge is not a tip and goes to the restaurant rather than the waiter. Taxi drivers are generally not tipped anywhere on the continent, and tour guides generally are. The country-by-country sections below cover Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Looking for a different continent? The parent guide to tipping etiquette around the world routes you to the right one, and the companion guides cover tipping in Asia, tipping in Africa and tipping in Oceania and Australia.

The short version: what to tip across South America

The four rules below hold across most of the continent, and the country sections explain where each one breaks.

1. Restaurants: around 10%, unless a service charge is already on the bill. Check the bill before adding anything, because in several countries the 10% is printed on it.
2. Taxi drivers: nothing. Rounding the fare up so the driver does not have to hunt for coins is normal and is not really a tip.
3. Tour guides: 10% or more, and this is the tip that matters most. Guides across the region rely on it.
4. Hotel staff: small amounts, per bag and per day. Porters and housekeeping, not the concierge unless they have done you a real favour.

Two practical points before the detail. Carry small notes: several of these countries make changing a large bill genuinely awkward, and a tip you cannot break is a tip you cannot give. And the hotel advice applies mainly to mid-range and upmarket hotels, because a guesthouse with no bellboy needs no tip for one.

Customs shift, and local practice beats any guide. If something here does not match what you found on the ground, tell us and we will check it for the next update.

A note on the amounts in this guide

Where a country’s currency has held its value, the guidance below gives figures in that currency. Where it has not, it gives percentages instead, because a fixed amount in a currency that has moved a long way is worse than useless.

That matters most in Argentina and Venezuela, where inflation has repeatedly outrun any figure a guide can print. Ask at your hotel what a normal tip looks like this week, or tip proportionally.

Argentina

Tipping in Argentina is voluntary, and 10% is the standard in restaurants. More than that reads as unusually generous. Leaving less, or nothing, is accepted if the service was genuinely poor, and tipping is treated as feedback rather than as part of the wage.

Restaurants and bars: 10%. At a bar, put a small tip into the bartender’s hand rather than leaving it on the counter.

Tour guides: 10% to 20% of the tour price at the end, scaled to the quality of the tour.

Taxi drivers: not customary. Round up so the driver is not counting out coins.

Hotel staff: small amounts per bag for porters, a little more for doormen, and a daily amount for housekeeping. Ask at reception what is normal at the time you visit rather than working from a printed figure, because the peso has moved a long way and any number written down here would be wrong within months.

Good to know: a cubierto on your bill is a cover charge for the bread, the table setting and the utensils. It goes to the restaurant, not to the waiter, so it is not a tip and does not replace one.

Bolivia

Tipping in Bolivia is discretionary and rarely expected, but it is welcomed. Restaurants seldom add a service charge, which means what you leave is the whole tip.

Restaurants and bars: 5% to 10% for good service. Bars do not expect a tip; small change is enough.

Tour guides: tip at the end of the tour, scaled to the length. A percentage of the tour price is the safest approach on a full day.

Taxi drivers: not usually tipped. The exception is a driver you have hired for several hours or a whole day, where around 10% is normal.

Hotel staff: a small amount per bag for porters and a small daily amount for housekeeping, in bolivianos.

Good to know: ask for small denominations when you change money. Getting change for a large note is a recurring hassle, and it is the main reason travellers end up not tipping when they meant to.

Brazil

Brazilians do not have a strong tipping culture, and in restaurants the 10% is usually already on the bill. Look for “serviço” before you add anything.

Restaurants and bars: 10%, commonly included as a service charge. At bars, 10% for good service is the convention.

Tour guides: at least 10% of the excursion price. Guides in Brazil rely on gratuities more heavily than restaurant staff do.

Taxi drivers: not customary. Locals round up to the nearest real.

Hotel staff: a small amount per item of luggage carried to the room, and a modest amount for housekeeping at the end of the stay. Concierges do not expect a tip, though a few reais is reasonable if they have gone out of their way.

Good to know: in many Brazilian cities someone may appear to watch your car while it is parked. Tipping them a small amount in reais is normal practice.

Chile

Chileans treat 10% as the default and do not make a fuss about it, and most restaurants add it to the bill as a propina sugerida, a suggested tip. It is suggested rather than compulsory, so you can decline it, though almost nobody does.

Restaurants and bars: 10%, usually already added. Add a little more only if the service was notably good. Most bars work the same way.

Tour guides: 5% to 10% of the tour cost, depending on the tour.

Taxi drivers: round up the fare. Small change has little practical value in Chile, so a rounded amount is simply more convenient for everyone.

Hotel staff: a small amount per bag for porters, and a daily amount for housekeeping, in Chilean pesos.

Good to know: supermarket baggers in Chile are traditionally unpaid or barely paid and work for tips. A few hundred pesos is the norm.

Colombia

Colombian law requires restaurants to ask whether you wish to pay the voluntary service charge, which makes tipping in Colombia the most explicitly consent-based on the continent. You will be asked, in so many words, and you can say no.

Restaurants and bars: around 10% if you choose to pay the propina voluntaria, more if the service was exceptional. At bars, a small amount per drink is normal.

Tour guides: common and expected, at around 10% of the tour cost. Weigh the length of the tour, its price and the quality of the guiding.

Taxi drivers: not customary. Taxis are metered and the meter is the price.

Hotel staff: a flat amount for a porter regardless of the number of bags, and a small daily amount for chambermaids.

Good to know: carry small notes. Breaking a large bill in Colombia is a familiar frustration and it is what stops most travellers tipping.

Ecuador

There are no strict tipping rules in Ecuador, and the amount depends on the service. Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, which makes tipping unusually straightforward for American travellers and unusually easy to overdo for everyone else.

Restaurants and bars: some restaurants add a 10% service charge, in which case nothing more is required. Where none is added, 5% to 10% for good service is right. At bars, a couple of dollars for the bartender is normal.

Tour guides: around $5 to $6 per person for a standard tour. If a separate driver is involved, roughly half that for the driver.

Taxi drivers: not expected. Round the fare up if the driver has been helpful with luggage.

Hotel staff: $1 for a doorman who hails a cab, 50 to 75 cents per bag for porters, and around $1 per day for cleaning staff, left at the end of the stay.

Paraguay

Tipping in Paraguay is genuinely appreciated because service wages are low, and it is worth tipping more readily here than in most of the region. Nothing is compulsory.

Restaurants and bars: in small eateries, a few thousand guaraníes is enough. In upmarket restaurants, 10% to 15% of the bill is the convention. Bars do not expect a tip, and loose change for good service is plenty.

Tour guides: a per-tour amount in guaraníes rather than a percentage is the usual approach.

Taxi drivers: locals pay the exact metered fare. Drivers do not expect a tip, and rounding up is welcome.

Hotel staff: a small amount per bag for porters and a daily amount for housekeeping. Check the bill first, because some hotels include housekeeping tips in it.

Peru

Tipping in Peru is not a strong local habit, but it is far more common in tourist cities such as Lima, Cusco and Arequipa than elsewhere. Peru’s minimum monthly wage is S/1,130, set in January 2025, which is the context for why a tip in the service industry matters.

Restaurants and bars: 10% to 15% of the bill is acceptable, and locals tip at the lower end. In cheap eateries, leaving a few soles is fine.

Tour guides: the tip depends on the length of the tour, the size of the group and the quality of the guiding. A few soles for a short tour and a larger amount for a full day is the usual pattern; if you would rather use a rule, 10% of the tour price works.

Taxi drivers: most Peruvian taxis are unmetered and the fare is agreed before you get in, so the agreed price is the whole price.

Hotel staff: a small amount per bag for porters and a few soles a day for chambermaids.

Good to know: the four-day Inca Trail has its own tipping custom. It is normal to tip the entire crew, including guides, cooks, porters and drivers, with a per-hiker daily amount pooled and shared among them. Your trekking company will tell you what their crews expect, and it is worth asking before you set off so you can bring enough cash in small notes.

Suriname

Tipping is not an established part of Surinamese culture, and rounding the bill up is usually the whole of it. Restaurants commonly add a service charge of 10% to 15%.

Restaurants and bars: nothing further is needed where a service fee has been added, and bars do not expect a tip.

Tour guides: not customary, though nobody will object if the guiding was outstanding.

Taxi drivers: not usual. Round up so the driver is not counting out coins.

Hotel staff: hotels also include a service fee, and additional tips are not expected.

Uruguay

Tipping in Uruguay is entirely voluntary and gratefully received, and 10% is the standard in restaurants. Service charges are rarely added, so check the bill before you decide.

Restaurants and bars: 10% of the bill, and roughly the same at a bar counts as generous.

Tour guides: a modest per-tour amount if the guide impressed you, or 10% of the tour price.

Taxi drivers: optional. Adding a few pesos to the fare is enough.

Hotel staff: a small amount per bag for bellhops and a similar amount per night for chambermaids, in Uruguayan pesos.

Good to know: Uruguay has more roadside tipping than its neighbours. Street parking attendants, petrol station attendants and windscreen cleaners are all tipped small amounts as a matter of course.

Venezuela

Tipping in Venezuela is shaped less by etiquette than by the currency, and travellers should read the situation on the ground rather than a printed figure. Restaurants usually build a 10% service charge into the menu prices, and an additional 5% to 10% for good service is common.

Restaurants and bars: 10% is usually already included and 5% to 10% more is normal for attentive service. The same applies at a bar.

Tour guides: 10% of the excursion cost if you were happy with the guiding.

Taxi drivers: Venezuelan taxis are unmetered, so every fare is negotiated in advance. Locals rarely tip, though a helpful driver on a long run is worth something.

Hotel staff: small amounts per bag and per day, in whatever currency your hotel is actually transacting in.

Good to know: the currency is the bolívar digital, introduced on 1 October 2021 at a rate of one new bolívar to a million of the previous ones. Inflation has continued since, and US dollars circulate widely in practice. Any bolívar figure in an older tipping guide, including any amount quoted in “Bs.F”, refers to a currency that no longer exists. Tip as a percentage or in dollars, and ask locally.

Separately: several governments, including the United States, currently advise against travel to Venezuela. Check your own government’s advice before planning a trip, because it affects your insurance as well as your safety.

Frequently asked questions

Do you tip in South America?

Yes, but less than in North America and almost always voluntarily. Around 10% in restaurants is the continental norm, tour guides are the people who most rely on tips, and taxi drivers are generally not tipped at all.

Is a service charge the same as a tip?

No. A service charge added to the bill usually goes to the staff and replaces a tip, but a cover charge such as Argentina’s cubierto goes to the restaurant and does not. Read the bill before you add anything.

Should I tip in US dollars in South America?

Only where dollars genuinely circulate, which in practice means Ecuador, where the dollar is the currency, and Venezuela, where dollars are widely used. Elsewhere, tip in the local currency: a foreign note a recipient has to queue at a bank to change is a poor gift.

How much should I tip a tour guide in South America?

Around 10% of the tour price is the working rule across the continent, rising to 20% in Argentina for a tour you thought was excellent. On a multi-day trek such as the Inca Trail, the tip is pooled for the whole crew and your operator will tell you what is expected.

Do I tip taxi drivers in South America?

Generally no. Rounding the fare up so the driver does not need to find coins is the normal courtesy in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Suriname and Uruguay. Hiring a driver for a day is the exception, where around 10% applies.

Which South American countries include service on the bill?

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Suriname and often Venezuela and Ecuador add a service charge or present one for approval. Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay usually do not, so the tip you leave is the whole tip.

WonderfulWanderings Pro Tips

Three tips do more work on this continent than any percentage.

1. Read the bill before you add anything, and learn the two words that matter. “Serviço” in Brazil and “propina” in the Spanish-speaking countries mean the tip is already there; “cubierto” in Argentina means it is a cover charge and the waiter has had none of it.
2. Ask your hotel what a normal tip is this week in Argentina and Venezuela. Both currencies have moved far enough that any figure printed in a guide is out of date, and reception staff know what the current number is because they live on it.
3. Change money into small notes on arrival, not when you need to tip. Colombia, Bolivia and Paraguay all make breaking a large bill awkward, and travellers who mean to tip routinely end up not tipping because the only note in their wallet is too big.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh, and the tipping guides on this site are maintained as a set covering South America, Asia, Africa and the rest of the world. The team covers travel money and etiquette for independent travellers, including what to tip guides, drivers and hotel staff in each country, and updates this page when currencies are redenominated and service-charge rules change.