Visitors from the United States arrive in Paris carrying an instinct that does not apply here, and it costs them twice: once in money, and once in the faint discomfort of never quite knowing whether they have done the right thing. The instinct is that a tip is part of the price, and that failing to leave 20% is a small act of unkindness toward someone earning their living on it.
In France it is not part of the price, because it is already in the price.
Under a decree dated 27 March 1987, establishments serving food or drink to be consumed on the premises must display prices service included. The pay of the staff looking after you is built into the figure on the menu and on the bill. Before that reform, a service percentage was commonly added at the foot of the bill, which produced constant disputes about the real total; the decree settled it by making the displayed price the price you pay.
The French consumer authority puts the consequence plainly: a tip is a voluntary sum given by a customer to an employee, and no profession may require it.
So the honest answer to “how much should I tip in Paris” is: nothing is owed. Leaving nothing is normal, unremarkable, and will not be commented on. What you leave beyond the bill is a compliment, and compliments are small.
None of the following is obligatory. These are the amounts a Parisian would consider normal — useful as a calibration rather than a tariff.
| Situation | Customary | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee or a drink at a café | The small change, or €1–2 | Left on the saucer or the table. Nothing at all is equally normal, particularly at the bar. |
| Bistro or brasserie meal | Round up, or about 5% | €5 on a €100 dinner reads as warm and appreciative. |
| Fine dining, one star and above | 5–10% if the evening merited it | Considerable by local standards. Cash, discreetly. |
| Taxi | Round up, or €2–5 | €5–10 for a long airport run or heavy luggage. |
| Private hire car at a fixed price | Nothing due | The quoted fare is the whole transaction. See below. |
| Hotel porter | €1–2 per bag | At the moment the bags reach the room. |
| Housekeeping | €1–2 per day | Left at the end of the stay, not daily. |
| Concierge | Nothing routinely; €10–20 for a real favour | A directions question is their job. A table nobody else could get is not. |
| Private guide, half or full day | €10–20 per person | For a private guide you have spent hours with. |
| Hairdresser, spa treatment | Round up, or nothing | Less established here than in the United States. |
Conventions, not rules. Amounts reflect ordinary practice in Paris and vary between establishments; none of them is required, and no one may demand them.
You decide to leave something — and then discover you cannot.
French card terminals, unlike American ones, generally do not offer a tip prompt. The server enters the amount of the bill, hands you the machine, and that figure is what gets charged. There is no screen asking you to choose between 18, 20 and 22%, and no line on the slip to write one in.
Two ways round it:
The corollary matters if you are travelling cashless: without a few notes in your pocket, you will end up leaving nothing all week, whatever your intentions.
At the top of the Paris restaurant scene the question feels higher-stakes, and the answer is the same: service is included, and nothing is required. A room of that standard is staffed by career professionals on proper salaries, not people depending on the goodwill of the last table of the night.
Where an evening has genuinely been exceptional, 5 to 10% is a substantial compliment. On a €400 dinner for two, that is €20 to €40, left in cash on the table or handed over as you leave. Some guests prefer to direct it — to the sommelier who found the bottle, or the maître d'hôtel who moved things around to accommodate them. Both are well understood.
What does not translate is the American percentage. Twenty percent of a serious tasting menu is a large sum arriving where none was expected, and it reads as unfamiliarity rather than generosity. The register here is understatement.
Two different situations, often confused.
A metered taxi. Rounding up is usual — €28 becomes €30. On a long run from Charles de Gaulle, or where the driver has lifted several heavy cases, €5 to €10 is a normal gesture. None of it is expected.
A private hire car booked in advance at a fixed price. Nothing further is due. The fare was agreed before you travelled, it includes the driver's work, the waiting, the luggage and the tolls, and the transaction is complete when you arrive. This is the deliberate difference between a quoted private journey and a meter: there is no arithmetic left to do at the kerb, and no ambiguity about what you owe.
Guests do sometimes want to mark a particular day — a driver who waited four hours in the rain at Giverny, or handled a difficult schedule without being asked twice. It is received with thanks and never expected. For a full day, guests who choose to do this typically leave €20 to €50.
If you would rather simply know the number in advance and be done with it, that is how our Paris car service is priced, and how our airport transfers are quoted — one figure, agreed before departure, tolls included.
And one thing worth doing: bonjour on entering, merci, au revoir on leaving. In Paris that courtesy buys more goodwill than money does, and it costs nothing.
The legal position follows the Arrêté du 27 mars 1987 relatif à l'affichage des prix dans les établissements servant des repas, denrées ou boissons à consommer sur place and the DGCCRF fact sheet Pourboire. Customary amounts are ordinary practice rather than regulation, and vary; nothing on this page is obligatory.
Related reading: our guide to the VAT refund on shopping in France, guide or driver — which you actually need, the best time of year to come, and the starred restaurants and how their tables are released.
No meter, no surge, no arithmetic at the kerb. Tell us the journey and we will confirm the car and the fare.