Tipping in Egypt: How Much Baksheesh to Give, to Whom and When

In Egypt, tipping — baksheesh — isn't an optional extra at the end of a service: it's part of the salary for half the tourism sector, and it's expected in restaurants, hotels, taxis, public bathrooms, mosques and, above all, with guides and drivers. This guide tells you how much to leave, to whom, in what currency, and how to avoid the two classic visitor mistakes: overpaying out of guilt, or underpaying because you didn't understand the local code.

Quick summary

What is baksheesh, exactly?

Baksheesh (بقشيش) literally means "gift" in Arabic, and it covers three different things worth separating:

1. A tip for a service — waiter, guide, taxi driver. What we'd call a tip in English.
2. A symbolic payment for a small favour — the museum guard who opens a closed room, the doorman who shows you a rooftop view, the imam who lets you in outside hours.
3. Alms — in the spirit of Islamic zakat, giving to those in need.

When someone near the pyramids says "baksheesh, baksheesh", they're not invoicing you — they're asking you to decide whether what they did deserves a tip. If the answer is no, a firm, smiling "la, shukran" (no, thank you) closes the matter without offence.

Why so much is expected

The Egyptian minimum wage hovers around 6,000 EGP/month (~120 USD), and service jobs (waiter, junior receptionist, junior guide) often pay below that. Tips aren't a top-up: they're half or more of the real income. That's why a guide who knows you'll tip 300 EGP at the end of the day works differently than one expecting 50 EGP. Understanding this helps you calibrate: you're not "helping" anyone, you're completing a wage the employer doesn't pay in full.

Restaurants and cafés

Tourist and mid-range restaurants (Felfela, Abou El Sid, Sequoia, Zooba): the bill usually includes 12% service charge + 14% VAT. That 12% rarely reaches the waiter — it stays with the house. The right move is to leave 10–20 EGP extra in cash on the table.

Restaurants without a service charge: leave 5–10% in cash. Even if you pay by card, the tip always goes in cash and in Egyptian pounds — Egyptian card terminals usually don't have a tip field, and when they do, the money doesn't reach the waiter.

Baladi cafés (tea, Turkish coffee, shisha): round up to the next 5 EGP. A 7 EGP tea → pay 10 EGP. A 12 EGP coffee → pay 15 EGP. That's enough.

Street food (koshari, ful, taameya): no tip. Pay the exact price and move on.

Hotels

• Porter: 20–50 EGP per bag carried. 5-star hotel → 50 EGP per bag; budget guesthouse → 20 EGP.
• Housekeeping: 50–100 EGP per night, not lump-sum at checkout. Leave it on the nightstand with a "shukran" note — leaving cash on the bed can be mistaken for forgotten money and won't be touched.
• Concierge: 50–100 EGP for a real favour (booking a good restaurant, securing tickets, calling their trusted driver). For a simple question, nothing.
• Valet and lobby doormen: 10–20 EGP each time.
• Room service: 10–20 EGP even if a service charge is on the slip.

Taxis and transport

Uber, Careem, inDrive

The price is fixed in the app and usually paid in cash (or via stored card). There's no automatic tip in the app, but a 10–20 EGP cash tip on getting out is much appreciated for a short city ride, 30–50 EGP for a long one like airport–downtown (which runs 250–400 EGP).

White street taxis

Cairo's white taxis have meters, but most won't use them. The rule: agree the price before getting in. Once agreed, round up 5–10 EGP at the end if the ride was normal. If the driver tries to change the price on arrival, hold firm on what was agreed — it's not a negotiation, it's a tactic.

Microbus and metro

No tipping. Prices are fixed (5–10 EGP microbus, 8 EGP metro) and nothing extra is expected.

Private full-day driver

100–200 EGP cash at the end of the day, or 5–10 USD if you prefer to tip in hard currency. If they shuttled you between many sites, waited in the sun for hours and helped with bags, tip at the top of the range.

Guides and tours

This is where visitors get most confused. A tip to the guide is separate from the tour price. Even if you paid 80 USD for a full pyramids day, that price covers transport, tickets, lunch and the guide's base salary. You add the tip at the end.

Tip more if the guide:

• Showed you something off the standard script (minor tombs, hidden views).
• Took you to a real local lunch spot instead of a "tourist trap" with commission.
• Spoke good English/Spanish and answered real questions instead of running through a memorised speech.

Tip less (without guilt) if the guide:

• Pushed you into a papyrus, perfume or carpet shop (they earn commission and assume you'll cover the difference).
• Arrived late or skipped promised sites.
• Spent the day on their phone while you visited on your own.

Nile cruise

On a 3, 4 or 7-night Nile cruise, the crew earns the bulk of their salary from the common tip pool. The global standard:

• 5–7 USD per passenger per day on mid-range cruises.
• 8–10 USD per passenger per day on 5-star cruises.

You hand it in a sealed envelope to the maître or hotel director on the last evening, and it's split between housekeeping, dining room, kitchen and deck crew. Separately:

• The Egyptologist guide on the cruise: 100–200 EGP / 5–10 USD per person per day — not part of the pool.
• Felucca captain: 20–50 EGP for a 1-hour sail.

Pyramids, mosques and "favours"

The Giza pyramids are where tipping goes wrong most often, in both directions.

Camel, horse, carriage

Agree a closed total price before getting on. A 30-minute camel ride runs 150–300 EGP in 2026, not more. A tip is not expected if you negotiated well — but the owner will push for one. If they want a photo of you posing or three extra loops, add 20–50 EGP. Never let them take you "a bit further" without agreeing a new price first.

Unofficial "guides"

Around Giza, Saqqara or Khan el-Khalili, plenty of people offer to "help": point the way, take your photo from the "best angle", open a door. If you'll accept: decide the tip beforehand (20–50 EGP) and say so out loud. If you won't: "la, shukran" from second one. Accepting the favour and then refusing to pay is the only real conflict you'll have.

Guards inside tombs and mosques

The guard who opens a normally closed chamber, or lets you photograph where it's banned, expects 10–20 EGP. If they ask for more, you're being scammed — the official prices are on the entry ticket.

Children

Better not to give cash to children asking for baksheesh. That's the consensus among local guides and long-term residents: it encourages families to pull kids out of school. If you want to give something, carry pens or notebooks. The best response is still "la, shukran" with a smile.

Public bathrooms

Almost all public bathrooms — including in restaurants, mosques and attractions — have an attendant next to a coin dish. 5–10 EGP is right. If they hand you toilet paper (stalls usually don't have any inside), add another 5 EGP.

Cash strategy

Tipping in Egypt only works if you always have small bills on you.

Strategy that works:

1. On arrival, withdraw 2,000–3,000 EGP from an airport ATM (Banque Misr or NBE) and ask your taxi driver or the hotel to break 500 EGP into 5, 10 and 20-EGP notes.
2. Keep tip cash in a separate pocket from your main wallet. Never pull out a thick wad in front of whoever is about to receive a tip.
3. Save 50 and 100 EGP notes for guides, drivers and porters.
4. If you'll tip in USD, carry clean 1, 5 and 10 USD bills dated 2013 or later. Marked or older bills get refused by Egyptian banks.

Doesn't work: asking the waiter or taxi driver for change so you can tip them. They'll say they have none — sometimes truly, sometimes as a trick to keep the whole bill.

Common mistakes

1. Tipping everything with 1 USD bills. They lose value at exchange (5–10%), and the receiver knows. For small tips, EGP is better.
2. Assuming the 12% service charge reaches the waiter. Almost never. Leave extra in cash.
3. Tipping at Western rates (15–20% across the board). It's expensive for you and confusing for them. Local rates are lower.
4. Not pre-agreeing taxi or camel prices. Guarantees friction at the end.
5. Pulling out an open wallet. Creates pressure to tip more. Carry loose bills in a pocket.
6. Tipping a policeman or official who asks for "baksheesh" at a checkpoint. That's a bribe, not a tip — even small, it feeds the system. An "I don't understand, thanks" in English usually does the job.
7. Not tipping the guide because "I already paid for the tour". The guide tip is separate. Skipping it is Egyptian guides' number-one complaint about tourists.

Useful Arabic phrases

• Shukran (شكراً) — thank you
• La, shukran (لا شكراً) — no, thank you
• Mafish baksheesh (مفيش بقشيش) — there's no tip (firm but polite)
• Khalas (خلاص) — enough, that's it (closes a negotiation)
• Mish lazem (مش لازم) — not necessary (declines a favour before it starts)

If you don't yet have a hotel in Cairo, see the recommended hotels below. At every property on the list, staff are paid proper wages and tips stay within sector norms, not the inflated rates you sometimes see at Red Sea resorts.