In today’s article, we’re going to talk about the tipping etiquette in Romania. Every country has its own rules, and what works at home may not apply here, so it’s a good thing that you’re doing a bit of research.
Without a clear idea of how much is enough (or if you’re expected to tip at all), you risk leaving too little or far more than expected. While nobody will complain if you’re generous, it’s better to know how much to tip based on the situation.
So let’s jump right in and learn everything about tipping in Romania!
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How much should you tip?
10% of your bill is considered a good tip throughout the country. You can round it up or down (so 10 lei instead of 9,80 or 10,28 for example).
If you’re very pleased with the service, you can tip up to 15%, though this is not the norm. Anything above 10% is simply a bonus.
While there is a lot of discussion online in regards to tipping, it’s good to know that most people working in restaurants and pubs in Romania earn minimum wage, which is low. Tips are used to increase their income, so even a little bit is appreciated.
Some places have tip jars too (usually those where you can’t tip directly – such as coffee shops, and other “self-service” types of places), but usually you just leave money on the table or hand it to your server directly.
Where Tipping Is Expected
Probably every local living in Romania has their own strategy when it comes to tipping and how much to tip, so we can say that the “correct” amount is something that you feel, not exact numbers, as strange as it might sound.
It also depends greatly on where you are and what type of service you are tipping for – in some places you are expected to leave a tip, in others it’s optional, and in some situations you don’t have to tip at all. So let’s focus on these now!
Restaurants, Pubs, and Bars
I think that this is the obvious one and yes, you are expected to leave at least a small tip here. The 10% rule applies almost everywhere, but anything is considered better than nothing.
Since 2023, Romanian law requires receipts to include a “tipping section.” In practice, many staff ignore it and simply bring you the bill. Most prefer cash tips, which don’t get taxed (because they won’t declare them).
I strongly encourage you to avoid this practice and, whenever possible, tip the legal way – by card, using the bill you’re being handed before you pay.
Got some time? Check out these top restaurants in popular cities:
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Should You Tip for Takeout?
You are not really expected to tip for takeout in Romania, but it will be appreciated if you leave a tip. (I’m talking here about you physically going to the restaurant to get the food, not having it delivered.)
Keep in mind, even when ordering takeout, that the people working there will most likely be on minimum wage as well, so if you can, leave at least a small amount. However, the staff working there (like fast food shops, pastry shops and the like) are more prepared not to receive a tip.
Home Deliveries
For food or groceries delivered to your door (either by the business itself or through services like Uber Eats, Glovo, Bolt, and so on), it’s common to leave up tp 5 lei (about €1), regardless of order size.
This might seem like a small amount, but the truth is that many locals don’t tip delivery drivers at all, so anything extra will make them happy.
Tour Guides
Yes, guides should be tipped. The same 10% rule applies.
If it’s a free tour, consider tipping 50 lei (10 Euros) or at least 30 lei if it’s a shorter tour or the guide doesn’t do a great job.
Have in mind that if your guide involves a vehicle (with one or two drivers), then the guide will always split the tip with the drivers.
In this case, you can increase the tip to 15% of the total cost of the tour, if you can afford it.
Taxis
No matter if you go for a regular taxi or ride-sharing services like Uber or Bolt, it’s considered normal to tip.
This is usually done by rounding up the amount (so pay 20 lei if the fare is 18 lei), but you can go anywhere between 5-10 lei extra for your rides, without necessarily considering percentages.
I have a detailed guide to taxis in Romania (especially how not to get scammed) and I strongly recommend reading it after you’re done with this article.
Hotels and Spas
In hotels, it’s also considered polite (but not mandatory) to tip. Here are some guidelines, although again – if you feel generous and want to tip more, nobody will complain:
- Reception: between 20-50 lei, depending on the situation (how nice they are, how helpful, if you book your stay directly through them or not, etc).
- Housekeeping: 5-10 lei per day or every other day.
- Porters: 5 lei per bag.
- Spa or massage services: 10% of the bill.
When Tipping Is Not Required
Although some people still leave a small amount of money in some of these places, tipping is not expected or “required”:
Supermarkets and stores – tips are not expected. Sometimes, people leave behind the small coins (5 bani to 10 bani, which don’t really have any value) but this isn’t even seen as tipping, just avoiding low-value change.
Peasant Markets – sellers generally round prices down for you, so tipping here is out of the question. Prices are going up in Romania anyway…
Takeout (pick-up orders) – as I said above, no tip is required, though if you leave something, it will be appreciated.
Some restaurants display signs saying they don’t accept tips (“In acest loc nu se accepta bacșișuri”). These signs are usually just a formality and used to avoid the legal requirement of declaring tips I mentioned above. The staff here, though, won’t mind if you leave money anyway (and actually expect you to).
How to tip when paying with a credit or debit card
Although cash is still king in Romania, the legal requirement for all businesses is to allow you to pay by card. Some businesses will try to avoid this by saying that their terminal is suddenly not working, but in most cases, you can pay by card anywhere in Romania now (maybe except for remote villages and very small towns).
Tipping by card, though, is still not the norm, as I already told you. Waiters simply ignore the “tips” area on the bill – they don’t even tell you about it.
This means that you will either have to ask them to include the tip on the bill if you want to pay by card (which is mind-boggling to me) or to have some cash around to leave the amount on the table after paying.
So, when in Romania, make sure to always have some Lei with you (we’re not using Euros yet, nor US dollars or other foreign currency) – not only for tipping purposes, but also to pay in the places that still won’t accept payments by card!
If unsure, do ask if service is included in the price. In some areas – especially the more touristy places out there – the service fee might be already included, no matter if you pay by card or not.
When this is included, there is always a note about it, but usually just in Romanian language, so that foreign tourists can easily double tip.
Final words
All in all, we can say that when it comes to tipping in Romania, the 10% rule applies for restaurants, bars, taxis, guides, and even spa services, and you’ll always be in line with local expectations.
Any amount is welcome though, so even if you only tip 1-2 lei or round up the bill or anything, it will be appreciated. And no, nobody will complain if you do tip over the expected 10% amount.
If you still have questions about tipping in Romania, don’t hesitate to leave them below and I will answer as soon as possible.
I am a journalist and local expert who has been documenting life in Romania since 2013. Based in Constanta (after living in Bucharest and Drobeta Turnu Severin), I provide up-to-date, on-the-ground advice for expats and travelers. My articles are based on real life experiences and plenty of research – from paying Romanian bills to exploring the wild “Rawmania” countryside.
Thanks for the… tips, Calin. 😉 I’ve had some interesting tipping moments including tipping at a carwash. I had paid and went out to pick up our car. As my keys were presented I gave a couple of lei. The attendant looked rather taken aback. I was afraid I had not given enough, but as it turns out apparently, he wasn’t used to someone doing this. He took it, of course, but seem as though he’d received a gift from the heavens.
As for leaving small change: Nobody seems to want coins. I’d encourage visitors to not do as my wife does and count out coins to pay at a cashier. They always appear to be in a hurry and these fractions of pennies annoy them. I’m all for leaving the change… except for the 50 bani coin. You need these to unlock the shopping carts at the grocery stores.
Haha, indeed, the 50 bani coin does have its uses. And you are correct: everybody is in such a hurry at the stores that you always feel pressured to move faster and make way.
Keep those tips coming guys.. i need them. 🙂 I would tip car wash too. I think tipping the people that physically do work for you is appropriate in general. Like the person carrying bags, perhaps the boy that mows the lawn etc. I am not sure i would tip my grocer for ringing up my groceries however. I do like the 10% for its ease of calculation. I do question if Romanian waiter/waitresses get the concept however. Far to often they seem annoyed by my presence and do not seem to understand that their tip is directly related to their behavior. In time they will learn that a really good waiter can make really good money. If you are the perfect waiter it is as easy to calculate 20% and that is a common tip in U.S. You rent a grocery cart? Ugg..
You get the 50 bani back when you return the cart. This keeps the carts from being left around willy-nilly. We had some stores doing this back in California.
That is absolutely correct, Otto! The people serving you in restaurants or bars and usually anywhere fail to understand that their behavior affects the tips they get. Just yesterday I was talking with my wife about the extremely low service you are usually met with and especially the fact that almost nobody smiles.
There was a time when in the Carrefour chain, the employees wore a sticker saying something like “Today I smile for you…” followed by the name of the employee. That always made ME smile because you usually saw those grim faced people that seemed to go through the worst moments of their lives… and that shiny sticker that said the exact opposite. Probably it was the company trying to teach their employees to smile more and behave better… but the sticker thing only lasted for a short while 🙂
Regarding the coin needed for the grocery carts, that’s how it goes in Europe and indeed it’s mostly for making sure that people return the carts to where they took them from and not leave them scattered all over the place. It might take a tiny bit of adjustment for somebody who’s not used to this, but not really a problem in my opinion.
I live in tip-free Japan. The Japanese feel culturally bound to offer good service without getting a tip for it. Needless to say, the price level for just about everything is higher in Japan. Tipping in the USA is really just a way for employers to get away without paying a decent wage. Would service employees really give worse service if they didn’t get tips? How about if knew they could be fired for not doing so like in Japan?
I personally think that Japan’s way is the best way to go. It saves you a lot of trouble thinking about how much should you tip and doing the math yourself. But that’s in an ideal world and we’re far away from it.
However, I didn’t know that bit about Japan and I am pleased to hear it. I am getting more and more fascinated by this country that manages to at least seem to do everything right in a world where everything’s done wrong.
Great article. It really is stupefying trying to figure out tipping in different countries. I always aim for the 10% in Europe and 20% in the U.S. Since my husband was a waiter for years in the U.S, we might sometimes overdo it. I’m trying to remember our trip to Tokyo a couple of years ago. If memory serves me, the slip had space for a tip in one place at least..perhaps the touristy areas are starting the fad? In Spain, most people just leave the change from their bill, but they definitely appreciate the tipping.
Yeah, unless the change is a bit over 4 Euros on a 16 Euros bill :)) I was there during my first days in Spain, still thinking like in Romania “ah, they’re just coins!”
Jokes aside, it seems that the 10% rule works best in case you’re in doubt. You can’t go wrong with it in most countries.
Hi, I had problems with tipping in a restaurant or not. because it is the norm I did tip even though the service was bad. Once I decided not to because the prices were high and the service very low. The waiter came after us and demanded to know why we did not give a tip. We are traveling in Roemenie for 6 weeks and I don’t like going out to eat because the service is usually so bad. So we cook our zelfs being on a camping.
I hope that the waiters become to see that there is a patron between good service and tipping. If everybody gives tips because it is the norm then nothing will change. Once I asked a waitress if she was tired because she did no smile once. it was like being served by a robot. Then she began to tell that clients don’t understand how hard the work is bla bla bla. Yes I see it is hard work!! But that does not mean you treat your customers like a piece of sh*t. I have seen waiters struggle and make mistakes but if they were nice and authentic they get a tip from me
I completely agree with this, Donna. Tipping shouldn’t be the norm, but the result of good service.
I too use to tip just because that’s what everybody does, despite the poor service. But hopefully I will be able to move on and not tip when the service is bad – maybe this will help a bit.
The problem is – at least in the small city I live in – that staff at bars and restaurants is difficult to find. People come and go (probably because of low wages as well), and as a result owners don’t spent too much time training the staff or at least telling what’s expected of them or they simply don’t care.
Hi Calin, what about food apps like Uber eats and foodpanda. Are you expected to tip?
Hello David. This is a really delicate situations – some will swear by tipping, some tip a lot (sometimes more than the value of the order, if you can imagine something like this!) and some don’t. So it really depends on how you feel – there are people in all categories. Personally, I think that around 5 lei would be much appreciated.
Great informative article! Thanks for sharing this information.