Morocco Tipping Guide

1. 1

   Restaurants and cafés

   In a café, round up or leave the small change. In a casual restaurant, leave 5–10 MAD or 5–10% of the bill; in an upscale restaurant, 5–15% if service is not already on the bill. Leave cash on the table or hand it to your server, even when you pay the bill by card.
2. 2

   Hotels and riads

   Give the porter 10–20 MAD per bag when they carry your luggage, and leave housekeeping 10–50 MAD a day. Riads are small teams who cook, clean and carry bags; a tip left at checkout for the staff to share is customary.
3. 3

   Taxis and drivers

   Petit-taxi drivers do not expect a tip; rounding up the metered fare is enough. Grand taxis run at an agreed price per seat, and a tip is not usually expected. A private driver for a full day is usually tipped 50–100 MAD.
4. 4

   Guides

   Tip a private guide 100–200 MAD for a full day, and a group-tour guide 30–100 MAD per person, at the end of the tour. On multi-day desert trips, the driver, guide, camel handlers and camp staff are usually tipped separately at the end.
5. 5

   Hammams and spas

   The attendant who scrubs you at a hammam is usually tipped 20–50 MAD. At hotel spas, check whether service is included before adding a tip.
6. 6

   Everyday extras

   Parking guardians in high-visibility vests expect a coin when you return to your car, and more for overnight parking. Restroom attendants expect a coin or two. If you photograph musicians or performers on Jemaa el-Fna, a tip of 5–20 MAD is expected; agree before you shoot.

• Shopkeepers after a purchase: the price you agreed is the whole transaction.
• People who attach themselves to you uninvited and insist on showing you the way. Decline politely; you owe nothing for help you did not ask for.
• Bank staff and exchange offices.
• Restaurant bills that already include service, unless you want to add a little for your server.

1. 1

   Use small notes and coins

   Keep 10-dirham coins and 20 and 50 MAD notes for tips. Break big notes at supermarkets and petrol stations whenever you can.
2. 2

   Tip in cash, in dirhams

   Card machines rarely offer a tip line, and foreign coins cannot be changed. Even when you pay by card, leave the tip in cash.
3. 3

   Give it to the person

   Hand the tip directly to the person who served you, quietly, rather than leaving it at the till.
4. 4

   Use your right hand

   Handing over money with the right hand is the polite habit in Morocco.
5. 5

   Tip at the right moment

   Porters and taxi drivers at the time of service; guides and drivers at the end of the tour; housekeeping at the end of your stay.
6. 6

   Say thank you

   A tip given with a smile and a "shukran" lands better than one handed over grudgingly.

Cash

The only practical way to tip in taxis, hammams, cafés and with parking guardians, and the way most people expect to receive a tip.

Card

Fine for hotel bills, upscale restaurants and bigger purchases, but card machines rarely let you add a tip. Leave it in cash.

Keeping change on hand

ATMs mostly dispense 100 and 200 MAD notes, which small vendors and taxi drivers often cannot break. Spend big notes at supermarkets, petrol stations and your hotel, and keep the change for tips.