Tipping In Finland - A Complete Guide
Quick Guide
🍽️ Restaurant - Not Expected - Optional 5%
🍹 Bar - Not Expected
☕️ Café - Not Expected
🚕 Taxi - Not Expected
🛎️ Porter/Bellhop - 50c-€1/Bag Polite
🛏️ Housekeeping - Not Expected
📸 Tour Guide - Not Expected
🌲 Finnish Cottage - Not Expected
Tipping is really uncommon in Finland. Whilst Finns do appreciate tips when they get them, they won’t tend to expect them so don’t feel obliged in most cases.
Calculate a culturally appropriate tip for Finland using the calculator below and read on for more detail on tipping in Restaurants, Cafés, Bars, Taxis, Hotels etc.
Finland Tip Calculator
Good Tip For Finland
Tip
$0.00
Total With Tip
$0.00
Split Bill By
0 Each
Tipping in Restaurants
Don’t feel obliged to tip waiters in Finland as a lot of Finns don’t tip, even for great service. Instead of a cash tip, feel free to just thank your server for good service (“kittos”).
There may be a service charge on your bill but don’t confuse that with sales tax (ALV). It would be considered very unusual to tip on top of a service charge.
If there isn't a service feee and you do want to reward your server, feel free to round up your bill to the next €5 or €10 or tip around 5% (10% is very generous here). Just tell the waiter what you want to pay.
Whether you’re at a fine-dining establishment in Helsinki or a casual restaurant in Lapland, if you’re paying by card you may see a tip screen on the payment terminal.
This practice is frowned upon in Finland since it’s considered rude to ask for a tip. Don’t feel pressured to tip if you don’t want to, feel free to select “0%”
You can pay and tip with cash too (which will help you avoid the tip screen) but most Finns don’t carry cash for tipping.
Why the lack of tipping culture? A few reasons.
Finnish servers are paid a relatively good salary and most are covered by collective bargaining agreements. Many also believe service is already incorporated into the price of the food and the onus should be on the restaurant, not the customer, to pay the staff a fair wage.
Tipping in Bars & Cafés
Most Finns will just pay the bill without a tip.
If you’re paying in cash or you have some loose change on you, feel free to give them around 5-10% (there may be a tip jar) but it’s not customary.
Tipping Taxi Drivers
Taxi drivers won’t expect a tip, especially if you’re paying by card.
If you’re paying your fare in cash, you might want to round up but that’s more to do with preventing the need for change rather than tipping.
Tipping The Porter/Bellhop
It’s considered polite to tip hotel porters around €0.50-€1 per bag but since porters are relatively uncommon in Finnish hotels, you might not even run into this scenario.
Tipping Housekeeping
Housekeepers here won’t expect a tip. However, if you’ve left the room in a bit of a mess, tipping €2-5 (depending on the state of your room) would be considered polite.
Instead of a monetary tip, you can help them out by keeping your room relatively tidy.
Tipping Tour Guides
Finnish tour guides won’t expect a tip. If your guide has been friendly, entertaining and informative, a simple thank you (“Kiitos”) is more than enough.
Tipping At Finnish Cottages
If you’re renting a cottage or “mökki” you don’t need to leave a tip when you check out.
However, if you’ve left the place in a bit of a mess it’s considerate to leave some cash to cover the cost of cleaning.
Summer cottages are a big part of Finnish culture. Some Finns will spend weeks or months out by the lakes, reading, “saunoa” (going into the sauna), swimming.
Which Currency To Use
Use the official currency of Finland, the Euro (Symbol: €, Code: EUR). Don’t try to pay or tip with any other currency as it won’t be accepted.
Whilst tipping has never really been part of the culture here, it’s actually become less common as card payments have grown in popularity.
Hyvää matkaa! - Safe travels! 🇫🇮🌲☕
