How does tipping work in Rome?

Tipping in Rome is genuinely optional, not a social obligation dressed up as custom. Restaurants add a coperto (cover charge) of €1.50–€3 per person, which already compensates staff beyond the meal price; rounding up the bill or leaving €1–€2 per person on the table is appreciated but never expected. At bars and cafés, Italians occasionally leave the small change from their espresso on the counter, nothing more. For taxis, rounding up to the nearest euro is standard — on a €13 fare, give €14 and move on. Tour guides who run private experiences genuinely earn tips and will notice a €10–€20 gesture at the end; group tour guides less so. Hotel porters get €1–€2 per bag, consistent with the rest of Europe. The one context where tipping conspicuously signals tourist unfamiliarity is tipping generously at a casual trattoria expecting American-style table service — Roman hospitality doesn't run on that model.

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