Tipping in Luxembourg, what the law says and what's up to you

Coming from Britain, where the discretionary service charge on a restaurant bill is its own small debate, you might expect Luxembourg to be complicated. It isn’t, and not because of custom but because of the law. Here’s what I found on official sources, what I didn’t find, and how I deal with it at the table, in a taxi and at the hotel.

Do you need to tip in Luxembourg?

No, and I haven’t found a single official source giving a figure or a benchmark percentage. So I’m not going to tell you to leave ten or fifteen per cent, because I’d be making it up. What I do have is a rule that changes how you read the bill, and to my mind it answers the question better than any percentage could.

What the law says about prices

Guichet.lu, the government’s official information portal, explains that every business must show prices in euros with VAT and any other taxes included. It then goes further for hospitality. Bars, food businesses (restaurants, cafeterias, caterers and food trucks), hotels and guesthouses and tea rooms must all display their rates with service included.

There’s a second detail I find genuinely useful. In restaurants and cafés, prices have to be displayed inside and outside, so you can see them without going in. In practice, the price posted outside is the price per dish on your bill, and no service charge turns up at the end.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxemburgo before prices climb.

At restaurants and bars

With that rule in mind, my approach is simple. If I’ve been well looked after, I round the bill up or leave a few coins; if the service was poor, I leave nothing and don’t feel bad about it. What I don’t do is work out a percentage, because the waiter’s work is already inside the price the law makes them display.

What I always do is compare the bill with the menu I saw outside. It’s the easiest way to spot a mistake or something that shouldn’t be there, and if it doesn’t add up, ask before paying. My restaurant picks are in where to eat in Luxembourg, and for what eating out actually costs, is Luxembourg expensive.

Taxis, the one to watch

In a taxi, the tip matters less to me than the fare. Visit Luxembourg warns that taxi prices aren’t fixed and suggests asking in advance, and the UK government advises using official ranks, notes that official taxis display their tariffs and warns they may add a surcharge at night and on Sundays. I’d ask for a rough price as I got in and, if everything went smoothly, round up at the end.

From Findel you rarely need one anyway. The tram and buses from the airport into town cost nothing, the same as any bus, train or tram inside Luxembourg. How that journey works is in Luxembourg airport to city centre.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Luxemburgo before prices climb.

Hotels, and the tax that isn’t a tip

Hotel rates also include service. What can confuse is another line on the bill. In Luxembourg City the hotel adds a municipal visitor tax, worked out as 3% of what you pay for the room excluding VAT and charged to guests who aren’t registered residents of the city. The copy of the regulation I could read dates from 2021; whether it has changed since, I can’t say, so treat it as a guide. Either way it’s a council tax, not a gratuity. Where to stay, area by area, is in where to stay in Luxembourg.

Guided tours and everything else

On a guided tour the ticket already pays the guide. The tourist office’s visit to the Bock Casemates, for example, costs €20 for adults, €16 for students and over-60s and €10 for children aged 4 to 12. I haven’t found any rule or custom on tipping guides, so I’d only add something if they went well beyond the script or put up with a tricky group. The same goes for hotel porters or anyone else, which is to say nothing is expected and a thank-you in coins is always welcome.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Luxemburgo and choose by the reviews.

My summary, so you can stop thinking about it

Nobody expects a percentage, the menu price already includes service, and a tip is a way of saying thanks rather than part of the bill. A couple of coins at the café, rounding up at dinner if it went well, and nothing when it didn’t. What really protects your wallet is reading the menu at the door and asking the taxi fare before you set off.

A car frees you from timetables: search car hire in Luxembourg on DiscoverCars and compare companies.

So you do not pay over the odds, look at trains, coaches and flights to Luxembourg on Omio and pick the one that suits you.