How much should I tip in Morocco — a service-by-service guide?

Tipping in Morocco — known as "pourboire" — is genuinely part of the culture, so the question isn't really whether to tip but how much, and the reassuring news is that the amounts are modest. The single most useful habit is to always carry a pocket of small notes and coins (10, 20 and a few 5s and 1s), because the awkwardness people feel usually comes from having nothing small rather than from the cost itself. Here's how I break it down service by service.

For everyday helpers: a porter or anyone carrying your bags at a hotel or station deserves around 5–10 MAD per bag or per task. A car-park attendant or the unofficial fellow who "watches" your car gets a couple of dirhams. Toilet attendants at public facilities expect 1–2 MAD (more on toilets in another answer). A café waiter who brings you a mint tea gets the loose coins or a dirham or two; in a sit-down restaurant, rounding up the bill or leaving around 10% is the norm, and a little more for genuinely lovely service. Check first whether service is already added, though it usually isn't.

For the people who shape your trip, tip a bit more generously because their effort is real. A local guide who shows you around a medina or a site for a few hours warrants roughly 50–100 MAD per day depending on the length and quality of the tour — err toward the top if they were knowledgeable and went the extra mile. A driver doing a day excursion sits in a similar 50–100 MAD per day range. For a private driver who is with you across a multi-day tour, looking after you, your luggage and your comfort throughout, I'd suggest something like 100–200 MAD or more per day, given as a lump sum at the end of the trip.

A few situational ones worth knowing. Riad and hotel housekeeping staff appreciate a small daily tip left in the room (20–30 MAD per day is kind, or a lump at the end). A hammam attendant who scrubs you gets 20–50 MAD. Musicians or performers you stop to enjoy expect a few dirhams. And if someone genuinely helps you — directs you out of the maze of the medina with no strings — a small thank-you tip is gracious. The one thing to be wary of is "help" you didn't ask for, given precisely so a tip can be demanded; a polite, firm "no thank you" is fine there.

My overall philosophy: tip warmly but proportionately. These are small sums that mean a lot to the people receiving them and oil the wheels of a service-oriented culture, yet they add up to very little across a whole trip. Keep small change topped up, tip with a smile, and don't feel pressured into large amounts — generosity here is measured in graciousness, not in big numbers.