I’ve talked a lot lately on various subjects to do with Driving in Europe and  I thought that whilst you’re drooling over the superb food on offer it would be a good idea to review the procedure for tipping in restaurants in Europe.

This is always a difficult thing to get right and now a survey has been done on tipping abroad by us Brits; it never ceases to amaze me what they do survey nowadays.  Anyhow, the survey said that less than a quarter of UK holidaymakers know how much to tip when they go abroad and almost half said that they tip the same amount wherever they go.

Even throughout Europe leaving a tip varies from country to country but I usually follow these simple rules:

• In France : whether you are in a bar or a restaurant the bill usually includes a service charge so there is actually no need to tip.  You can leave some small change on the table if you want to but it is not strictly necessary.

• In Italy : tipping varies on where you are, small amounts in small cities and towns and then in a really small cafe it isn’t strictly necessary but again some small change will be fine.  In larger cities the restaurants will apply a service charge to your bill anyway but it is customary to give the waiter/waitress a tip of 5% to 10% depending on how good the service was.

• In Belgium : a service charge is always included in your bill and the same rules apply as in France.

• In Germany : a service charge is included in your bill but it is customary to round up your payment to the nearest Euro and I would give a tip of 5% to your waiter/waitress.

• In Spain : restaurants and bars are not allowed to add a service charge to your bill so I leave around 10% in a restaurant and about 5% in a small bar or again round up to the nearest Euro.

• In Holland : a service charge will always be added to your bill and the same rules apply as in France.

Now I’ve only mentioned the above countries because that’s where I’ve had some experience so if any of you disagree or have some guidelines for other countries then please let me know.

There are of course always variations on the theme but I use this as my guideline and it usually works out well.  The menu may tell you if a service charge has been added but it is not strictly necessary.  The local customs are known by the locals so just because the menu doesn’t say it has been added it doesn’t mean to say it hasn’t.