THREE COUNTRIES, THREE SETS OF RULES

What locals
take as given

Tipping works differently in each country, and over-tipping in France or Switzerland marks you out as much as under-tipping does. These are the things nobody tells you and everyone assumes you know.

Turkey YALOVA & ISTANBUL · TRY

Tipping is expected here, unlike the other two countries on this trip. Roughly 10% in restaurants, left in cash on the table even when you pay by card. Round taxi fares up. 50–100 TL for a hotel porter. In a hammam the attendant who washes you expects a tip directly, separate from the entry price.

WORTH KNOWING

Tea is an offer, not a saleShopkeepers offer çay to anyone who lingers. Accepting doesn't oblige you to buy, and refusing outright reads as cold. Accept, drink it, leave if you want.
Haggling has a place and a limitExpected in the Grand Bazaar and with street vendors. Not in shops with marked prices, restaurants or supermarkets — trying there is simply awkward.
Cards work, cash smoothsCards are accepted almost everywhere in cities. Small cafés, ferries, market stalls and mosque donation boxes are cash.
Mosques close to visitors at prayer timesFive times daily, and for longer around midday on Friday. Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque both. Plan around it rather than arriving hopefully.

COMMON MISTAKES

Wearing shoes into a mosqueTake them off at the door and carry them, or use the racks. Socks on.
Turning up at a mosque underdressedShoulders and knees covered for both of you; a headscarf for Abeer. Some entrances lend wraps, but not all, and not always.
Photographing people without askingParticularly older people and women. Ask first — it's almost always granted.
Assuming Yalova is IstanbulIt's across the Sea of Marmara. Two hours each way. Build it into the departure, not the hope.

France MARSEILLE, MONTPELLIER, ANNECY, CHAMONIX, COLMAR, CHANTILLY · EUR

Service is already included by law — service compris. You are not expected to tip 15–20%, and doing so marks you instantly as a visitor. Round up, or leave a couple of euros for a good meal. Five percent is generous. A euro on a coffee is plenty. Never feel obliged.

THE ONE THING THAT MATTERS MOST

Say bonjour when you enterEvery shop, every bakery, every hotel desk. Not saying it before you ask for something is the single rudest thing a visitor commonly does in France — it reads as treating the person as staff rather than a person. Bonjour madame or bonjour monsieur, then your question. Au revoir on the way out. This one habit changes how you're treated all trip.

WORTH KNOWING

Kitchens genuinely closeLunch roughly 12:00–14:00, dinner from 19:00 or 19:30. Between those, you'll get a drink and possibly a sandwich. Arriving at 15:30 hungry is a mistake you make once.
The bill never comes unaskedBringing it early would be rushing you out. Catch the eye and ask for l'addition.
Sundays close downMost shops, many restaurants. Boulangeries often open Sunday morning and shut Monday instead. Check before planning a Sunday around shopping.
Bread goes on the tableNot on your plate. It's not a side dish — it's for the sauce, and it lives on the cloth.
Tap water is free and normalAsk for une carafe d'eau. You don't have to buy bottled.
Splitting the bill is uncommonOne card, settle up afterwards. Asking for six separate payments is a genuine imposition.

DRIVING — FRANCE

Carry a hi-vis vest and warning triangleLegally required in the car, and the vest must be reachable from the seat, not the boot. Usually supplied with the rental — check at pickup rather than at the roadside.
130 km/h, and 110 in rainThe wet-weather limit is real and enforced. Speed cameras are frequent and unmarked.
Priorité à droite still existsOn some unmarked urban junctions, traffic from your right has priority. Rare on your route but not extinct.
Alcohol limit 0.05%Lower than many countries. Effectively one glass, and not worth testing.
Tolls take cardsMost barriers are unmanned. Keep a card in reach — the lanes marked with a green arrow or card symbol, not the orange t which is subscriber-only.

Switzerland INTERLAKEN & LUCERNE · CHF

Tipping is not expected at all. Service is included and wages are high. Round up to the nearest franc or five, and that's it. Leaving 15% doesn't read as generous so much as confused. For genuinely exceptional service, 5% is a strong gesture.

WORTH KNOWING

Francs, not eurosSome tourist tills accept euros at a deliberately poor rate and give change in francs. Pay in CHF or by card.
Punctuality is literalTrains and the Rothorn leave at the stated minute. Being there two minutes before departure is being late. This is also true socially.
Sunday is quiet by law and by customShops shut, and in many buildings so does noise — no drilling, no laundry in some blocks. Plan Sunday around walking and eating.
Say GrüeziThe greeting in the German-speaking cantons, including both your stops. In shops, on mountain paths, entering a restaurant. On trails people greet everyone they pass.
The tap water is excellentPublic fountains across both towns are drinkable unless marked otherwise. Refilling saves real money in a country where a bottle costs CHF 4.
Cash in the mountainsCard works nearly everywhere, but small huts and some cable-car kiosks still prefer cash.
Prices are high and that's simply the levelA coffee is CHF 5–6, a modest dinner CHF 45–60 a head. Your food budget for the Swiss days should be roughly double the French ones.

DRIVING — SWITZERLAND

The vignette is not optionalAbout CHF 40 for the year, and you need it the moment you touch a motorway. Buy online before Martigny. Being caught without it is a fine plus the vignette on the spot.
Headlights on at all timesDay and night, all year. Most modern cars do it automatically — confirm at pickup.
Speeding fines scale with incomeSwitzerland assesses serious traffic fines against earnings, and the sums reach five figures. The limits are 120 motorway, 80 open road, 50 in towns, and they are enforced by camera relentlessly. Take this one seriously.
Declare Switzerland on the rentalYour route crosses at Martigny and again for Lucerne. Undeclared cross-border driving can void the insurance entirely.
Mountain post buses have absolute priorityOn narrow alpine roads, the yellow buses sound a three-note horn on blind bends and you give way. If you take the Grimsel and Susten passes you will meet them.

Small things that apply everywhere

Reserve for the good restaurantsAlivetu, La Fine Bouche and Restaurant Wey are all small. A day or two ahead is enough, and hotel reception will call for you.
Dinner is later than you think19:30–20:00 in France, a little earlier in Switzerland. Arriving at 18:30 gets you an empty room and a kitchen not quite ready.
Keep the passports with you crossing bordersSchengen internal borders are usually open, but France and Switzerland run spot checks on the Martigny and Basel routes, and Switzerland is outside the EU customs union.
Photography in churches and museumsGenerally fine without flash. The Isenheim Altarpiece at Unterlinden and the interiors of Hagia Sophia both have rules posted — read the sign rather than assume.
Learn four words in each languageHello, please, thank you, sorry. Nobody expects fluency; the effort is what registers. Merhaba, lütfen, teşekkürler, pardon · bonjour, s'il vous plaît, merci, pardon · Grüezi, bitte, danke, entschuldigung.