Croatia and Istanbul Money News

[LinVirginia]

I just returned last week from these ports and had purchased some local money previously. Do NOT bother. Everything was quoted in euros and having local cash didn't help. Just use Euros (and dollars in some situations.)

[Daniela32]

Where in Croatia? I agree you don't need to have it in advance because you have ATM's everywhere and restaurants accept all possible credit cards, nice shops too. But in Split, you'll need some kunas for street vendors, entrance fees and possibly bus ticket. But you can exchange small amount when you, re there, you don't need to have it in advance.

 

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[Dubrovniktravelady]

I just returned last week from these ports and had purchased some local money previously. Do NOT bother. Everything was quoted in euros and having local cash didn't help. Just use Euros (and dollars in some situations.)

Please allow me to totally disagree. Croatia is now in the European Union, however it has not yet entered into the Euro Zone which is required to use the Euro as legal currency. Yes it is true that much is quoted here in Euros, but that is due to the fact that the vast majority of guests are European.

The Croatian Kuna is the legal currency of Croatia. All vendors must accept Kuna and those who ask for Euros are giving you a very poor exchange rate. I am sure while you found using Euros worked for you in a few ports, it is not possible to visit Croatia and only use Euros and Dollars.

[John Bull]

You didn't use public transportation then. Local currency only. Ditto some museums, usually govt-run ones.

 

Same with shops which normally only sell to locals - a big cheap bottle of soda, or perhaps you need something from a pharmacy.

 

If you barter for something, in markets or with taxi drivers, I'm not sure it makes much odds what currency cos your maximum & the vendor's minimum will be the same whatever the currency - I've even bartered in a mix of currencies, not having enough local shrapnel.

But where prices are displayed only in local currency, say coffees & beers, are you going to ask the price in euros? Probably not, you're just going to ask if they accept euros cos it sounds petty to go through prices in a coffee shop. And you'll be creamed on their exchange rate.

 

Yes you can get by without local money, but we always have as much as we know we're going to spend (usually about $30-worth each per day) with plastic & euros as back-up.

 

We take with us, but in the UK we seem to get better tourist rates than in the US.

 

JB :)

[LinVirginia]

Where in Croatia? I agree you don't need to have it in advance because you have ATM's everywhere and restaurants accept all possible credit cards, nice shops too. But in Split, you'll need some kunas for street vendors, entrance fees and possibly bus ticket. But you can exchange small amount when you, re there, you don't need to have it in advance.

 

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I should have been more specific. This was a one-day cruise port visit for Dubrovnik and 2-day Istanbul visit. I knew we'd take taxis and not public transportation.

[lovemylab]

Please allow me to totally disagree. Croatia is now in the European Union, however it has not yet entered into the Euro Zone which is required to use the Euro as legal currency. Yes it is true that much is quoted here in Euros, but that is due to the fact that the vast majority of guests are European.

The Croatian Kuna is the legal currency of Croatia. All vendors must accept Kuna and those who ask for Euros are giving you a very poor exchange rate. I am sure while you found using Euros worked for you in a few ports, it is not possible to visit Croatia and only use Euros and Dollars.

 

 

To add to this, when we visited Dubrovnik 18 months ago we used Kuna and found the prices of many items to be a bargain compared to other ports. In comparison, a couple who we met on the ship had used Euro and complained how Dubrovnik was very expensive. When we compared prices they ended up paying close to double for things like water, soda, etc from street vendors.

Edited June 11, 2014 by lovemylab