Eastern European Currency

[cruiser02]

What currency is used in the Eastern European countries?   Is the euro good or do you need

local currency? 

[Kristal Blade]

We were in Budapest recently and used Credit card. We have one with no fees so it was a simple decision. 
In Czech Republic they accepted € as well as credit card.

 

Maybe if you give a list of the countries you are visiting, cruiser02  you will get more info.

[Rebel54]

I set up a Klarna account so I can convert to local currency through that.  Plan to use my US card as a backup.

 

[CastleCritic]

Currently wrapping up a cruise through Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. Officially only Croatia is on the euro. A lot of places where small change was needed (toilets) the guide would say to give them a half to 2 euro
 

a lot of places will still take dollars or euros but in general any business will take card. I pulled out 200 Romanian lira (about $40, and the only place I used it was to pay the guide.. and he broke it by giving me a 20 euro (likely from another passenger). 
 

there was one time I wished I had Bulgarian currency to pay a local artist but that’s the only time it’s come up this trip. The few times I tried to use the 200 bill In Romania no one wanted to break it. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by CastleCritic

[beesKate]

In most cases, you won't need local currency.  We didn't have much reason to use local currency.  We did make a few small purchases in Croatia and our guide recommended just using contactless (Apple or Google pay) even for very small purchases.  We used both contactless & credit card in Bulgaria and Romania.  We didn't make any purchases in Serbia.  I think we used euros for the toilets (half to 1 or 2, depending if we paid together.).  I think during covid most vendors started using contactless.