Serbia & Romania

We did a six day bus tour of Romania and used credit cards. We never exchanged for the local currency.

The only place in Romania that I specifically remember being able to use Euros (cash) were with the handicraft vendors at the National Village Museum. The lady selling her hand painted decorative eggs would take cash only: 25 lei or $6 or 5 Euros each.

ETA: I probably didn't try other places because I mainly used credit card, or cash in Romanian Lei for smaller purchases, but I didn't have enough Romanian Lei in cash for all the eggs I wanted to buy, so I did a mix and match with the currencies I had on hand.

These countries do not use the euro but do they accept it when buying smaller items?

Thats a question? No, in pratical terms that you can count on, no. Does it happen sometimes, sure. ATM are everywhere.

After I spend $9673.45 and dump 4000 pounds of carbon into the air for the two of us to take a trip, I dont worry about $3 in ATM fees.

Serbia? Really?

Thanks everyone...
I'm doing coach tour with Gate1 so not in non-euro countries for very long and I'm traveling alone so don't want to use machines. If I can I'll get local currency at my bank; and why not Serbia??? Trust me I can probably out buy you, it's not the money it's the convenience.

Enjoy the trip. Safe travels.

We really enjoyed our brief stay in Belgrade. Fascinating city.

I’m with CW (and actually I was with CW - ha!) - but I never tried euros. I used card or lei for 3 1/2 weeks. I am unfamiliar with how a Gate 1 tour is structured so I don’t know if you pay for your own meals or not. We did encounter a few places for lunch that only wanted cash. So my answer there is whether or not you need lei depends on what you are going to need to buy on your own. But depending on a place to take euros is iffy.

It’s been a couple of years since I was in Belgrade and I was traveling solo. So my experience there probably isn’t relevant. But I DID need cash for some lunch stops (and got lucky or I’d have needed it for a taxi). I didn’t shop, though. However I would wonder even more about someone accepting euros. But I don’t know.

I was in Serbia in June 2025 for a few days as part of a tour thru Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. I didn’t withdraw any Dinar and managed to pay for everything with my debit card. I just checked my bank app and I can confirm that I even paid some very small purchases to the equivalent of just a couple of Euros with my debit card.

The lady selling her hand painted decorative eggs would take cash only: 25 lei or $6 or 5 Euros each.

CW, when I went back there after I returned to Bucharest, she agreed to take a credit card of mine. She had to run it through the cafe, though, and then I guess they paid her. I had cash, but was short about $10 for the amount of eggs that I wanted, so I had offered to put some back, but then she had the idea of using the other woman's credit card machine.

And I just realized I forgot to put that about buying the eggs in my blog!

Jean, like the others, I didn't find any place that would accept euros. With the lady and the eggs, I didn't have any euros, so I didn't ask. 😊

I'm doing coach tour with Gate1 so not in non-euro countries for very long and I'm traveling alone so don't want to use machines. If I can I'll get local currency at my bank; and why not Serbia??? Trust me I can probably out buy you, it's not the money it's the convenience.

I'm curious why you don't want to use machines if you're traveling solo. I travel solo a lot, and I use ATM machines on and off, although less and less frequently as the years have gone by. Regardless, I've never had a problem. In fact, I used them several times when I was in Sibiu and Gura Humorului in Romania. I would just make sure you use them during the day. Most of them are out in the open with lots of people nearby.

But as CWSocial and TexasTravelMom said above, most places accept credit cards, at least in Romania. The only time I used cash was in a few small restaurants and when we were buying small items from local vendors. However, a lot of the places that sold pottery and other goods like that took credit cards.

Dear Jean,

I highly suggest having some local Romanian currency in cash with you. You can use an ATM in Romania to withdraw; no need to bring currency from the US. Romanian legislation says that only hotels and travel agencies can accept payments in Euros. The local artisans, or small local producers/farmers, cannot legally accept it, and afterwards they have to go to a bank/exchange office to get the local currency. Also, what if you don't have the exact change? Many tourists don't want the change in the Romanian currency, and of course, most of the local artisans/farmers would try to accept any sort of currency just to be sure they are selling enough.
Without any disregard to the travellers, I think sometimes it is a more convenient and easy deal for the tourists than for the locals - artisans, farmers or small grocery boutique owners. In my opinion, if one travels to a country where there is a specific local currency, one should use if making cash payments. This is also a way to actually help the locals and try to meet midway, and not put the whole effort of dealing with a foreign currency on them. Sometimes, they may be grandmas or people who live in a small village miles and miles away from the nearest exchange office.
Just a thought from someone within the industry who has seen both sides of the coin.

Ana, D'accord!