Currency

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/pay-credit-cards-vs-cash

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/card-fees

http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-machine-atm-tips

Just wondering if I should I get all of my Kunas before leaving Canada?

No. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money.

Is Visa accepted most places in Croatia?

Yes, wherever credit cards are accepted, but smaller operators prefer cash. See the same link above.

Thanks, guys!

You're welcome. However, I really don't understand why these same questions are asked so frequently. The answers don't change.

P.S. I understand that readers may reach this Travel Forum directly from a Google search or similar. My perspective is different, since I spend the whole day looking at the Travel Tips links and guidebooks.

I will just add to Laura's answer that the ATMs we encountered in Croatia had a limit of 3000 kuna. This is about $430 USD / $540 CAD right now. The amount that you can withdraw at once is based on the ATM limit and your bank's limit, whichever is lower. The ATM limit is per transaction. The bank limit is per day.

Croatia is cash-centric. Credit cards may not be taken everywhere, but cash is. You can save yourself some headache by always having some cash with you.

Thanks again, Mike! That was much more helpful.

It was my understanding that euros are also accepted in Croatia (albeit not the official currency). Is that a mis-impression?? (This is based on our 2 hosts asking for the balance paid on arrival to be in euros).

No, keri, this is generally not true. SOME places (especially hotels) accept Euros. Most hotels however will quote their prices in Euros because the conversion to Kuna is not simple for the average tourist to calculate.

I took pictures of posted signs at a number of places (e.g. parking lots, park concessions, etc.) in Croatia that said "NO EUROS."

You should always expect to pay in Kuna, unless explicitly noted or you specifically ask about payment in another currency. And if you are able to pay in Euros, you may be paying more than if you paid in Kuna; you may not be getting a great exchange rate. Hit the ATM in Croatia to get some Kuna as soon as you can after you arrive and you won't have to worry about it.

Euros are not generally usable in Croatia. It is only certain hotels and others providing more expensive services that sometimes give you the option of paying with Euros. You will need kuna for shops, restaurants, etc.

Nearby Montenegro uses Euros. Bosnia is more accepting of Euros than Croatia, but they often accept them at a beneficial exchange rate.

Thanks for the information. We are paying in euros to our two Croatian hosts (bookings @ VRBO) and, yes, it is actual euro cash they do want. The bus at the airport also accepted euro (6 euro) instead of the 40 kn, which was a kind thing for them to do.

There is an ATM (generic "Plus" logo so hopefully ok) at the airport and I pulled 100kn from it. That requested amount was a mistake because it dispensed a single 100kn note -- would have been better to have asked for an amount that would have produced the smaller notes (if the ATMs work that way). The bus ticket vendor was kind enough to break the note for smaller ones. This saved us later when we needed "exact cash" for the city bus!!

The ATMs do work that way. I've used that trick in a few countries -- just enter an amount that is not easily divisible and it will give you some smaller notes.

I did try that yesterday but it apparently didn't like the 'odd' amount. I would need to play with it a bit more. In the end I just asked for 2000 kn and, yes, it came out all in 100s. Fortunately, this is just the start of the trip so I hope to find opportunities (like the ice cream we bought in Old Town ) where we can break them into smaller bills.