Cash and Credit Cards in Europe

Far less cash, Europe uses plastic. Need more cash, use an ATM (they are everywhere). We have carried $500 for a journey of six weeks and not utilized all of it. Today carrying too much US $ is a pain in the ass.
Enjoy a great journey.

I’ve been in London several days. I haven’t used cash once. Most places have signs that say cards only.

Why would you bring that much US cash for countries that use a different currency? Bring enough US cash to use going to or from the US, but get your local currency from a local bank ATM . Otherwise use your credit cards. Don't expect to use a card in every situation. We prefer to have at least the equivalent if $100 in local currency at any given time for small purchases, markets, and taxis (where CCs aren't accepted)

I agree with the much less cash and using ATMs if you need more. One can easily go cashless in England and Spain. My position is different. I’ve had 700£ and €1000 sitting around the house since my last trips before Covid. Recently I was able to use most of the £ and hope to use most of the € on an upcoming trip. I won’t need an ATM. Most places you can use a CC. Cash is good for farmer’s type markets, food stands, and maybe small purchases. If you want to get a couple hundred pounds or Euros before your trip, you can order currency through many banks, and many malls have currency exchanges. For countries that use their own currency, it may be best to wait until you get there, then get some if needed. You may also be able to use some €s in those countries too. I would not take a bunch of US dollars with me.

In general, the more North you travel and the more urban the location, the less on-hand cash you'll need. Obviously if you travel to more rural areas, then cash will asked for over credit. Small shops, street stands and small transactions, cash is usually preferred.

For my past trips, I withdrew about €300 prior to departure, that usually suffices for about 10-days. Depending on how my spending is going, where the trip is taking me, I'll do another withdraw about halfway into my trip. For a seven week trip, you're probably looking at maybe two or, three withdraws while in country; ATM fees aren't punitive or crippling. I'd avoid bringing over so much at once and having that amount weigh on your mind. Should you misplace or, have that amount stolen, even a fraction of that, is a lot, don't put yourself in a vulnerable position.

Please check out Rick's Money tips. There's great advice regarding contacting your banks and credit cards prior to travel, cash vs credit usage etc. There are loads of posts on this topic too. I can't begin to thank all the posters on this forum for their experiences that we found invaluable on our trip to Oslo, Germany and a Danube River cruise back in 2019. We left with a days worth of cash for Norway and the Schengen zone ( just to be safe), used credit cards at restaurants and shopping, visited ATMs and used cash here and there (mostly to keep the credit card charges down) and everything worked out great.

Not just credit cards, but contactless, or 'tap' payment is very common. If your cards don't have a sideways wifi symbol you should be able to request an updated card from the issuer.

I have been in Europe now for a month--the UK, Greece, Sweden and Finland. I haven't used cash yet.

Hi,

Keep in mind of the countries you listed Austria is the one you're most likely to encounter " cash only" restaurants.

I know of several in Vienna where credit card payment is not accepted; these restaurants are located in both so-called tourist areas and non-tourist areas. If your aim is to avoid eating in tourist areas, be prepared for cash only places.

Are you intending to bring $2000 or $2000 in the relevant currencies? If the answer is $ are you expecting vendors in any of those countries to accept payment in $US or do you intend to use currency exchange places to convert to local currency? Pretty much no-one is going to accept payment in $US, why would they? And if you intend to use currency exchange then it's going to cost a lot in fees, just use an ATM.

For our recent trip this past month, both Bank of America and Chase credit cards said that Trip Alerts are no longer necessary, and didn't provide areas on their websites for such.
We found credit cards readily accepted in Germany and Austria, [Salzburg, Regensburg, Rothenburg, Boppard,] except for the street vendors.
Safe travels!

If you were going to travel for 7 weeks in the US, how much cash would you take with you? Would you take out $2000 in cash or would you just have some and hit the ATM when you needed more? Why not do the same over there?

1. If the day you land you lose $2,000 will it impact your trip. If so, you have too much cash!
2. I spent a week in Paris At the beginning of the week I got out 200 Euros. I still have 40 Just like here the pandemic accelerated the move to "cashless"

Based on 1 and 2 I would not take that much cash (not to mention you will get ripped off when you convert it) Just use an ATM and get what you need as you need it.

...... thinking about just withdrawing $2000..... That is not smart because you will pay a high price to convert your $$$ into local currency -- maybe close to 10%. The cheapest and most convenient way to obtain local currency is a debit card at a local, bank owned, ATM -- as needed. We tend to use cash simply because it is easy and convenient but other prefers heavy use of credit cards. Either way works well. Just a function of what you comfort level is with either approach.

Depending on which destinations you plan to visit, cash may or may not be the best option. You may find this recent article helpful - https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2022/05/europe-technology/ .

Packing around large sums of cash is generally not a good idea. The best method is to withdraw cash from local ATM's as needed, but you'll need to be wary of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). If the ATM asks whether you want the transaction in local currency or your home currency, always choose the local currency. The home currency option usually comes with higher fees. DCC also occurs with credit card transactions.

but you'll need to be wary of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). If
the ATM asks whether you want the transaction in local currency or
your home currency, always choose the local currency. The home
currency option usually comes with higher fees. DCC also occurs with
credit card transactions.

1) For clarification, if you are buying something in France with your credit card and if you are given the option of Euros or USD, choose Euro.
2) If you are getting money out of an ATM and it asks if you want to charge your bank in Dollars or Euro, again choose Euro.
3) The concept is that Visa will give you a better rate than the machine does.
4) Non-bank ATMs often charge a fee at the machine, so avoid them if you can find a bank ATM, but dont sweat it once in a while because we are only talking a few dollars.
5) Get a card with no foreign transaction fees. I have one from Merrill Lynch.
6) if you are in a restaurant and the menu has a choice of Euro (in the Eurozone) or Dollars pay in Euros (not terribly uncommon in non-euro countries to find the local currency and Euros on tourist menus).

Is DCC still something to keep an eye out for when using ApplePay or tap-to-pay?

Is DCC still something to keep an eye out for when using ApplePay or tap-to-pay?

Unfortunately, yes.

Thanks, Scudder.