Credit cards

From my experience, Mastercard and Visa are widely accepted. Some merchants do accept American Express but because of the fees charged to them by the company, it isn't as common as it used to be.

American Express is not widely accepted. the other two are everywhere, although some countries like Greece prefer cash.

And leave home without your Discover card, it isn't accepted in Europe (well, maybe in 2 stores).

Visa and MasterCard are accepted just about anywhere that takes credit cards. American Express much less so, especially smaller shops and hotels. Discover almost nowhere.

But also know that credit card use is much less than in the US. Small purchases will usually need to be cash and even sometimes when a sign says credit cards are accepted, they may not take it if the amount is too small or they just don't feel like it.

This is one time you can leave home without your American Express card. The AE is accepted at higher end hotels and restaurants but your average place it is either Visa or Mastercard. We use cash about 95% of the time.

Just echoing all the other posters-- Visa & Mastercard are accepted in Europe, but as others have pointed out, cash is accepted everywhere!

I only use my credit card for prolonged hotel stays or high ticket items and pay cash for meals & everything else.

MasterCard and Visa are preferred. American Express is taken in many places, but not all. Discover is expanding its vendor base in Italy but is still not widely accepted - even where Diners Club (affiliate) is.

Most automated machines require a chip and pin card, and most American cards are chip and signature (you can request a pin number for some cards before you leave).

Speaking of before you leave, make sure your bank and all credit card companies know you are traveling, dates and countries.

also get credit cards with chip technology.

Thanks for all your assistance
Doug