Use of Plastic in Eastern Europe

I finished a trip in May which traversed Vienna,Austria; Budapest, Hungary; through Slovakia; Cracow and Wroclaw, Poland; Goerlitz and Dresden, Germany by car. I found that, in general, credit cards are not accepted at most smaller establishments. Local currency is not easy to come by since ATMs tend to be scarce too. Larger stores and hotels will take credit cards. A ready supply of local currency is advisable. English is also scarce.