Reply With QuoteI would definitely take khuna if you plan to venture further afield than the city. Get out to Sipan for Dinner. Two restaraunts in the bay on the far side of the island. Great place.
Guys,
SWMBO and myself are off to the Dubrovnik area next half term for the first time and I am confused about the currency situation as online advice is inconclusive. The currency over there is the Kuna and they seem to be relaxed about taking Euros and sterling. What I want is advice from people who have been there and have sussed which currency works best. I have also heard that it is better to exchange Euros/Sterling over there, (avoiding airport BDC’s obviously) My current thoughts are to land with some Kuna and take plenty of sterling, I also have my Halifax Clarity card although I much prefer to use cash when away as we eat out a lot.
Any advice will be gratefully received!
I would definitely take khuna if you plan to venture further afield than the city. Get out to Sipan for Dinner. Two restaraunts in the bay on the far side of the island. Great place.
I take Kuna out of the hole in the wall on arrival
They tend not to take sterling or Euro in shops and bars but you can change them in banks
Cash is king over there (Zagreb especially)
Have fun Croatia is a great place. Nice people, strong beer and good food.
Anywhere that takes Euro or dollars is going to bend you over a barrel. It's not Zimbabwe or Venezuela so the normal rules apply with regards to currency; they have a local one and you need to use it. With the exception of the places where I typically take a quantity of USD in my wallet (Euros are also universally accepted nowadays but I have an annoying habit of spending those) I always use a local cashpoint on arrival - it shouldn't be to hard to confirm that there's an ATM at your arrival airport.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Wow, fast replies guys, thank you! We are staying at the Hotel Croatia at a place called Cavtat, looks like Kuna currency on the clarity card from ATM’s is the way to go. We will also have a look at Saipan whilst we are there. (I love restaurant recommendations)
Many thanks.
Thank you for that CB.Originally Posted by Carlton-Browne
They are a bit odd about payments over there. I was with a group of work colleagues and we asked to split the bill, paying on individual credit cards. They would only do this if all of our 5 or 6 credit cards were the same company...ie all Visa or all MasterCard. Weird system.
I'd carry some Euros purely as backup, just in case there's a problem with your card, but Kuna withdrawal from an ATM on arrival is definitely the way to go. The same applies to KM if you head over to fabulous Mostar for a day or two.
Some ATMs do rip you off with a local charge, particularly those not affiliated with a proper bank. I tend to shop around a bit or research in advance to identify those with no fee (on in the case of the US and a couple of other places the lowest fee as a percentage of the maximum permitted withdrawal).
I was over there a couple of years ago, everything had to be paid for in kunas. I never rely on a cash machine overseas, what happens if the card is rejected or the machine keeps the card?...........I won’t take that risk.
Take plenty of sterling and exchange it locally. I stayed in Cavtat and I had no difficulty changing money at a fair exchange rate. It’s worth getting some currency in the UK to start off for the first couple of days, check your local travel agents for the best rate.......but check the interbank rate to see whether they’re ripping you off!
I bought some Euros a couple of weeks ago, using our local Co-op travel (owned by Thomas Cook). I usually use a different Travel Agent who always give the best rate, but I was short of time. I hadn’t checked the latest exchange rate (mistake) and the nice lady tried to offer me 1.03 euros /£ ! After a lively debate this improved to 1.12 and it’s the last time I’ll deal with them. Nice lady started back- pedalling furiously, they’re obviously told to give the worst rate the customer will accept and that’s out of order!
I like that area of Croatia but found Dubrovnik itself to be too busy for my taste, especially when the cruise ships are visiting. Prices were higher than the surrounding resorts too.
Paul
Another good reason for using the folding stuff!
This is due to the way the law works for payments. You have to have different invoices for each receipt and cash v card etc etc. So having payment from a different card means they had to create different invoices (not just a case of splitting the total).
All this was done to get rid of the grey economy.
100% Kuna.
I just take cash out an ATM when I get there.
Almost everywhere takes card so I would not be too worried. Take some £ and change it to kuna at a decent exchange place to get an Ok rate and use this for tips/small stuff. For dinners etc use your card. For any transaction by law you have to be given a receipt if someone proposes not or does not offer it something is going on.
Personally having lived in Croatia for 3 years everyone does the right thing as regards cards/payments/cards etc etc
Enjoy the trip a beautifully bit of the country. Try and get out to an island or two while you are there as well.
In the city itself I used my Revolut card the entire time and had no problems. Got cash out to pay for the ferry ride over the Lokrum and that was about it
I was in Dubrovnik last year - as others have said, Kuna.
Although I never went to Cavtat, Dubrovnik is one of the best places I've ever been to with clean streets, delicious food, very warm and friendly people, amazing architecture and beautiful scenery. In fact, I cannot wait to go back and see other parts of the country.
I think all the bases are covered now. It's easy to change Sterling , loads of stores advertise outside and it was a better deal than doing it here. ATMs are also quite plentiful and almost everywhere accepts Credit Cards.
Cavtat is beautiful, lovely area with crystal clear water, great bars and ice cream to rival any Italian gelato .
There is a water taxi to Dubrovnik a few times a day. I'd aim to go late afternoon/ early evening when the cruise ship guests have left and the walls are much quieter.
It's also a great airport to land at. You'll understand when you fly in.
Absolute quality responses guys, I feel much more clued up, thank you all very much!
I went a few years and took Kuna with me. We didn't have any issues converting GBP to Kuna when we were there.
We went to Cavtat a few years ago and it was just beautiful. It’s even older than Dubrovnik from what i remember and has some very nice restaurants next to the small waterfront area, some of the boats moored there were astonishing.
As has been said take Kuna and cards and you’ll be fine. Island trips and a late afternoon boat trip to Dubrovnik, with the sun going down is a fanatstic.
My next door neighbour is Croatian, she comes from Kastela close to Split.
She goes back to visit about 3-4 times a year and she always gets money out there.
By far the best place is the local larger supermarkets which all have Exchanges in them.
weve been out 4 times now and take her lead.....over there is always better.
Same with all ‘minor’ currencies (not USD, EU etc?) - cheaper to buy at destination.
Yes, always.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
That’s what’s I’ve done every time (three visits so far) never an issue
Again, thank you gentlemen.
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