Račun Molim! – Bill Please!

Whether staying in a 5 star hotel or exploring on a budget, money has to be one of the main elements of any adventure, my trip to Croatia was no different. I naively hadn’t considered that a country in the EU may have had a different currency from the Euro. After a quick look on the travel aware website, a helpful website with advice on 226 countries worldwide,I found that the currency in Croatia is the Kuna. At the time of writing (28/05/2022) £1 = 8.7 Kuna (€1 = 7.54 Kuna), this meant that my fairly poor mental athematic would have be dusted off whilst on my holiday to the Dalmatian coast. Exploring the incredible coastline of Croatia, travelling from Split to Dubrovnik gave me fantastic opportunities to spend the money that I’d exchanged. It was a joy strolling around the incredible Diocletian Palace in Split, that the locals have utilised to create an incredible atmosphere with bustling restaurants and beautiful shops. The Dubrovnik old town had the same vibe where the sea at the harbour glistened and the history was palpable. Although I’m drawing on my personal experiences travelling around Croatia, this advice is applicable to travel all over the globe. To find out helpful travel tips for your own adventures check FCDO Travel Advice!

After arriving in Split, flying over the aqua sea and landing on the beachside runway, my family and I hired a taxi to take us into the town from the nearby airport. One of the first things the taxi driver said, completely unprompted, was “if you can, try and pay for things in Kuna because the exchange rate is often poor when you pay for things in Euro.” None of my family have a Croatian bank card and therefore we were fairly pleased that we’d had a look at the FCDO Travel Advice website and exchanged some money in the airport before arriving. We did however have a Euro bank card as a backup. Later in the holiday we confirmed that the taxi driver was giving us a good travel tip as in Dubrovnik city centre we were faced with a very low exchange rate of 6.89 rather than the 7.45 it should’ve been.

Another reason not to rely on plastic payment methods is that there could be a charge on the currency conversion, as well as the initial cost of what you’re buying being higher. Although there are selected banks that offer low or no conversion costs, some establishments only take cash and do not accept certain types of card. This could be the reason for almost every street having a multitude of ATMs, especially in Split. Cards that have no currency conversion costs are not exempted from the charges to take Kuna out of some of ATMs, not to mention the poor exchange rate that we experienced. We found that taking cash out of ATMs attached to banks occasionally came with no service charge if withdrawing money is a necessity.

The reluctance to use Euros and cards as a method of payment resulted in us carrying a fair amount of cash around whilst exploring the cities we went to. As in any destination you must be self-aware when carrying loose cash especially somewhere you are unfamiliar, pickpocketing is a possibility and it’s worth knowing ahead of time that you will need to carry cash, so limiting the amount is something I’d advise to do next. This left me with a bit of conundrum; I don’t want to pay in Euros because that’ll cost more, however I don’t want to have loose cash on me. My advice is to do everything in moderation, don’t take your whole budget for the trip in cash with you everywhere, just in case. Instead, store it in a safe place (preferably a safe) in your accommodation and take out the amount of cash you think you’ll need in that day, it may be a good way of budgeting too if you’re anything like me! Don’t forget that locals in some destinations may rely on cash tips, so it’s always a good idea to have at least a small amount of cash on you when travelling.

Without a doubt, money is a key element of travelling; this was particularly evident in Croatia. Relying on plastic isn’t always the answer, and it’s worth thinking about finding a balance between cash and card before travelling. I find it difficult to understand exchange rates sometimes, so its worth checking FCDO Travel Aware website before arriving to be sure that you’re making the most of your budget whilst on your adventure. This information applies for any travel, for example, in the Netherlands many places only accept Maestro. Although cards may seem the easiest, and sometimes safest way of paying for things when travelling, it’s always worth having a look at the FCDO Travel Advice and researching your destination to avoid being stuck in a tricky situation.