Will be taking a cruise to Turkey, Ukrane, Romania and Bulgaria in the fall. Have never been to this part of the world.

Do you recommend converting USD to the local currencies of these countries, or will Euros generally be accepted? Seems like all the tours we booked, the operators requested payment in Euros.

Also, can someone give me a general idea of how much items cost (for example, how much would you bring for some lunch and walking around money)? This will give me an idea of how much to exchange.

Thanks!

No personal experience in any of these places, but if you pay in Euro, be prepared to get your change in the local currency. Also, smaller shops and restaurants may not take the Euro, although the tourist trap type places would be happy to (at bad rates).

Why not just get what you think you will need out of an ATM? xe.com will give you exchange rates so you can plan what you should need.

http://www.xe.com/

If you are going on a cruise tour, the shops and restaurants you go to will probably have inflated prices. If you can find the 'local' shops and restaurants, chances are the prices will be better, but you may not find anyone who speaks English and credit cards may not be accepted.

One of the problems with using dollars, euros or even pounds in one of these countries is that the rate of exchange offered by shops and so on is likely to be poor. Plus, there will always be outlets that take only the local currency, and even shops that take more "international" currencies are likely to give the change in the local currency.

Hey,

I'm Polish, but when I travel to non-Western places (TK, UA, Saudi etc) I never change currency. I always use my debit card to get local money from the ATM. I sell remainings at the airports. I know - maybe not the most effective when it comes to costs of those transactions etc but has two simple advantages:
- it's as simple as possible - finding atm is not a problem usually, just check with your bank if your card works there. I never had problems (but never used US cards)
- banks usually cheat a bit less then unknown currency-exchange windows, random shops etc.

I'm pretty good at quick maths, so I get a feeling of local prices pretty quickly, so solution above is the only one I practice for 5 years now. I am ok to pay a premium to be on the simple and safe side.

Just a thought
mf

Western?

Maria - you caught me. My directional dyslexia is exposed yet again...

Changed the title to "Eastern."

Good thing that an experienced captain will be driving the boat instead of me. Who knows where we'd end up! Maybe off the coast of Somalia?

Thanks to everyone else for the great advice. I will just use cash machines.

thread title edited. now it makes sense again

chrissxb
moderator
europe forum

Hi,
you should get at least a small amount of the local currency. Especially small local dealers don't accept always euros.
Cheers
757DUD

In these parts USD and EUR are both good. If your home currency is USD, don't bother with conversion to EUR first. UA is actually "dollar-based", people tend to calculate in dollars.

A thick wad of grrenbacks will serve you well

You can buy local currency with both $ and Euro, it doesn't matter, so better use $ to avoid double charging. Best is to use an ATM and draw some local cash. You can pay with $ or Euro in Turkey at most tourist places. In Bulgaria, this is not a common practice. I am Bulgarian, so you are interested in anything, you can ask me.

just got back from a medt cruise with a stop in Turkey. For the most part local shops in Kusadasi(ephesus) accept Euro. so ended up paying for most things in Euro, but did go to the ATM to get some Turkish Lira for eating at restaurants & also the entrance fee to Ephesus which only accepts Lira.

Very few places accept euros in Romania; you need local currency or CC. I think using ATMs is the best idea.

I have been to Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria. You will have to use local currency. Although hotels and other establishments quote prices in Euros, payment has to be made in the local currency. If you take enough money to cover lunch in the U.S., it would certainly cover your lunch in any of these countries.

Note: Local currency is there for a reason. In some countries local currency is the only legal tender. Some establishments will accept credit cards. I have used ATMs/currency exchange facilities in these countries.