how much local currency for 'walking around" money?

[tully07]

Heading to the Baltics in May -- we like to have some local currency for small purchases, tipping guides, etc. [i am not much for using my credit card when travelling as I once received a cc bill for over $8,000 for a purchase in Greece 1 year after travelling there!!:mad: Didn't have to pay it but have been cautious ever since.]

 

Euros aren't a problem as we always have some on hand. But I really have no sense of costs in Russia and the non-Euro Scandinavian countries. For example -- Any suggestions for how many rubles to buy? $10 CAD buys approx 500 rubles. Swedish Kroner? $83 buys approx 500 Kroner. Norwegian Kroner? $80 buys 500 Kroner. But how much will this buy? I'm thinking tips, coffee, postcards, small souvenirs ---- if we do find something expensive, I'll bite the bullet and use the credit card.

 

Thanks for your help.

[LondonTowner]

When we always have Euros, so took them on our Baltic cruise. For everything else we used CC which makes no charges for foreign transactions. We really didn't need to change money.

[PNW Traveler]

We purchase foreign currency from Bank of America before our cruise. There is no extra charge for different currencies. Before our most recent trip to Europe, we purchased British pounds, Euros, and Danish Kroner. Although ATM's in Europe will give a better exchange rate, we always purchase some foreign currency before we travel. A few years ago we were in a port on a Sunday. No ATM's were available and we had run out of Euros. We could not purchase museum tickets or even a bottle of water with a credit card. After that experience, we always have at least some local currency.

 

We are prudent re credit card use, using them in restaurants (transaction machine is brought to the table), hotels, museums, and established larger shops.

[mskaufman]

In Sweden and Denmark we had about $20 USD in local currency. Generally used for ice cream.

[Bigred84]

We normally take pre-loaded ATM cards and use them. Have never had a problem using them In Europedepending on how long we will be gone we pad them with $1000 to $1500.

[Keith1010]

How much really depends on what you plan to purchase.

 

If I am totally unsure maybe 50.000 of local money. Whatever I have left over other then change I can convert in the next port to other currency. For large purchases I would use my credit card in most places but not Russia.

 

In Russia I know they prefer USA currency. Not sure about Canadian currency.

 

Keith

[mskaufman]

How much really depends on what you plan to purchase.

 

If I am totally unsure maybe 50.000 of local money. Whatever I have left over other then change I can convert in the next port to other currency. For large purchases I would use my credit card in most places but not Russia.

 

In Russia I know they prefer USA currency. Not sure about Canadian currency.

 

Keith

 

I took about $25 in Russian currency and used it on souvenirs at the last stop. I paid for my tour using a pre-loaded card. I was also hesitant to use my credit card in Russia.

[LondonTowner]

I used my CC card in Russia to pay for my tour and a couple of small items. Never had any problem, why should I?

[Regguy]

If I were only getting 500 Sweedish Krona for $83 or 500 Norwegian Kroner for $80, I certainly wouldn't be purchasing very much. Those are awful rates -- far worse than you'll get using an ATM or a credit card. Plus, if you bring too much it's a double whammy. You end up with currency after the trip that you can't use or you end up stressing in the last hour at port about buying crap at tourist trap prices you have to fit in your luggage that you don't need and that takes up space when you get home. I never mind having some euro around but for single-country currencies I try to avoid having much if any. For two days in St. Petersburg on an organized tour there was no need to touch rubles and the guides were delighted to be tipped in euro or dollars. (If you're on your own with a Russian visa it's a different story obviously.)

 

Any way, to answer OP's question, it really all depends. Stuff is expensive in Sweden and Norway and super expensive in Denmark. I would add 25 to 100 percent to what you're used to paying if you're USA based (you don't say). So, a coffee drink and pastry that's around $5 could be the equivalent of around $8 in Norway, more in a touristy area and the sky is kind of the limit in Copenhagen. But note that when I say "$8" to figure out how much that is in kroner, use actual exchange rates not the rates you are being charged. A couple of beers in Norway that cost the equivalent of $20 will cost about 170 Kroner. They cost that same 170 Kroner regardless of the exchange rate you got because obviously the restaurant doesn't care how much you were charged. So if you get a good rate, it's $20. If you really got only 500 Kroner for $80 then your cost is $27.20.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Regguy

[LondonTowner]

Regguy

 

Good advice, which returns to what I said. Just use credit cards, much easier and more economical if you have one with no foreign currency charges. I found Sweden and Norway much more expensive than Denmark.

 

I really enjoyed our Baltic cruise and would like to do another. However, really didn't see anything I would want to buy. I am not interested in souvenirs as I have enough rubbish at home without contributing more.

[tully07]

I am exchanging Canadian $ -- so 500 Swedish kroner are going to cost me $20 more than if I were exchanging US $. And ATM rates won't be any better - in fact, I usually do better buying foreign currency through a currency exchange than through the bank. I'll be able to sell back [at a small loss] any leftover foreign currency.

 

Most Canadian credit cards have foreign currency charges, averaging 2.5% -- but that's not the reason I don't like to use my credit card when I travel -- as I stated in my original post, somebody used my card number to buy $8000 Cdn worth of stuff at a Home Depot equivalent in Greece a few years ago. I had used my card in Athens about 13 months before this charge. While I didn't have to pay the charge, it was quite a shock to open the bill! :eek:

 

I am just trying to get a sense of costs for small things -- coffee, post cards, small souvenirs -- tips for guides, meals so I can figure out how much currency to buy. I don't want to use a credit card to buy a cup of coffee or 3 postcards. It sounds like, for example, 500 Swedish kroner would be sufficient. We are staying in Denmark for a couple of days before the cruise so I'll get more Danish krone than the others.

 

What about rubles -- will 1000 rubles buy some postcards and small souvenirs?

[Regguy]

Got it -- sorry, my bad -- I was on ipad and didn't see location, so I assumed USA not Canada.

 

If you have some means of getting an exchange rate better than ATM or credit cards, then by all means. We don't have that option in the USA, other than those who purchase $1,000 or more at Bank of America and have a banking relationship (and even there the exchange rate is not as good as ATMs in country.) I seem to remember the cost of things in Ottawa when I was there seeming roughly commensurate with costs in the USA in major cities, so I would think if you take a general approach that stuff in Scandinavia will be 50 percent higher and stuff in Russia will be a little lower (other than at the touristy trap kind of places that the big tours take you too, which charge outrageous prices) you will have a decent sense of what stuff costs.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Regguy

[tully07]

Thank you

[RandB_Toronto]

Here is a site that gives a number of prices in Norway. Not everything you'd want to know, but maybe some idea. It has been updated this month, so is quite recent. I guess you can ask for other countries also -- I am most interested in Norway.

 

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Norway

[tully07]

What a useful website! Thanks. I will bookmark it for future travels.