Note about currency:
In Medjugorje, which is in Bosnia and Heregovina everyone accepts the euro...
In Dubrovnik, which is in Croatia, the official currency is the Croatian Kuna,
though the euro is accepted in quite a few places....
Please read more below to complete your total confusion ..
as some places in Medjugorje also accept the dollar
Welcome to the area! lol!....
Croatian Currency
Currency from
Bosnia and Herzegovina
To check the Croatian and Bosnia-Herzegovina currency exchange rate, just press on the link below that says:
HRK Croatian Kuna and/or Bosnia-Herzegovina Convertible Mark
Money in Medjugorje
(taken from a local website in Medjugorje)
You can use American dollars, and Euros.
Credit cards are accepted at a few gift shops/restaurants.
We suggest carrying no higher denomination than $20.
We suggest bringing $20 - $30 in $1 dollar bills for lunches, etc.
Please be sure money is free of rips, tears, and missing corners.
U.S. dollars are accepted in Medjugorje. We recommend against travelers checks.
Plan to use your credit card only for emergencies. Many shops will not accept credit cards.
There are a couple of local banks, and ATM, in Medjugorje
which you can use to get emergency cash from your credit card.
But this cash will be in local currency and not dollars.
Money in Croatia – The Croatian Kuna
The Croatian currency is the Kuna (not the Euro!), which is divided into 100 lipas.
(The word ‘Kuna’ means marten, a weasel-like animal, whose fur Croats used as
payment many centuries ago. The word ‘lipa’ means lime tree, but we don’t know
the connection here!) When listed as a price, Kuna is abbreviated to Kn.
The Kuna comes in dominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 as notes
and 1, 2, 5 and 25 (25 Kn being largely commemorative) as coins. The Lipa comes
in coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50. In Croatian, the plural of Kuna is Kune
(pronounced ‘koo-neh’), although it is fine to pluralise it – as many outside of
the country do – to Kunas.
Obtaining Kunas prior to your visit to Croatia
The easiest way is to contact your bank prior to your
trip to Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina...just make sure you find out how
long it will take to order the currency.
You can also exchange money at airports....the debate
as to which is cheaper continues!
Money in Croatia – ATMs
Alternatively, you may not see the need to purchase Croatian Kunas prior
to your trip – which is perfectly understandable. In this case, our first piece
of advice would be to take a bank card/cash card instead – this avoids the
need to travel with large-ish amounts of cash, and ATMs are readily available
in all resorts, towns and cities in Croatia, in banks, supermarkets, airports
and elsewhere.
As a foreign card is inserted into the machine, you will most likely be presented
you with a choice of languages – no need to navigate through Croatian-language
menus. The exchange rate you’ll receive will be fairly good, and there may only be
a small service charge, which depends on your bank back home – you may want
to check before travelling. Local banks may also charge an operating fee
on top of this.
If you travel abroad a fair bit, you may like to see if you can find a
bank in your home country that will provide you with a debit card that doesn’t incur charges (or incurs only very low charges) when used aboard.
Are Euros accepted in Croatia?
You will find that you can pay for some items – private accommodation,
taxis, some small restaurants – in Euros. Do note that this is entirely on an
unofficial basis; the Euro is NOT an official currency and NO business/individual
is required to accept them as payment. (It is just the case that some businesses,
particularly small/family-run ones are happy to receive Euros – this probably harks
back to the days of Yugoslavia when people were happier “holding” Deutschmarks
rather than the unstable Yugoslav Dinar.)
So why are some prices in Croatia quoted in Euros?
You may well find that prices in some accommodation places, restaurants and
elsewhere quoted in Euros. This is purely because so many visitors to Croatia are
from Euro-using countries, and some business owners display Euro prices to make
it easier for them. Likewise, whatever your currency, you may have a rough idea
of what its exchange rate against the Euro is – but you’re unlikely to know
what the exchange rate against the Kuna is!
Bosnia-Herzegovina’s currency
is the Convertible Mark (BAM), with one Mark being made up of 100 fennig. Coins come in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 Fennigs and 1, 2 and 5 Marka,
while banknotes are available in denominations of
1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Marka.
Money in Mostar
Most of the shops and restaurants in all the larger cities such as Mostar and Sarejevo
accept credit/debit cards.