Money, cards and ATMs in Slovakia

The currency

• Slovakia uses the euro and has since 2009. It is not one of the central European countries where you need to change money on arrival.
• The old Slovak koruna is long gone. Anyone offering to change your money into korunas is running a scam on a currency that has not existed for well over a decade.

Cards and cash

• Cards work nearly everywhere, including small shops, cafes and public transport machines. Contactless is standard.
• Carry some cash anyway for mountain huts, small village shops, farmers' markets and the occasional rural bus - the places where a card reader is not a given.
• Tipping is around 10 per cent in restaurants, and rounding up is normal for a coffee or a taxi.

ATMs and the one trap

• Always refuse the machine's offer to charge you in your own currency. Dynamic currency conversion at an ATM or a card terminal costs several per cent, every time, and the machine words the offer to sound helpful. Choose euro and let your own bank convert.
• Use bank ATMs - Slovenska sporitelna, VUB, Tatra banka - rather than the independent machines in tourist areas, which charge their own fee on top.
• Withdraw larger amounts less often if your home bank charges a flat fee per withdrawal.

Cost of living

• Bratislava is not cheap by regional standards and its Old Town is priced for visitors. The rest of the country is markedly cheaper.
• Check the price before you order in an Old Town club. The FCDO's Slovakia advice names overcharging in Bratislava's Old Town clubs specifically.