Travel With Culture Trip: Do I Need to Bring Local Currency With Me?

First and foremost, let’s talk about the destination you’re travelling to, as the amount of cash you’ll likely need will differ from place to place. Take the United States, for example, where cash is very much still king – almost 30% of all transactions take place this way. Yes, you’ll be able to use credit cards and contactless payment methods almost everywhere, especially in the major cities, but you’ll also want to bring a wad of small bills with you for small purchases and tips.

Cross the border into Canada, however, and things couldn’t be more different. In a 2021 ranking of cashless countries by money.co.uk, Canada came out on top. With contactless payment limits of up to CAD $250 and around 83% of the population owning a credit card, you’ll find your cash is harder to spend. While most of Europe is now cashless, too – with a contactless payment limit set at EUR 50 across the board – there are some surprising destinations that are still more cash-reliant, including Spain, Portugal and, further afield, Japan.

As well as the destination, the type of holiday you take – from resort-based to city break or rural escape – will dictate your reliance on foreign currency. Take our own five-day La Vida Local small-group trip to Mexico City, for example. With an emphasis on delving into the Mexican capital’s local side, the itinerary includes picking your way through an authentic street food market – an event you’ll definitely want to keep some pesos handy for. Likewise, our 13-day Arabian Nights trip to Morocco will see you haggling for handcrafted souvenirs in the medinas of Fez and Marrakech – something that can, and should, only be done with cash.

At the other end of the spectrum, there’s our Swim Wild, Sip Cider and Meditate trip to the UK’s Thames Valley – where you’ll be put up in a gorgeous country house hotel for the entirety of your trip. With the UK among Europe’s top five cashless economic infrastructures, you can leave your quid and coppers behind.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that you may also want to tip local guides or servers in restaurants – and if at any point during your trip you want to disappear and do your own thing, you may well need some loose change or bills to get yourself from A to B – whether by bus, train, taxi or tuk-tuk.

Today, there are more ways to pay for a meal out abroad than there are menu items at a Barcelona tapas bar. With cashless – and, indeed, contactless – payment methods becoming ever more widely adopted, the choice is yours. Make use of your domestic debit and credit cards, your go-to e-wallet, or prepaid currency cards – which have the benefit of saving you transaction fees.

Online-only banks, such as Monzo, also boast transaction fee-free payments and ATM withdrawals. However, bringing foreign currency with you in the form of cash has its advantages: you won’t have the anxiety of your bank card being frozen or cancelled for making what your bank might determine to be an “unusual” transaction. It’s not subject to glitches or the battery life of your phone – or watch – as an e-wallet might be. And, perhaps most significantly of all, you’re statistically likely to overspend less when you’re paying in cash than by any other payment method.