Carry both, and expect the split to be different from home. Cards handle hotels, restaurants, museums and anything with a counter. Cash handles taxis, markets, tips, small cafés, entrance fees at rural sites and everything in a country whose economy runs on it. The mistake is deciding in advance that one of them will be enough.
The short version
- Cards for large and formal, cash for small and local. That split holds almost everywhere.
- 26 of the 211 destinations the U.S. State Department covers are described as largely cash economies or as not widely accepting cards.
- Card acceptance is uneven within a country, not just between countries. A capital is not the countryside.
- Always have enough cash for the day, even in a card-friendly place.
- Never rely on a single card. Two, from different networks, in different places.
What You Need to Know
The useful question is not "does this country take cards" but "does the specific thing I am about to buy take cards". A destination can have contactless payment in every city restaurant and a cash-only ticket office at the site you have traveled to see.
What cards are good for
- Hotels, larger restaurants, museums, department stores and anything with a fixed counter.
- Larger amounts, where carrying the equivalent in notes would be uncomfortable.
- A record of what you spent, which matters if you are reconciling a group budget.
- A dispute process if something is charged wrongly.
What cash is good for
- Taxis, markets, tips, street food, small cafés, rural entrance fees, and anywhere a card machine would need a connection it does not have.
- Bargaining, where producing a card ends the conversation.
- Places where a card surcharge is added, which is common in small businesses.
- Arrival, before you have found a working ATM.
Where cash is not optional
In the State Department’s country information, 26 destinations are described as operating largely on cash or as not widely accepting cards. That is roughly one in eight, and it includes places whose hotels take cards perfectly well, which is how travelers form the wrong impression. Read the entry for your own destination rather than generalizing from the region.
What to Do Before Your Trip
- Look up how card-friendly your destination actually is, and whether that changes outside the main city.
- Check whether your card has a foreign transaction fee, and take the one that does not.
- Take a second card from a different network, since acceptance differs between them in some countries.
- Plan an arrival amount in cash for a taxi, a meal and a tip.
- Ask whether the specific things on your itinerary take cards: the site entrance, the boat, the internal flight, the tips.
- Carry small notes. Nobody has change for a large one, anywhere.
Traveling with a group? Twenty people all needing an ATM on the first morning is a scheduling problem, and a group that assumed cards would work is a slower group at every market and tip.
Explore group travel planningImportant Considerations
Small notes are the whole game
The commonest cash problem abroad is not having enough money, it is having the wrong denominations. Taxis, tips, market stalls and small cafés frequently cannot break a large note, and being unable to pay with money you are holding is a peculiar kind of stuck. Break large notes at hotels and larger shops deliberately.
Card surcharges and minimums
Small businesses in many countries add a percentage for card payment or set a minimum spend. Neither is unusual and neither is worth an argument; it is a reason to have cash for small purchases rather than a reason to complain about the card machine.
Networks are not interchangeable
Acceptance varies by network as well as by country, and a card that works everywhere at home can be the one nobody takes. Two cards on different networks is a cheap way to remove that risk entirely.
Carrying cash safely
Split it. Some in a wallet, some in a different bag, some left in the accommodation safe. Carry a day’s spending on you rather than a week’s. That is not about any particular destination being dangerous; it is about a single loss not being total.
Tips for Group Travelers
- Tell the group the cash-versus-card picture for the destination in the pre-departure note, with examples from the itinerary.
- Say what will need cash: tips, market visits, site entrances, the boat, the local guide.
- Build one ATM stop into the first day rather than leaving twenty people to find their own.
- Remind travelers to bring small notes and to break large ones early.
- Do not hold the group’s cash centrally beyond an agreed shared fund.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming cards work everywhere because they worked at the hotel.
- Assuming cash is unnecessary in a modern city with contactless payment.
- Carrying only large notes.
- One card, one wallet.
- Carrying a week’s cash on you instead of a day’s.
- Being surprised by a card surcharge and paying it without noticing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use cash or a card abroad?
Both. Cards for hotels, restaurants, museums and larger purchases; cash for taxis, markets, tips, small cafés and rural entrance fees. That split holds in almost every country, and the balance shifts towards cash the further you get from a capital city.
Which countries still need cash?
More than travelers expect. 26 of the 211 destinations in the State Department’s country information are described as running largely on cash or as not widely accepting cards. Card acceptance also varies within a country, so check the entry for your specific destination rather than assuming from the region.
Will I be charged extra for using a card?
Sometimes, by the merchant, as a surcharge or a minimum spend, and separately by your own issuer as a foreign transaction fee. The first is local and normal; the second is avoidable by choosing the right card. Foreign transaction fees sets out all four charges.
Is it safe to carry cash?
In most places, yes, in sensible amounts. Carry a day’s spending rather than a week’s, split it between a wallet, a bag and the accommodation safe, and keep large notes separate from the ones you are handing over. The aim is that a single loss is not a total one.
Do I need two cards?
Yes, and preferably on different networks and kept in different places. The reasons are ordinary: a fraud block, a swallowed card, a machine that will not read a chip, or a country where one network is simply not accepted. A second card turns each of those from a crisis into an inconvenience.
Related Travel Tips
- Money, currency and payments, the section this guide belongs to.
- How Much Cash Should You Carry? The amount, worked out properly.
- Using ATMs Abroad. Where the cash comes from.
- Credit Card Security Abroad. Keeping the card working.
Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel
Which parts of an itinerary need cash is a question about the itinerary, not the country: the rural site, the local guide, the boat, the tips. LABUSA Travel tells travelers where the cash days are before they arrive with a card and good intentions.
Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or browse our destination guides for a specific country.
Verify Before You Travel
Card acceptance, surcharges and fees are set by merchants, networks and your own issuer, and they change. Confirm your card’s terms with the issuer before you travel. Country-level information on cash economies and card acceptance is published per destination by the U.S. Department of State. This page is general guidance, not financial advice.
Travel requirements, health guidance and safety conditions can change. Always confirm current requirements with the appropriate government or official authority before departure.