Money and exchange of currency

The Polish obligatory currency is the polish zloty (PLN). From the years of system tranformation, the PLN holds relatively stable course of dollar and euro. On the market there are banknotes with nominals: 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 PLN, and coins: 1, 2 and 5 PLN, and also 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 gr. The Grosz is one hundreth of zloty.

The currency exchange rates are given by the daily newspapers, internet portals and banks. Informations about currency exchange rates, also these from the past days are available on the web page of The National Bank of Poland: www.nbp.pl, available in Polish and English.

The most safe places to exchange currencies are banks, although they offer lower prices than others, and some of them collect manipulative charges( about 2-3% per transaction). Banks are open from Monday to Friday (average 9.00 to 17.00), and some of them on Saturdays (till 13.00). Better courses are offered in currency exchange offices. It is discouraged to exchange the currencies with outside people (risk of cheat) and in hotels (low courses and high manipulative charges).

The travelers cheques can be exchanged in authorized sale offices (ex. American Express), as well as in some banks. Unfortunately they cannot be exchanged in exchange offices. The popularity of travelers cheques year after year declines.

However the cash points from years is the solid element of Polish reality and their number increases fastly, especially in big cities. It is much more hard to use a cash machine in provincial areas. Ex. While going to the mountains it is preferred to take a suitable amount of money with you.

All the famous debit and credit cards are year after year more generally accepted: Acces/Mastercard, American Express, Diners Club, Eurocard, JCB and most popular in Poland - Visa. Major banks in Poland do pay out cash. The cash points while paying out most often cooperate with Visa and mastercard cards.

By taking these tips into the account - while traveling over Poland, it is recommended to have some cash, alt least the equality of $50.

Source: www.poland.gov.pl