Money for Greek Island Holiday

[EthelMcUnready]

As the title suggests, we are off to a Greek Island in a couple of weeks. 7 nights, self catering apartment.

So how would you take your money?

I'm not asking how much etc (as obviously that is how long is a piece of string!) but in what form do you take your spending money.

Last year we took the lot in Euros cash ~ but my colleague says she always takes a Resolut Card (but she tends to go to the States/Portugal/Mainland Spain). Another friend says she takes about £100 Stirling, £100 in local currency and the rest on her credit card... (she goes to Egypt generally).
I may sound ridiculous but I worry that cards particularly one like Resolut, wouldn't be accepted everywhere? But obviously all that cash is a bit of a security risk too...

How do all you savvy travellers take your money?

Thank you in advance!

I have (and will next week) put most spending on my debit/credit cards with the best terms for foreign exchange. Mine are Chase (linked to ApplePay) and a Halifax CC. I’ll probably carry enough cash to cover one meal in case a machine goes down but in my experience contactless is nearly everywhere in Greece these days. I think the only place that was truly cash only recently a monastery selling honey and wine right up in the hills!

Regular visitor as Dsis lives in Greece.
I take all Euros and my debit card for emergencies.
The Greeks prefer cash rather than card due to the bank charges.
I either carry my cash or leave it in the room safe, never had a problem.

We both have Halifax Clarity credit cards, but also would take around €200 each with us, just in case.

The Greeks prefer cash.
So just take a bunch of euros and a card for emergencies. I go there several times a year and some places just don't take cards at all (saying their POS doesn't work) .

We’re in Greece now and there are significantly more card machines on the islands now, versus five years ago.

We took about 50% of our spending money as cash, and have used no-overseas fees debit/credit cards for larger purchases (eg supermarket shop as we’ve been self catering for a few days).

Halifax clarity card. They don’t charge you like debit cards. And a bit of cash/euros.

Everywhere is supposed to take card now and that's what we mostly use (Halifax). If you need cash use a cashpoint from a bank which is cheaper. Usually take around €300 in cash for 14 nights

We are in Crete at the moment. We initially took €100 in cash and have used our debit card to pay for meals out etc. We've just drawn out another €100 as we seem to have gone through our cash quicker than we expected but I think this will see us through until we leave in a week's time.

For the last 30 years I have just done what I do at home in the UK when I need money to spend… take it out of ATMs as and when I need it.

We always take all cash. Use the safe usually. Or lock money in our case. Never had a problem.

I have stayed in two places where the safe had been ripped out.

Unlucky, but we try to go three times a year and have done for the last 8 years or so and never had a problem always taken cash. Well years ago we used to take travellers checks 😂

Starling card …..I’ve used it round the world ….never had an issue

Wise card. It's accepted everywhere where any other visa card is accepted.

Just back from two weeks on fairly remote island and did pretty much everything on cards. You really don’t need cash any more.

I use Monzo - free, opt to pay in euros for best rate - and Euros in cash for tips.

Just returned from 2 weeks in Greece and used 10 euros in cash the whole time - for the buses.

Every other time I used my hsbc global debit linked to Apple Pay. So easy - I love it.

I have been in Greece for 3 weeks just now. Used my Revolut and Starling cards. I haven't taken any cash out at all. I travelled to different places and I found no issues at all using my cards.

We’ve just got back from travelling a few Greek islands and averaged at €240 per day. Couple in late 30s staying on a B&B basis.

Misread as ‘how much’ not ‘how’. So, we used a Chase account and paid for everything via Apple Pay.

We probably do about half and half cash in euros and euros on our Post Office Travel Money Card (which is basically like a contactless Visa card).

We normally take 500 Euro and use a Revolut card. You can easily top them up with the App. It also automatically tells you each transaction in pounds so it's really easy to keep an eye on what you're spending. We avoid using debit cards especially as you get charged, same with credit cards too.

In Corfu cash is king. They didn't seem to like cards!

Same in Crete. The card machines seemed to be 'broken' in a few places
We took about £100 in cash which we used mainly for taxis, tips, small purchases but did end up changing a bit more,

My friend swears by it but as PP have said, it may not be so widely accepted on a smaller Greek island as it is in say, Spain or the States...
(I've downloaded one anyway 😉)
Thank you for replying x

Are you in mainland Greece or a smaller island?