Travel money
Travel money in Poland: cash or card?
A thoroughly card-first country that still rewards knowing where to change money: city-centre kantors give a genuinely good rate, while Euronet machines and euro-priced menus quietly take several percent.
Polish złoty (PLN, zł) · figures checked against the sources at the foot of this page
Markets, milk bars, small-town shops, church donations, and the occasional stall at a Christmas market.
Everything else, contactless included — Poland adopted cards fast and terminals are everywhere.
A modest float in złoty. Never assume euros will be welcome, or fairly priced when they are.
Euronet machines and paying in euros. Both convert at rates you did not choose.
The money itself
- 10 złBrown
- 20 złViolet
- 50 złBlue
- 100 złGreen
- 200 złYellow-brown
- 500 złBlue-grey
1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 groszy, then 1, 2 and 5 złoty. Small coins still circulate and still get used — prices are not rounded here the way they are in Scandinavia.
The 500 złoty note exists and is awkward: it was introduced relatively recently, machines rarely dispense it, and small businesses are wary of it. Anything above 100 złoty is worth breaking in a supermarket before you need it at a market stall.
Every way to pay, and whether it works for a visitor
Whether a payment method exists in Poland and whether you can use it are different questions. This table answers the second one: no local bank account, no local SIM, no residency.
Visa / Mastercard
WorksAccepted essentially everywhere, contactless included and down to small amounts. Poland moved to cards early and terminals are in places you would not expect them, including market halls and church shops.
Apple Pay / Google Pay
WorksWorks at any contactless terminal, which is nearly all of them, and above the card tap ceiling without a PIN.
Cash (złoty)
WorksAlways accepted and still useful at markets, milk bars and in small towns. Złoty only, though — see the euro row.
BLIK
Residents onlyThe six-digit code generated in a Polish banking app that handles a large share of domestic payments, online and at tills. It needs a Polish bank account, so it is closed to visitors — and everywhere that takes BLIK takes cards too.
Euros
Works, with a catchSome tourist-facing businesses in Kraków and Warsaw will take euros and price the exchange themselves, which costs you several percent. Poland is not in the euro area: pay in złoty.
American Express
Works, with a catchHotels, chains and department stores. Small businesses often not. Fine as a backup, not as your only card.
Cash
Poland is comfortably card-first — contactless arrived early, terminals are ubiquitous and paying by phone for a 9 złoty coffee is entirely normal. Most visitors need much less cash than they expect.
Where cash still helps: outdoor and Christmas markets, milk bars and small local restaurants, church donations, small-town shops and the occasional cloakroom. A couple of hundred złoty covers a trip's worth of that.
What matters more than how much cash you carry is where you get it and in what currency — which is the rest of this page.
Cards
Card acceptance is broad and contactless is standard, with the usual €50-equivalent tap ceiling applying to physical cards but not to phone payments. Terminals are modern and PIN prompts are quick.
The failure mode here is not acceptance but currency. Tourist businesses in the main squares sometimes display prices in euros, and terminals routinely offer to bill you in your home currency. Both are conversions priced by someone other than your bank, and both cost several percent.
Always ask to be charged in złoty, at the till and at the cash machine, and treat a euro price list as a signal to check the arithmetic before you order.
ATMs
Polish bank machines — PKO BP, Pekao, Santander, mBank, Millennium — mostly do not charge foreign cards an access fee, and they are everywhere. That makes withdrawing in Poland cheap if you are deliberate about which machine you use.
Euronet is the machine you will actually see first. It has saturated tourist streets, stations and airports, charges a per-withdrawal fee, and presents dynamic currency conversion as the obvious choice. Between the fee and the rate, using one repeatedly is one of the more expensive habits available here.
Take złoty, decline the conversion, and prefer a bank's own machine — usually a street or two away from the Euronet you were about to use.
Changing money
Poland is the one country in this set where changing cash is genuinely worth doing. Kantors — independent exchange offices — compete openly in city centres, charge no commission and post rates on the door that beat banks and comfortably beat airports.
The distinction is location rather than signage: a kantor in the middle of Kraków's old town or in a Warsaw shopping centre will be competitive, while one at the airport or immediately beside a major sight often is not. Compare two before you commit, and count the money before you walk away.
Do not change money in a hotel, and do not accept a shop's own euro conversion. Either withdraw złoty from a bank machine or use a kantor a few streets in from the tourist crowd.
Costs that are not the price
Tipping is around 10%
More expected here than in Scandinavia and less than in North America: 10% in a restaurant if service was good, rounding up in a bar or taxi. Note the local trap — saying dziękuję as you hand over money is sometimes taken to mean keep the change.
Euro prices are a markup
A menu or a shop pricing in euros is applying its own exchange rate, typically several percent worse than the market. Ask for the złoty price and pay in złoty.
Cloakrooms and toilets charge
Restaurants, clubs and museums often run a mandatory cloakroom for a few złoty, and station and shopping-centre toilets charge too. Small coins earn their place in your pocket.
You can reclaim VAT if you live outside the EU
Minimum spend is 200 złoty from a single seller, and Poland's TAX FREE system has been electronic since 2022 — the form is issued digitally and validated at the border on the way out. VAT is 23% on most goods, less after the operator's cut.
Paying for transport
Buy on board, by card
Warsaw and Kraków have ticket machines on trams and buses that take cards and only cards — no cash, and no buying from the driver. Stop and station machines take both. Validate the ticket when you board if it is not already timestamped.
Trains are cheap and better booked ahead
PKP Intercity sells online and in its app by card, and advance fares on the fast Kraków–Warsaw–Gdańsk routes are much cheaper than walk-up. Regional trains are inexpensive enough that it hardly matters.
Taxis and ride apps
Use an app rather than a rank, particularly outside stations and airports where unmetered fares are a known problem. App rides settle by card and quote the fare before you accept.
What you may carry in and out
Cash payment cap
Cash payments between businesses are capped at 15,000 złoty. Consumer payments are not limited in the same way, so this is a rule you are unlikely to meet as a visitor.
Carrying cash across the EU border
€10,000 or the equivalent in złoty entering or leaving the European Union has to be declared to customs. Movement within the EU needs no declaration, though Poland's eastern border is an external EU frontier where this is enforced.
Common questions about money in Poland
Should I use euros or złoty in Poland?
Złoty. Poland is not in the euro area, and the tourist businesses that accept euros set their own exchange rate — usually several percent worse than the market. Pay in złoty by card, or change money at a kantor.
What is a kantor and are the rates good?
An independent exchange office, and yes — unusually for Europe, changing cash in Poland can be genuinely competitive. City-centre kantors charge no commission and post their rates publicly, beating banks and airport counters. Ones at airports or directly beside major sights are the exception, so walk a few streets first.
Are Euronet ATMs in Poland worth avoiding?
Yes where you have a choice. Euronet charges 5–15 złoty per withdrawal and pushes dynamic currency conversion, while machines belonging to Polish banks — PKO BP, Pekao, Santander, mBank — usually charge no access fee at all. Always choose to be billed in złoty.
Can tourists use BLIK?
No. BLIK codes are generated in a Polish banking app and need a Polish bank account. It handles a large share of Polish payments, but everywhere that accepts it also accepts cards.
Do I need cash in Poland?
Not much. Cards work almost everywhere including small purchases. Keep some złoty for markets, milk bars, small-town shops, cloakrooms and paid toilets.
How much should I tip in Poland?
Around 10% in a restaurant for good service, and rounding up elsewhere. One local quirk: saying thank you as you hand over cash or a card can be read as telling the server to keep the change, so state the amount you want to pay instead.
Can I pay by card on Warsaw or Kraków trams?
Yes — the on-board machines take cards only, and there is no buying from the driver. Machines at stops and stations take cash as well. Validate your ticket as you board unless it printed with a timestamp.
Where these figures come from
Checked against the following on . Fees and thresholds move; where a figure varies by bank or by machine, this page gives the range rather than inventing a single number.