You've paid your Europamundo tour in Rands. Now you need to spend money on the ground, lunches, museum entries, optional excursions, drinks, shopping. What's the best way to actually do that without losing R500 per transaction to bad conversion rates?
Here's the 2026 playbook, with what actually works.
The four payment methods, ranked
1. A travel card or multi-currency card (best for daily spend)
Brands like Mastercard Travel Money, FNB Multi-Currency Cash Passport, and the standard Capitec/Investec linked travel cards let you load Euros (or other currencies) at competitive rates before you fly. You tap or swipe like a normal card. The conversion is locked at load time.
Best for: 80% of your daily spending. Most reliable, lowest fees, accepted nearly everywhere in Europe.
2. Your normal SA credit card
Visa or Mastercard credit cards work in Europe. The card company will charge you a foreign transaction fee (typically 2 to 3.5%) on top of the daily conversion rate. Not the cheapest option, but reliable and useful as a backup.
Best for: hotel deposits, large emergency purchases, anywhere the travel card is declined.
3. Cash, brought from home
Buy €200 to €400 from your SA bank before flying. Use it for tips, market stalls, public toilets in some countries, and small cash-only restaurants. Don't bring more than €500 in cash unless you have a specific reason, it's a liability if lost.
4. Cash withdrawal abroad (worst option)
Using your SA debit card at a European ATM works but you'll pay R50 to R100 per withdrawal plus a conversion penalty. Use only if you've run out of card balance.
What to avoid
- Airport currency exchange. The worst rates in Europe. Avoid both at OR Tambo and at the European airport.
- Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). When a card terminal asks "would you like to pay in Rands or Euro?", ALWAYS choose Euro. The Rand option locks in a terrible rate.
- Tipping in dollars or pounds. Tip in the local currency. Don't be that South African.
How much cash on a typical day
On a Europamundo tour, your daily on-ground spend covers lunches, occasional dinners, optional excursions, drinks, and small purchases. Plan for:
- Lunches: €15 to €25 per person per day
- Dinner on free nights: €25 to €50 per person
- Optional excursions: €25 to €85 per excursion (varies)
- Drinks at meals: €15 to €25 per day
- Shopping/souvenirs: variable
For a 14-day Italy tour, budget €1,500 to €2,500 per person on top of the prepaid tour cost. That's roughly R32,000 to R55,000.
End-of-tour tips
Europamundo expects (but does not include) tips for the Tour Director and the driver at the end of the tour. The customary rate is €4 to €6 per person per day for the Tour Director, €2 to €3 per person per day for the driver. For a 14-day tour, that's about €85 to €125 per person total. Pay in cash, in an envelope, on the last evening.
City guides who do a single morning tour are tipped €2 to €3 per person, paid on the day.
The Rand-Euro relationship
The Rand has been volatile against the Euro throughout 2025 to 2026. Your tour cost is locked in Rands at booking, which protects the biggest expense. But daily spending happens at real-time rates. Load your travel card when the Rand is strong, even saving 5% on R40,000 of daily spend is R2,000 back in your pocket.
Card declines abroad
Before flying, tell your bank you're travelling, most South African banks let you do this via the app. Even with notification, occasional fraud blocks happen on European transactions. Carry at least two cards from different banks plus some cash as backup.
The phone-as-wallet angle
Apple Pay and Google Pay work across most of Europe in 2026. If your SA bank supports them (most do now), you can pay by tapping your phone, no card needed at the terminal. This is genuinely the easiest payment method for under-€50 transactions.
The currency in countries that aren't Euro
UK uses GBP. Hungary uses forint. Czech Republic uses koruna. Switzerland uses CHF. Norway and Sweden use kroner. If your tour includes any of these, load the relevant currency on your travel card before going, converting Euro to forint locally is expensive.
Read our tipping and meals guide for the on-tour eating side. For visa requirements, our Schengen 2026 guide covers the documentation. Browse Europe tours.
