Croatia adopts the euro: what changes for travellers in 2023

A currency change that was a long time coming

Croatia officially adopted the euro on 1 January 2023, replacing the kuna at a fixed exchange rate of 7.53450 kuna per euro. The transition had been in preparation for several years — Croatia joined the EU in 2013, entered the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (the formal waiting room for eurozone entry) in 2020, and spent 2022 completing the convergence criteria. The date was confirmed in the summer of 2022 and the transition itself proceeded smoothly by the standards of currency changeovers.

For Croatian residents, the shift had been a source of some debate: the kuna, introduced in 1994 at the end of the 1991–1995 war, had acquired emotional significance beyond its monetary function. For visitors to Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast, the practical implications were almost entirely positive.

What actually changed on 1 January

Prices in Croatia are now quoted in euros. Cash machines dispense euros. Restaurants, hotels, tour operators, and shops all transact in euros. The mental arithmetic that characterised most previous visitors’ experience — dividing kuna by roughly 7.5 to get an approximate euro equivalent — is no longer necessary.

The parallel use period, during which both kuna cash and euro cash were accepted and kuna could be changed at any bank branch at the official rate, ran for the first two weeks of January 2023. Since then, the kuna has ceased to be legal tender, though it can still be exchanged at Croatian National Bank branches and some commercial banks without a time limit.

For visitors arriving from now on: the euro is the only currency in use. No cash exchange into kuna, no calculator apps, no mental division. Your EU bank card works as it does in France or Germany. Your non-EU bank card works as it does elsewhere in the eurozone.

Prices: did they round up?

This was the major question in Croatia during the run-up to the changeover, and Croatian consumer protection authorities did significant work on it. The official position was that prices were to be converted at the exact 7.53450 rate; rounding was permitted only to the nearest cent. Businesses were required to show both kuna and euro prices on menus and labels throughout 2022.

Anecdotally — and based on our own tracking of prices at specific Dubrovnik venues across multiple visits — the changeover did not produce a sharp general price increase. Some individual prices rounded modestly upward; others stayed flat or even fell slightly in euro terms. The broader context of European inflation in 2022–2023 means that prices across the region increased, but the euro adoption itself was not the primary driver.

For comparative context: a coffee at a mid-range café in the Old Town that cost 15–18 kuna in summer 2022 (approximately €2.00–2.40) was pricing at €2.50–3.00 by early 2023. That increase is in line with general European café inflation rather than conversion opportunism.

ATMs and cards

Croatia’s ATM infrastructure is well-developed in tourist areas. Most machines now dispense €10, €20, and €50 notes. The practical advice for card users has simplified: use your normal eurozone-capable card or a travel card that avoids foreign transaction fees. There is no longer a benefit to carrying kuna specifically obtained at the airport exchange desk on arrival.

The standard caution about ATMs operated by private (non-bank) operators remains: machines in tourist areas often offer “dynamic currency conversion” — the option to pay in your home currency rather than euros. Always decline this option; the exchange rates applied are unfavourable.

Tipping

Tipping practice in Dubrovnik has not changed materially with the currency. Service charges are not generally included in Croatian restaurant bills (unlike in some other countries), and tipping is customary at roughly 10–15% for a restaurant meal if you are happy with the service. Coffee and casual drinks: rounding up to the nearest euro is common. Taxi rides: rounding up is fine.

The practical effect of the euro adoption is that the maths is now simpler. Ten percent of a €25 dinner bill is €2.50. Previously it was 10% of a 188.36 kuna bill, which most people were not calculating accurately.

Neighbours: Montenegro and Bosnia

A note worth making for visitors combining Dubrovnik with regional travel: Montenegro has used the euro since 2002 (unilaterally, without being in the eurozone formally). Bosnia-Herzegovina uses the convertible mark (BAM), which is pegged to the euro at exactly 1.95583 BAM per euro. Both neighbouring currencies interact cleanly with the euro in practice — ATMs in Bosnia dispense BAM but accept euro-denominated cards; Montenegrin prices are in euros.

For the day trip to Mostar or Montenegro, the currency situation is straightforward: euros work everywhere for basic transactions, though having some local currency in Bosnia is useful for smaller purchases and markets.

The bigger picture

Croatia’s eurozone entry matters beyond the practical traveller implications. It signals the country’s continued European integration, makes cross-border trade and investment easier, and removes the currency risk that had complicated some investment decisions. For the Dubrovnik tourism industry, it simplifies pricing for the majority-European visitor base that has always been the dominant market.

For the visitor arriving now: you can plan a trip to Dubrovnik with the same currency assumptions you would bring to any eurozone destination. The conversion arithmetic is gone. The city is otherwise the same: the walls are still the same height, the Stradun is still the same length, and the coffee is still best drunk at 6:00 am when the street is empty and the light is doing its best work.