I will be going on the Rhine Christmas market tour. Does anyone know if the market vendors will take credit - or is it cash only? Looking forward to it either way!
I will be going on the Rhine Christmas market tour. Does anyone know if the market vendors will take credit - or is it cash only? Looking forward to it either way!
According to posts in the XMAS Mkts forum archive, most vendors do not take credit, but the larger ones and those associated with brick and mortar stores do. Remember, the markets are all in tourist towns and cities, so ATMs should be plentiful. Just be careful where you withdraw and how you carry cash!
When I did this tour in 2015, I bought about an equal number of items in small shops in the towns and the market stalls. Only a few stalls said they only took cash...the bigger issue is if they have a swipe machine for your card since they use chip and pin in Europe and while all of my credit cards have chips, they don't need pin numbers to use.
However, if you want to indulge in the gluwein (mulled wine), hot orange juice or hot chocolate, etc., most of those stalls only took cash. I didn't much like the wine, but I wanted a souvenir mug from each market, so I bought the wine or whatever and usually threw it out and kept the cups. If you just want the wine, they will usually give you a refund if you bring back the mug.
Have fun! This was one of my favorite Tauck tours. I'm doing the Danube Christmas Markets this year.
Comments
According to posts in the XMAS Mkts forum archive, most vendors do not take credit, but the larger ones and those associated with brick and mortar stores do. Remember, the markets are all in tourist towns and cities, so ATMs should be plentiful. Just be careful where you withdraw and how you carry cash!
However, if you want to indulge in the gluwein (mulled wine), hot orange juice or hot chocolate, etc., most of those stalls only took cash. I didn't much like the wine, but I wanted a souvenir mug from each market, so I bought the wine or whatever and usually threw it out and kept the cups. If you just want the wine, they will usually give you a refund if you bring back the mug.
Have fun! This was one of my favorite Tauck tours. I'm doing the Danube Christmas Markets this year.