Tried to use my Visa and Mastercard in various german supermarkets and they were always refused. I found out that only debit cards are accepted although I didnt try mine. Fortunately I always had cash with me.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
There are only a couple of German Supermarket groups that accept credit cards one being REWE and the other being Wasgau in my experience of touring Germany. I have so far failed to get my bank card to be accepted when I have tried. One supermarket we went to even had a note on the door in English apologising for the fact that they did not accept credit cards.
Quote: Originally posted by David Klyne on 12/4/2010
I have so far failed to get my bank card to be accepted when I have tried. One supermarket we went to even had a note on the door in English apologising for the fact that they did not accept credit cards.
I live in the Netherlands, close enough to Germany that we occasionally drive there for shopping for a change, and all the supermarkets in the first town over the border have these notices, only in Dutch.
And it's still quite common for smaller German businesses (restaurants, hotels, campsites) to refuse all plastic altogether. It was the Germans that insisted on the EUR 500 note, after all...
Yes, this came up in an earlier thread (or two). We found that most stores and a lot of restaurants wouldn't take cards (credit or debit) especially VISA. My son lives there and says that Germans have their own European credit cards which are taken - I've not found anything about these.
The other thing to note is that ATMs are not found on every street corner (they're commonly indoors) so it's as well to keep a reserve of cash on you.