Currency
Romania's national currency is the Lei (pronounced lay). There is approx 5 Lei to the pound. Coins (our pence) are called Bani
You cannot obtain Lei outside of Romania - so don't go down to your local Post Office expecting to change any money in advance! There are lots of exchange booths in all the major Romanian cities and at the airport, however don't exchange any money at the airport as you will get very poor rates of exchange compared to elsewhere.
To confuse you even more, Romania are currently in the process of a devaluation having recently lost 4 0's of the Lei. So you may still see some prices or old notes displaying the old Lei which was worth 50,000 to the pound! Both currencies are being used in parallel until the old Lei finally gets phased out at the end of 2006
Travellers cheques can be cashed at banks but aren't widely accepted so we would recommend taking only currency. There are many cashpoints/ATM's in larger towns that can be used to withdraw Lei, although remember all UK banks (apart from Nationwide) charge a fee (usually £1.50) for each foreign cash withdrawal
Credit cards are accepted in most larger shops in towns; although their use is growing, it's still limited.
