Romania money currency

Romania is part of the European Union since 2007 but you should not expect to pay in Euro.

Although the majority of your holiday can be pre-payed in Euro, as soon as you enter Romania you should use the Romanian Currency.

What currency does Romania use?

The official Romanian money is the leu (lei for plural) and here is an amusing fact: leu implies lion Romanian but you will likewise hear or see the word RON.

It essentially means the very same point as RON is the New Romanian Leu. In 2005 Romania had a financial reform as well as exchanged the old leu (ROL) with the new leu (RON).

Romania money currency

1RON equates to 10.000 ROL so primarily, we cut off four zeros because it was getting crazy with huge sums of money.

It was in some way hard transition for Romanians, yet maintaining the old design of the banknotes was a good fact as helped the people using lei. Old individuals still refer to rates in the old leu yet everyone else makes use of the new money.

The leu or RON is separated right into bani (ban for single; they essentially convert to money); a leu has 100 bani.

How does Leu look like?

Now that you know what currency does Romania use, let’s move forward and see how does leu look like.

Romanian money is available both in banknotes form as well as coins. And when I state banknotes do not think of dollars. No, the Romania money currency which is leu can be found in plastic and are quite long-lasting as well as hard to tear. They made the switch in the communist era both by altering the coins from lightweight aluminium to alloys.

Banknotes are available in values of 1 leu, 5 lei, 10 lei, 50 lei, 100 lei, 200 and 500 lei. Coins in 1ban, 5 bani, 10 bani as well as 50 bani.

The worth of the coins is fairly reduced and also much like everywhere else individuals tend to avoid them. However, having with you some 50 bani coins will certainly help you a lot as you need it to get a cart at the grocery store or to purchase various things at the vending makers.

What currency does Romania use

The banknotes are very easy to differentiate, each bears one distinct colour and also feature different Romanian poets, developers, composers and also political individuals. On the back, they feature renowned Romanian landmarks.

As an instance, the  Romania money currency of 1 leu banknote includes Nicolaie Iorga, previous prime-minister, poet, literary critic, historian and also on the back it features the Basilica from Curtea de Arges, the Romanian Royal family members tomb.

The five bouquet banknote has George Enescu, renowned Romanian author, and The Romanian Athenaeum, a structure that can be seen by taking a walk down Victoriei Avenue in Bucharest.

These are the new essentials you have to pack for your trip

Exchange rates leu to Euro and Leu to USD

A Euro is roughly 4.85 lei, as well as 1 dollar, is 4 lei. Foreign currency like Euro or USD is very easy to exchange especially at bank offices or exchange offices from the main cities of Romania.

The currency exchange rates are communicated by the BNR, National Bank of Romania and this should be your reference when looking to exchange money in Romania.

This is the national bank of Romania that provides the lei, establishes the monetary policy, holds the currency books and manages the exchange rate. The structure itself can be photographed in the Old Town, right in the centre of the beautiful city of Bucharest.

How to get Romania money currency

There are many exchange spots throughout major cities however it is recommended to be extremely attentive with the ones in tourist crowded places.

Check first the central bank known as BNR exchange rate to see if it’s similar to the one from the exchange office and also keep an eye out to have 0% commission. Otherwise, it would be better to exchange your cash at a bank or withdraw it from an atm.

All major cities of Romania are extremely traveller-friendly as well as have a lot of Atm machines, exchange offices and areas where you can pay with a credit or debit card.

Yet if you plan to visit Romania countryside, visiting remote villages and not tourist hotels, then you should consider taking with you some cash.

In small town and villages, it is pretty complicated to find ATMs not to mention paying with a credit card. On the other hand, a bit of cash will certainly get you fresh products straight from the peasants’ yards.

So, to sum up, and answer to your question about what currency does Romania use I would tell you that the Romania money currency is Leu plural Lei and that 1 euro= 4. 85 lei and 1 USD = 4 Lei.