2019 saw the arrival of ‘contactless’ payments hitting in Abruzzo’s supermarkets, bigger restaurants and petrol stations which is fantastic for those of us who hate carrying cash!  However to be on the safe side it is always best to still carry some Euros!

You don’t want to find yourself in the scenario of having a delicious dinner at an agriturismo and afterwards being told they don’t accept payment by card or that their card reader is down  It’s not unusual to drive to the local ATM, find that the ‘Link’ network is down and then having to drive kilometres to find another live ATM in order to pay for your meal!  Mountains mean that you don’t always travel as the eagle flies and that journey can take longer than you think!  It is not just the deep countryside where this happens, I’ve has the same thing happen in cities like Chieti and towns like Giulianova.