Yes: Most hotels, restaurants and supermarkets in Barbados will accept international credit and debit cards for payments. Some smaller restaurants, bars and vendors may only accept cash. This is especially the case in the areas away from Bridgetown and the main tourist areas.

If you plan to use your credit or debit card for payments in Barbados, make sure to activate ‘swipe and sign’ payments. Most UK cards including Revolut cards have this feature not activated by default. This will result in your card payments being declined.

When paying by card in Barbados, be aware of currency conversion fees and bank fees for card payments abroad. ATM withdrawals in Barbados will also incur costs, including currency conversion fees. Your bank’s BBD to GBP exchange rate may be quite bad. This is how banks make money.

Before using your bank card for payments in the Caribbean it’s certainly a good idea to contact your bank. This will avoid your card becoming blocked due to international transactions that your bank may find suspicious or fraudulent.

We recommend that you take Barbados Dollars cash along on your trip to Barbados. Cash remains a popular and widely used payment method in Barbados and some vendors will only accept cash payments.

Examples include taxi drivers, street and beach vendors, smaller restaurants and bars, and vendors on local markets such as Cheapside Street Market in Bridgetown.

Barbados isn’t a cheap destination: Prices in Barbados are on average 17% higher than prices in the UK.

The price of a coffee in Bridgetown is around $7 BBD. For a three-course meal in a mid-range restaurant in Barbados you can expect to pay around $75 BBD.

Most restaurants in Barbados add a service fee of 10% to 15% to the bill. If no service charge is included on the bill you can add a tip of 10% to 15% to the bill if you’re happy about the service.

Tipping in Barbados is in line with the standard tipping procedure in Europe.