· I visited Slovenia in September 2001. ATM machines are everywhere so just take your plastic. You can pay for meals and accommodation with Visa/Mastercard, and withdraw enough cash for incidentals (Slovenia is very cheap.)

No point in taking tolars back out of the country so use any surplus at the duty-free shop, or leave it for the chambermaid. I didn't try using sterling, but there are bureaux de change in the major towns.
Brian Ferris

· I have obtained tolars in the past from American Express but you will get a much better exchange rate from local banks in Slovenia. On the coast, Italian currency circulates as almost an alternative currency. Some banks have ATMs that will exchange sterling for tolars but for some reason they will not take £20 notes (or they did not when I was there).

Do not bring any tolars back - the exchange rate in GB is appalling!
Geraldine Thornton

· I have just returned from Slovenia and you can use tolars (which you can only get once you get there) or dollars, but I didn't find anywhere (including Ljublyana) where you can use sterling.
Tim Sayer

· I am from Slovenia and go back as often as I can. Do not worry about obtaining tolars before you travel. Although you cannot pay in sterling, exchanging money is easy. You can find exchange offices in every major town or at most tourist attractions, at the airport, hotels, banks etc.

The vast majority will exchange the currency commission free. The rates do vary though (although not dramatically) and in our experience, the airport and hotel ones were the least favourable. Try small exchange offices in major cities (not necessarily in the banks). The rates can also change noticeably in one day, so you can profit - or sometimes lose - by exchanging small amounts as you need them.

A warning though: make sure you only have banknotes issued by the Bank of England as the majority of exchange offices do not want to take banknotes from Bank of Scotland
Andreja Mclean