Cape Verdean escudo
The Cape Verdean currency is the escudo, denoted CVE. One escudo is further divided into 100 centavo.
When paying, you will use coins with denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 escudos and notes of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 escudos.
TheCape Verdean escudo has a fixed exchange rate against the euro:
- 1 eur it is always 110 cve
If you pay with euros in Cape Verde, you will be reimbursed at the slightly unfavourable exchange rate 100 cve for 1 eur.
Currency exchange and payment by card
The Cape Verdean escudo is not commonly convertible in the Czech Republic. Exchange offices and banks in Cape Verde are few and usually closed in the afternoon, so it is better to exchange a larger amount each time, or change at the hotel reception.
- Holidays to Salu
- Holidays to Boa Vista
A passport and exchange fee is required when exchanging 500 cve.
Due to the fixed exchange rate that is followed everywhere, it is possible and even often required to pay in Euros. Careful when returning money in escudo, see above.
How much does what cost
Prices in Cape Verde are slightly higher than in the Czech Republic because most products are imported. What we are not particularly happy about is the price of local beer.
Examples of prices:
- A small meal (goat cheese) in a restaurant - 5 eur
- Renting the cheapest car for the day - 46 eur
- Small beer Strela 0,33 l - 1 EUR
- Ticket for local transport - 0,4 eur
- Taxi hotel - Santa Maria - 4 eur
- Petrol - 135 cve
- Cigarettes - 4 eur
Tips and bargaining
In Cape Verde you can only haggle at souvenir vendors on the beach or in small shops. Depending on how many items you want to buy, the final price can be adjusted very favourably accordingly.
Tipping is quite common on the islands, and is considered to be an obvious part of the service provided (luggage removal or cleaning of the hotel room). The amount of the tip is around 10% of the bill.
How to save
Although it won't please many travellers, the best way to save money is to go to Cape Verde with a travel agent. The price of a plane ticket from Prague is usually higher than the whole trip, and if you want to travel to more than one island, the costs add up too quickly. Also, there are often only taxis from the airports.
The same situation applies to accommodation and meals - the only way to save money is to book self-catering accommodation - restaurants are prohibitively expensive, but even then you'll probably be on the same price as the tour operators.
You can only rent a car or ATV (or bike) for a day to explore the island, most attractions are within a few miles.
Daily budget
If we calculate that the cheapest way to explore Cape Verde is to go with a travel agent, we can get to about 1 eur - 623 eur for a week's stay all inclusive. After all, Czech travel agencies do not offer any other meals. Adding the car rental for 60 eur per day we have the total cost 1 eur - 696 eur, which corresponds to approx 73 eur per person per day, including flights of course. This price corresponds to a higher standard in a 4* or 5* hotel resort.
If we calculate the cheapest option, if we go on our own, we could get accommodation for 44 eur per night with breakfast. You won't find many cheaper food stalls in Cape Verde, so expect each restaurant meal to cost at least 10 eur. The lowest cost per person per day is therefore 48 eur, but we have to add the cost of car hire and flights.
