It's the norm for Europe...
DW /I just returned from a 2-week riverboat cruise on the Danube. Started in Budapest (Hungary), north to Bratislava (Slovakia), Vienna (Austria), Nuremberg (Germany), and overland to Prague (Czech Republic).
Other than Austria/Germany (who use the Euro), the other countries required use of their local currency (sometimes they took the Euro, but gave a bad rate for a purchase).
I used a Visa credit card for all purchases (primarily meals). When I checked my account, I was charged a 3% fee for currency conversion; however I was pleasantly surprised to see that the local currency was converted to the current $$ rate. This was better than the local "money changers" who used a 7-11% conversion rate (but no additional fee! ) if you wanted to convert $$$ directly.
It was a good deal, and didn't require me to "retain" any unused local currency (which would have cost me again, to revert to $$$).
When the noted eastern European countries convert to the euro (target is within 5 years) it will make it much easier, since I normally keep unspent Euros for the next time we go to Europe.
BTW, I did get Euros from an ATM in both Austria and Germany and they charged a 1% conversion fee (but no charge for the ATM use).
The fees are reasonable for the ease of transactions in this case.
- Ron