I am visiting Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania this spring, and believe that they each have their own currency. I shall only be in each of the countries for 2-3 days, and with travel and hotels already paid for, so what do you advice is the best way to deal with spending money? Claire Bottomley, Barnsley

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: The three Baltic States are in the queue to join the Euro, but that's a while off, and for the foreseeable future travellers must grapple with the Estonian Kroon, the Latvian Lat, and the Lithuanian Litas. Thankfully though, as many people visiting the area are likely to visit more than one of the countries, exchanging any leftover currency is very easy ­ at banks or bureau de changes, and usually it's commission free.

To keep things simple, and to help avoid loosing out changing and re-changing your money, the best bet is to use ATM machines as you go along. Hole in the wall machines are pretty much everywhere in the region, and invariably along a sidewall, rather than in the bank itself. Using ATM's means you'll have the security of not having to carry around a huge wadge of money, plus they are very good for small withdrawals in local currency. They all have multi-lingual displays too.

For bigger purchases, say for some magnificent amber as a souvenir, you'll be bound to find an ATM near by, or consider putting it on your credit card, which are readily accepted.

All three capitals are a lot cheaper than home, and for just day-to-day living, you'll probably need about £100-150 in total for your spending money. You'll need even less if you are spending much time in the countryside, where eating out is very cheap, but keep in mind that here they will likely only accept cash.

The same goes for market stalls in the capitals of course. Vilnius and Lithuania is the cheapest Baltic city and country and Riga, Latvia, is probably the most expensive, however by UK standards everything is extremely reasonable. You can eat out three courses for £10 -£15 per head in a decent restaurant, and beer is almost always under £1. Entry to museums is £1 - £4.

Even if you have already booked, it's worth a look at some tour operator websites fro more information. Try Baltic Holidays (0845 070 5711), Regent Holidays (0845 277 3317), or Scantours (020 7554 3530), and take a look at the Baltic based www.baltictravel.net

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