Armenian national currency is called Armenian dram (AMD). The currency was launched in 1993, after the ruble. Of course, dram is as old as the history of the Armenia; for the first time it was mentioned in 1199 (at that time silver coins were in use). Modern dram is available in coins 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dram and banknotes 1000, 5000, 10 000 20 000 50 000 or 100 000 drams.
In Armenia, just like in many countries you cannot pay in foreign currencies (according to law it is forbidden and threatened with fines), so you definitely need to change money. You’d better take your national currency. All exchange offices and banks of Armenia take rubles (RUB), dollars (USD), euros (EUR), pounds (GBP), lari (GEL) and etc. Banks are open till 18:00, some exchange offices in large supermarkets are open until midnight, so you won’t have any problem with changing money.
To calculate which currency is more profitable to take with you in Armenia, you can check the exchange rates on the website of the central bank www.cba.am or www.rates.am.
Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards are accepted at all major hotels of the country. In addition, in Yerevan, all supermarkets and large shopping centers, restaurants and cafés accept credit cards. However, clarify it in advance. In the resort cities major hotels accept credit cards as well, anyway you’d better have cash. If you run out of cash, you can easily find ATMs in Yerevan and in the provincial towns. Still, take into account that you will have to pay commissions for cash withdrawal. In order to avoid additional expenditures you’d better take the necessary amount of cash for your trip.