Garry

I know the Euro goes into effect on Jan. 1st, but........will I be able to purchase Euro before I leave the states, and....will it be excepted before Jan. 1st. I'm just being lazy and did'nt want to deal with both!

Myriam

If you will be leaving Italy before the end of January you can afford to be lazy and carry only Italian Lires. Euro is only available as from January 1st and may only be accepted as from January 1st. You may get change in euro though!<BR>

kate

Get cash with your ATM card on arrival and use whichever currency it gives you -- much easier and cheaper than buying foreign currency in the US. If you get lire, use them up (keep a few for souvenirs) and then you'll get Euro from the ATMs after Jan 1.<BR><BR>I've used ATMs on arrival in at least 5 European airports without a hitch. You do run the very slight risk of finding the airport Bancomat (Italian for ATM) out of order, so have some dollars you can change in an emergency.

Myriam

WARNING: There is a risk of ATM's being out of order the first days of January with the introduction of the euro. So take some extra cash in your own currency to have it changed at the bank or at your hotel.

GAC

The Italian Lira will be official currency, together with the Euro, until February 28, 2002. So, if you return home prior to 2/28/2002, you only need to carry Lire. Moreover, most retail merchants and shopkeepers will be much more conversant to transact in Lire for the first few weeks of the New Year.

Hans H

You will have to deal with both since you can't use the Euro before Jan. 1st and you normally won't get change in anything but Euro after Jan. 1st. As long as you can't pay the bill exactly in Lire, the shopkeepers etc. will have to calculate your change from Lira to Euro, in all probability always resulting in odd numbers and taking more time than it would take if you made the transaction in Euro. <BR><BR>No matter how much effort went into the whole conversion to the Europe, quite a mess is bound to result from it until the former currencies are phased out and if you take your whole money in Lire, you can bet that you experience a lot of it, especially if you take large Lira bills and try to pay with them.