Going to Germany for the 1st time and I need to know what the banks, exchange houses, etc. are charging for Euros. Wells Fargo quoted me 1.29 on 4/20. I have also heard that some banks will not accept US currency for Euros. Any advise or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

You will get the best exchange rate at an ATM. Just keep your dollars in the bank and withdraw them via an ATM.

Today's rate 4/22/06 is $1.23. That is @ wht you will get at the ATM machine. Some banks have cooperative agreeements with US banks so you don't pay any ATM fees. Check with your bank.

Using an ATM card is the easiest and best rate.

One thing I always do is to go to a bank in the US before I leave and buy about 100 euros. This way I am not trying to find an ATM at the airport once I get there and I certainly don't want to deal with the money changers in the airport.

I'm not sure how all banks work but this is how mine works. There is only one bank in town that has euros on hand. If I request from my bank about a week before I leave they can get me the euros from the other bank and I don't think they add any service charge. Of course, I always wait until the last minute and have to go to the other bank myself and they usually charge me about $5 more for 100 euros.

When you're in Europe the best and probably securist way is to use the atm. This way if you get robbed you only lose a days worth of cash instead of all and you get a better rate than the money changers.

From the figures mentioned above, you can see that Wells Fargo is charging you roughly 5% to exchange your money. It might be worth it to spend that for 100 euro or so to start for peace of mind (although I really have plenty of confidence in the ATMs on arrival). But if you add 5% to all your vacation costs, I think it's more than a bit silly and wasteful. Rely on ATMs. A credit card that doesn't add 3% would be nice too.

A better plan is to assume you will return. Get a little extra on your last ATM withdrawal and bring it back with you to start your next trip.

If you want to get a small amount of Euro, call your bank and ask how to order foreign currency. Not all banks have it on hand. My bank delivers currency to any branch of your choice within 3 business days taking $ off my account.

Don't get too much - it's too expensive. The best rate is ATM. Credit card is 2nd.

I personally prefer to get some currency at home, so I don't worry about finding an ATM on the very first day of the trip.

On 4/18/06 Volksbank exchanged dollars
for me in Freiburg at a rate of 1.257 plus a 5 euro fee on $200.

I`ve just posted a caution that most banks in Germany will not accept $100
bills so if you`re exchanging money directly avoid taking $100 bills, take
$50 or $20`s instead. Volksbank,luckily
for me, was the exception and did accept
$100`s

So that cash transaction cost you almost exactly $10 more than the same euro would have been through an ATM, micpro. Not bad, if you don't mind paying that much every time you get some euros.

I arrived at that figure by figuring what the euro would have cost at the 4/18/06 bank rate of 1.227 instead of 1.227 and also taking into account the extra $5.

Agreed,it was not the most efficient way to exchange money (1.227 v 1.257) but my post was primarily to advise against taking $100 bills due to the difficulty exchanging them.