joanne

We leave tomorrow for Italy. We plan to use ATM machines to get most of our spending money. I would like to know how much money should we exchange into Euro before we leave. We are using a car service (40 euro),but other than that any advice.

Sherry

Unless it is very easy to get Euro in your home town, I would just use the ATM when you arrive.<BR>Since the Euro is just about on par with the dollar these days, you can give the car service US dollars. We did this with the taxi in Florence.<BR>I never take foreign currence with me, but always take a stash of dollars.<BR>I really wouldn't take more than 75 or 100 Euro if you feel the need.<BR>Pay the service and another 60 should get you to the ATM.<BR>Just my opinion. Have a great trip.

wow

just get 100 to be on the safe side - but you will be able to get Euro when you get to the airport from the ATM.<BR><BR>It depends on what you are going to do when you get there and whether you are going to get food and drink before you next see an ATM.

Sjoerd

I don't agree with Sherry's advice. Even when the euro is almost 1:1 with the US$, most taxi drivers will either not accept US$ or charge you 10-50% more. (after all, what should he do with the US$? change at the bank and pay the commissions)

janis

I am sorry, but folks like Sherry are exactly why we are sometimes seen as ugly Americans. "The US $ is good anywhere" syndrome. What would a cab driver in<BR>Kansas City say if someone tried to pay the fare in euro? Good Luck! Besides she has now stuck the cab driver with the extra expense of conversion. REALLY BAD MANNERS.<BR><BR>joanne - you can wait until you land and get euro from an ATM in the airport. But if you just want to have some on hand in case, get maybe 100 euro at your stateside airport's bureau de change. They will be more expensive so don't get too many.<BR><BR>

Tom

About the same as the number of dollars you would want to have in your pocket if you were landing in Toronto, Atlanta or Sydney.<BR><BR>Seems like a lot of people are comfortable carrying cash equal to the amount of money they make per (one) day.<BR>

Ann

I couldn't believe Sherry's post. The American dollar is NOT good everywhere. No decent person would give a cab driver in Italy dollars. It costs him money to get that exchanged, and that eats up a huge part of his fare. That's ridiculous and incredibly rude. I hope she's a troll.<BR><BR>I would get about 200 euro. That way you can comfortably pay for your car service and a meal on the day you arrive, along with any tips that you might have to pay. And since exchanging a small amount of money will be fairly expensive, you might as well get enough that you know will keep you going until you hit the ATM.

Janice

I've gotta join into the jumping on Sherry - when I was in Rome I saw people trying to pay for various things using US dollars... Ye gads, it's our money here, but not all over the world! Don't make others do your exchange work for you.<BR>More to your point - I usually arrive with about $100 in local currency. That has always covered every contingency I've experienced.

Sherry

I will just say this, and I should have done it before. I asked the cab driver in Florence before we entered the cab if he would take dollars. He said yes. I did not try to force anything on him. Nor do I try to use US money for purchases in Europe.<BR>I am not a troll. I do not expect people to take my currency or not. This one time, I was very tired and had not the chance to change money. I gave the driver a generous tip and he did not suffer a loss of income taking my money. There were many people waiting in line to take taxis that day. If he did not want to, I would have understood and gone to someone else.<BR>Geez guys.

KW

We had to order a minimum of $100.00 in Euro's from the bank, it took 1 week to get the cash! I think you are too late!<BR>

Barb

Buy Euros at AAA - very easy and cheap. no hassles or wait. I always take $100 worth of local currency, which I always get at AAA.

janis

Sherry - not wanting to start a feud but it sounds like you are now putting a "make nice" spin on your earlier post.<BR><BR>"Since the Euro is just about on par with the dollar these days, you can give the car service US dollars." sounds a LOT like you are advising folks to pay with $ -- not like you are advising someone to use $ as a very last resort when they are "very tired" -- which still isn't a good reason.<BR><BR>The cab driver likely thought he wouldn't get anything if he wasn't willing to take $. I hope you tipped him 20% MORE than you would have tipped him anyway.<BR><BR>The reason I jumped on you is because many people (some of my own friends) think it is perfectly OK to use $ overseas. Having someone endorse that on this board just makes the situation worse.

XXX

You don't need a single Euro before you arrive. There are ATM's everywhere you turn. As soon as the plane lands, you can hit the ATM for 50 or 60 Euro and get a far better rate than anyplace in the US.<BR><BR>For the rest of your stay, pay everything with a credit card wherever credit cards are taken. As you start running out of cash, you can hit the ATM again as you need cash.<BR><BR>Works perfectly for me.

Janice

Can't go along with the above post about just using ATM's - I've been to a few places where they were either out of money, or the computer system was down. And when one of them had problems, the all had problems! I'm sticking by my $100 advice - the day ATM's never go down, I'll rely on them more completely. Just one more thing I don't want to wonder about when I land and am headed to the hotel....

Shylock

Lots

Ralph in NY

Why are most of the American posters reluctant to use an 's' to make the plural of euro? Now that I know it is perfectly acceptable to call them 'euros' and 'cents' it strikes me as rather pretentious to see no 's' used.

Ann

Janis hit the nail on the head.<BR><BR>Ralph, in English speaking countries, they are known as euro, both singular and plural. Yes, I know that basically means Ireland. But when you're there, you really sound like a moron if you say "How many euros is this?" when the clerk replies "It's 20 euro."<BR><BR>And since when is correct considered pretentious?

Ralpj in NY

<BR>Ann, <BR><BR>You or others may call me a moron if you like, but I think I'll say 'euros' and 'cents'.<BR><BR>I read this on another post:<BR><BR>Section 12.12 of the English Style Guide prepared by the European<BR> Commission's Translation Service advises as follows:<BR><BR> "Guidelines on the use of the euro, issued via the Secretariat-General, state<BR> that the plurals of both 'euro' and 'cent' are to be written without 's' in English.<BR> Do this when amending or referring to legal texts that themselves observe this<BR> rule. Elsewhere, and especially in documents intended for the general public,<BR> use the natural plural with 's' for both terms."<BR><BR> I think Fodor's falls into the latter category.

Ann

Ralph, I don't know you well enough to call you a moron. You just sound like one.

mpprh

Hi<BR><BR>I like to have enough local currency to get to my hotel + a bit more.<BR><BR>I've had embarassing (and expensive) experiences when arriving with no currency. Agreed collection has gone wrong .......then ...........Taxis in many countries do not take foreign currency or credit cards. <BR><BR>Ni macchina from the taxi driver in Italy means "I don't take cards" !<BR><BR>I never used to cash in currency, but that was a mistake. Euro, changed banknotes and currency movements have probably cosqt more than the cha<BR><BR>Peter<BR><BR>