money
 

I am traveling to europe and i am wondering how much money i should take? I also am wondering if i should do money exchanges at the airports or at the hotels?

I am going for about two weeks

Use your ATM card to retrieve the best exchange rate. I wouldn´t take a lot of cash from home. Nice for an emergency, but I'd use credit cards and ATMs.

Any 'normal' ATM that is attached to a bank of some sort is fine. The ATMs that are not attached to a bank will gouge you.

Hotel rates are not as good as ATMs. Put $$$ in your checking account.

Call your bank and all the banks that you will use for credit cards to let them know when you will be gone, how long, and what countries. This is a must.

All the countries you listed have no shortage of ATMs.

Thanks for the feedback :)

Money exchanges at airports are almost as bad as hotels- definitely use ATMs. But be sure your bank will honor ATM withdrawals overseas. Some bank accounts (both checking and savings) will not allow overseas withdrawals. I always take 2 debit cards from different banks in case one won't work. Also, if you get cash advances from credut cards there is usually a hefty fee. If exchanging cash, be sure to use a bank to reduce the surcharges.

Nobody but the most novice of travelers would every consider using a money exchange, especially at the airport. ATMs have been around a long time and have changed the entire landscape of obtaining currency.

As far as using a bank to reduce the surcharges, as offered by Travelforbeer for some reason, most banks in the EU today require you to be a bank customer in order to exchange currency.

Stacy , most people don't take money, well, let me rephrase that , they don't bring all their money, just enough for first day taxi etc, maybe 100 euros or GBPs , the rest of the time we just use ATMs to withdraw cash every few days.

Do let your bank know you will be out of country and phone your credit cards ( number on back , go to security or fraud) as they can block your card if its used outside your country without them knowing you on holiday.

Agree on the ATMs... One thing I have seen pop up in Slovakia and Hungary in the last two weeks is two options on the withdraw... 1. Withdraw in local currency ( let's say euro... Which will be the amount you entered)... Or 2. withdraw in your home currency (perhaps dollars) and let the ATM do the conversion. This is pretty much always a rip off... Take the money in the local currency.

For extra security, set up checking accounts at two different institutions so if one card doesn't work for some reason, you have back-up. If you are travelling with someone else, each should have cards for all the accounts. And never carry all the cards in the same wallet or bag.