Money in Italy - which kind?
 

Hi All - - We actually leave in TWO weeks for our 2 weeks in Italy!! Now I am trying to prepare what we will do for money and I am confused. People say Traveler's Checks are a pain over there....but I intend to bring some just as emergency money (I freak out about my ATM card suddenly not working!). Would I buy American Express TC's or buy them in Euro's?? <BR> Do all regular Visas and Mastercharge's work over there or should I call each and ask? Also...what denominations do Euros come in? Is there coin for less than one Euro? Is it common to be charged in less than dollar amounts....ie...$3.59 ??<BR> Any help appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, Christine. I can help out with some of the questions. I don't know what to tell you about traveler's checks since I haven't used them in year. <BR><BR>All regular Visas and Mastercards work only too well, as my statements will testify.<BR><BR>The Euro is very similar to U.S. coinage. However, there is no one euro bill (I haven't seen one, anyway), but a coin. Also, a 2 euro coin. Below that are 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 "cent" coins.<BR><BR>Prices are indeed in specific amounts. And Italian merchants love to get exact change. You will be rewarded with a "brava" if you hand someone, for instance, $3.59. <BR><BR>If you plug in "euro information" or somesuch on the web, I am sure you will find a graphic with the denominations. <BR><BR>The coolest thing about the coins are that each country has its own design on back. It's a good lesson in international commerce to have coins from 3 or 4 different countries when you receive a handful of change (that would be at the store where you did not have the exact change :)).<BR><BR>Have a great time in Italy.

Christine - Here are my two cents. I took some cash ($500 in Euro), my ATM card and credit cards and had no problems. I didn't get the best exchange rate getting cash in the US of course, but the peace of mind was worth it to me. There are plenty of ATM machines in Florence and Rome. You can also get emergency cash using your CreditCard in an ATM machine. MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted although we did have lunch at a place that was cash only. There are Euro coins although I can't remember if they go down to .01 or not. 1 Euro is actually a coin. Before my trip I called my credit card companies to tell them I would be using my card abroad. It was also pointed out to me on this board that in a pinch I could take my ATM card or CreditCard to a bank teller and get cash. By the way, we used a "leg stash" (as opposed to a money belt worn around the waist) to keep our excess cash and ATM/Credit Cards. All of our hotels had in room safes to leave anything we didn't want to bring with us for the day. Hope this helps.

Travellers cheques can only be changed at banks in italy. Yu can bring a little amount of money in Tc, if you are really worried about ATMs and credit cards, but I still think that bringing a limited supply of cash (200.00 euro for each person) would be cheaper. Most large credit cards work in italy, while for your Atm just make sure that it belongs to the Maestro circuit, which is the most common in Italy. If it does, than there is no problem.<BR>As for the banknotes and coins, at the following site you will be able to preview all the euro banknotes and coins.<BR>Remember that one euro is almost as much as one dollar, so you can convert between the two very easily.<BR><BR>http://www.euro.ecb.int/en/section.html

As someone who has been robbed on holiday in the past, I personally always go for the security of Travellers' Cheques (checks - guess where I'm from!) over cash for an emergency stash. If you lose the cash, it's gone, but if you lose the cheques then you can have the remaining ones cancelled and new ones issued in their place.<BR><BR>All your Visas and MasterCards should work in any shop or ATM with the appropriate symbol, but remember that many small businesses don't take credit cards because of the charges involved.

Most places do not take Euro TC's. You have to change them at a bank and usually are charged a commission. If you insist on TC's, bring them in USD as you will be going to a bank anyway and they are far easier to re-deposit, as you most likely will do, when you return home with them being unused.<BR><BR>Euro coins: a very tiny 1 Euro cent coin, a slightly larger 2 Euro cent coin and a 5 euro cent coin all copper.<BR><BR>Now we have the next group of coins, 10 euro cents, 20 euro cents and 50 euro cents.<BR><BR>The last two coins are 1 Euro and 2 Euro.<BR><BR>I have some trouble with color discrimination so it was difficult for me and I still am a little unsure when I reach into my pocket of what coin is what...I get very confused between the 50 cent and 20 cent coins.<BR><BR>One side of each coin is the same no matter where the coin was originally minted. The other side is country specific so one side of a Dutch coin is different from that side of a French coin but they are totally interchangeable.<BR><BR>The smallest paper currency is the 5 Euro bank note, then a 10 Euro bank note, a 20 Euro bank note and a 50 Euro bank note.

Keith:<BR><BR>You will need extra bad luck to be robbed of your cash and at the same time not be able to use your ATM and credit card!

We, too were unwilling to put all of our financial faith in just plastic of any kind. We arrived in Italy with about $200 in local currency. We had plastic. And, just in case of robbery or any other problems, we had AmExp TCs. Trav. checks are a "pain" only if you intend to use them each time you make a purchase. We never intended to use the TCs in retail stores/restaurants etc. Instead, Periodically, we would go to a bank or AmExp office and cash what we needed for a segment of the trip. So, if disaster struck (and, it did not!), we were still ok. Took a lot of the worry out, as we were on a budget. So, we got to take advantage of getting "discounts" in hotels & shops in Italy for paying with cash AND have the peace of mind TCs bring. Another advantage: If you have TCs left over after the trip, you lose nothing in cashing them in at home. And, you pay no "fee" if you get them at a AAA office. Of course, we also wore our moneybelts. Lightweight; comfortable; secure. Never had a problem.<BR><BR>

Make sure your credit cards have 4 digit pin #s (not 6 or 7) if you intend to use ATM's. This is very important and also memorize th #'s of your pin, not the alphabet code. In Italy the ATM's don't have the letters.<BR><BR>Have a great trip. If possible buy Visa travelers checks and not American Express. They are better accepted, I guess the name. Alot of stores and restaurants will take the VISA travelers checks and not American Express.

spent a couple of weeks in italy this summer, and we paid our hotel bills with<BR>our visas/mc. 2 of our hotels did not<BR>take american express. i took a few<BR>hundred in cash, took a resreve of 500<BR>in travelers cheques (in case something<BR>happened to debit card or for emergency), and we used debit card with<BR>no problem. my sister exchanged travelers cheques at italian bank and was charged a minimal amount; i did<BR>not even use mine but felt comfortable<BR>knowing i had them for backup.

Thanks so much for all the great advice. While doing some researching - I also found out that many ATM machines in Italy will only withdraw funds from your CHECKING account at home and do not let you choose between checking or saving. I am SO glad I read that!! I usually only draw on my savings account so I may have potentially been letf with not enough funds in reserve in checking.<BR> I guess I'm all set -- just have to hope the weather is good and the war doesn't begin! Thanks again.

How prevalent are ATMs in Italian villages? In my first week in Italy I'll be in Florence, Lucca, and Siena, which I assume are well stocked, but my second week will be spent in smaller towns such as Montepulciano, Sorano, and Abbadia San Salvatore. Should I stock up on cash my first week?

Claire:<BR><BR>In italy usually hotels do not hav discounts for paying in cash, for the simple reason that since most people in italy still use mainly cash the hotel would be forced to make discounts for most of the people staying at the hotel.

I thought I read somewhere that if you have american express travelers checks that you can cash them at any american express office at no charge. Is this true? If it is, it seems like travelers checks would be a good way to go!

Lori:<BR><BR>The only problem might be that American Express offices do not seem too common down here in Italy...