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Posted by
7247 posts

Use your bank debit card at any bank owned ATM. Any cash exchange at an exchange bureau will incur a poor exchange rate plus added fees. You will find that most of Europe is nearing a cashless society, with most transactions done by credit card or Google /apple pay. Visa and Mastercard are the most accepted cards

Posted by
74 posts

Don't just use your local debit/credit card. Look for one that has 0% foreign transaction fees. You will then get the wholesale Visa/Mastercard FX rate and only pay whatever the ATM charges. A Charles Schwab card refunds the ATM fees (conditions apply).
As an Australian, I had a similar type of card and on board a cruise ship was charged USD$10.00 ATM fee but was instantly refunded the fee.

Although these days, there is very little need to use cash anywhere. Most businesses will have an EFTPOS terminal, even markets and street stalls can use their phones to conduct fund transactions with a tap.

Posted by
2223 posts

Also, what countries are you visiting? You may not need much cash, if any. In the past several years I have spent the US equivalent in cash of $1 in Norway for a shipboard laundromat. $60 in France over several trips and of that amount, less than $20 was because I, a solo traveler, didn't meet the minimum spend at 2 different sandwich shops. The rest was optional. $10 in England over 2 trips for laundromat. And about $10 in Scotland.

Posted by
29 posts

Thanks to COVID the need for cash has dwindled. So many shops, even in the country, are now card only and have the card only warnings posted. We travel to Europe often and I can't recall the last time I was at a ATM or actually used cash. I still have maybe 25-30 Euros and pounds from around 2020 that haven't been touched.