How much cash to take?

No need to “bring” large amounts of cash. Bank-owned ATMs are readily available in every airport. Avoid the random machines that have giant “ATM” signs, and avoid EuroNet machines. These charge high fees.

I don’t like to carry any more than I can afford to lose. I prefer to stop at an ATM/Geldautomat as my cash dwindles. People talk about all the fees, but I believe that is hype. I jumped through a lot of hoops to set up a Charles Schwab account that refunds atm fees. On a 3 week trip that included multiple withdrawals, the total fees were about $10.

We go over to the Xmas Markets every other year - they def want cash - esp in Germany. We take out cash at ATMs for best rate - this is even discussed under TRAVEL TIPS here on the RS website under MONEY.

In years past, I took several hundred dollars in cash

US$ will do you no good in Europe. You will need Euros or Swiss francs. Get that with your bank card at bank owned ATMs wherever you are going to be. If you are super cautious, get a starter €50-100 before leaving home.

We just came back from Bavaria and Austria visiting the Advent Markets in Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, St. Wolfgang, St. Gilgen, Hall in Tirol, Innsbruck, etc.

We left home with no cash for our trip. (I do keep $200 US with us for when return home). We went to the ATM in Munich airport and got a few days worth of cash. Only use an ATM from a major bank.

Vendors at the markets do prefer cash, Euros. Same with some restaurants we had dinner in. One in Berchtesgaden had a sign Cash Only.

Since this is Europe in general, Germany and Austria seem, from my limited travels, to be the most cash intensive. I remember wandering around a small town in Germany trying to find a working ATM so I could buy lunch one time. Sooner or later if you travel enough, that moment will come when you wish you had the convenience of some cash in your pocket ... tips if nothing else.

Not sure how much I would get at the airport. Never know what I will need until I am closer to what I have come for. Google Maps and "ATM" will tell you where to go.

Then the advice is go get Euros when you arrive. Sure, in the Eurozone, but do keep in mind that there are some pretty popular tourist destinations not in the Eurozone.

But I agree in the big picture, rely on ATMs as much as is reasonable.

Well the original question was for Germany, France and Switzerland. In particular if vendors at the Christmas Markets prefer cash or card in general.

My question concerns the need for cash in today’s travel world.

I answered the first broader question.

US$ will do you no good in Europe.

Believe it or not, but USD are useful if you want to buy local currency at a change desk - and not the rip-off stations in the airports, but rather those located in central business districts.

I received a very favorable rate at a change desk in Warsaw recently, exchanging a $100 bill for almost 400 Polish Zloty, and a few weeks ago I spotted a very favorable rate for forints across from the Great Synogogue in Budapest.

You never know when cold hard cash might be needed to buy your way out of a jam - USD are still on Rick's packing list.

As for Xmas markets - some of the markets in Budapest were card only earlier this month, while in Vienna I bought a Leberkase on semmel from a vendor that was only taking cash. When paying restaurant checks in Vienna, I always had the choice between cash or card - the wait people still carry a purse for making change.

Believe it or not, but USD are useful if you want to buy local currency at a change desk - and not the rip-off stations in the airports, but rather those located in central business districts.

This statement is not correct, and very misleading for newer travelers. There is no case where a downtown EXCHANGE!!!! desk, booth, or office-front is a better deal than a networked ATM associated with a real bank. It is impossible to "see" a better rate across the square, at Vinnie and Igor's EXCHANGE, because their big-print RATE always leaves out their small-print duuude's COMMISSION, which is how a good rate become a deal rip-off!

That said, there now seem to be some countries where it is possible for bank ATMs to charge fees as bad as non-customer ATMs in the USA. And ATM's that ACCEPT foreign currency (like USD) offer a worse exchange than a withdrawal of your own money from a bank account at home.

It would be helpful for the OP to understand that even outside the Christmas season, cash is widely preferred at many German businesses.

This is one of those subjects that too often gets answered as thought Europe were some unform and unifed place. Its not. And people worry too much about what really doesnt matter.

We have some exchange houses here that will rival the bank ATMs if you dont know which bank ATM to to to. Of course you can go hunting around for an hour or two and try each bank ATM till you figure it out. If th $3 is worth it to you, go for it.

But you just paid $9000 for a RS tour for two and another $7500 for those two business class seats. Now your budget is $200 a day and on that $200 you might end up with $3 in fees x 10 days = $30. Tell me I am wrong, tell me its $6, then thats $60 more on the $16500 trip. Really?

Dont intentionally throw money away, but dont fret the fees when it makes the trip more enjoyable. I used a EuroNet machine two days ago. The waitress deserved the tip and I knew if I put it on the card she would loose at least 30% of it.

And these days most exchange houses dont charge a commission. The fee is in the rate they offer, so what you see posted is what you get. And if you check them against the rates on line, most, maybe not all, but most around where I live are within 2% or so if you average the buy / sell to have a number to compare to that online number.

I’ve visited several Christmas Markets in Europe recently and found both cash and cards accepted, but cash is still more widely preferred, especially for small vendors. Of course, there are ATMs and you can easily get money (you will need Euro). If you worry about money exchange rate, I often use https://rates.fm/ This source helps me avoid unfavorable exchange fees at ATMs.

I am certain that sanderserika88 was being a bit generic and didnt mean for you to get Euro for Switzerland.

Thanks for the replies. I have been to Europe many times and get my currency after I arrive.
And I realize that the Swiss still use their own currency, not the Euro.
I live in a touristy area (Great Smoky Mountains) in Tennessee and know that a lot of our small locally owned stores prefer cash over cards.
I just wanted to verify that the small vendors at European Markets might feel the same way.
Thanks again for your helpfulness.

It absolutely is the case that currency-exchange booths in some cities can be competitive with ATMs. This is much more likely as you travel east, in the former Iron Curtain countries; I suspect the lower pay rate for the folks manning those booths is a factor.

Yes, it is always important to ask exactly how much you will receive for the amount of currency you wish to exchange (and the rate for euros may be a bit better than it is for US dollars), but I received within 1% of the interbank rate (maybe even better than that) at multiple booths in Albania, a heavily cash-based economy. Albanian bank ATMs all seem to charge at least 3.5%.

acraven, it would be wonderful, maybe, if the world operated on some universal truths, but it doesnt. The advice should be read as starting with "generally speaking" and end with "do the research to know the rates and then buy where the rates are in line with what the research revealed. That might only be at ATM in one location or you may find an exchange house with good rates. But dont forget that when talkng about fees and rates, generally speaking, its the cheapest part of your trip."

We found the street exchange places were reasonable in Poland. We were told so by locals and our guides. There was one company they did not recommend but otherwise OK. Maybe because there's a lot of foreign currency coming into Poland for many years.

You know we're on to something when I agree with Mr. E :-)

I withdrew cash from my WFB primary checking account from BNP Paribas ATMs (called DABs in Francais) twice last month even though I noticed that the conversion rate was not so favorable the first time -- they were charging me about $118 for €100 when they were worth more like $106 but rather than spending energy trying to find a better deal, I was content knowing that their DABs worked for my debit card and wouldn't eat it.

It still doesn't feel right to me to use a credit card to buy two days worth of fresh fruit from a bodega or market stand.

We found the street exchange places were reasonable in Poland.

There is another key word and key concept: "reasonable".

Given the circumstance and situation is the cost of getting the cash "reasonable". Reasonable does not equal "the best deal on exchange rates".

This week I used a money changing booth in a subway underground a few times. I doubt that I got the "BEST" exchange rate. I didnt even check. First, it was -6C and second I wanted to use my time with friends, so there was no way in ..... you know .... I was going to go wandering around to save a dollar on $100.

So I wil never fall into the "Always do this .... " and "I would never do ..... " crowd.

Avirosemail, I don't understand your reference to "exchange rate". Why did that come into play at the ATM? I'd only expect to see an ATM-usage fee (at some ATMs, if that is legal in France), which would be shown in euros.

I've been to ATMs (this summer in Turkey comes to mind) where I was given the option of a poorer exchange rate (which presumably constitutes their "fee") or a better exchange rate with a separate transaction fee. In my case, I took the latter because Schwab will refund the separate transaction fee. They will not refund a bad exchange rate.