When, where, what denominations and how much pocket money (euros) to get for Paris/France tour?

Try to get 80 or 160 in 20 euro denominations (I know the Banque National de Paris or BNP ATM's allow you to select smaller denominations like 5 and 10 euro notes). Try to break the 20 as soon as possible to make change for some of the public toilets you may need change to access; though my last trip 2023 even those are now accepting tap wifi credit cards.

If you still have time, try to get some Euros before you leave. If your local bank doesn't keep them on hand, try your local AAA office. It's a good feeling to land with money in hand as ATMs do malfunction from time to time. I had machines at two different banks (not branchs) not work just a few weeks ago.

On a two week trip a month ago that was about half in cities and half in the countryside, we only needed about 30 euro in cash. We used a few one euro coins for bathrooms and the rest at a farmer's market.

The suggestion to quickly break the 20s is a good one.

I got some from Euros Wells Fargo - 200 of them to start me out. The branches did not have any on hand.

I had to "buy" them online out of my account. The options were to have them sent to me directly via Fed Ex or send them to a Wells Fargo branch to pick up.

They came in a variety of denominations, which I was delighted by.

My suggestion is to use the option of going to the bank to pick them up. If they deliver them to you, they require a signature and will not leave them at your door, even if you ask them to.

Also, credit cards in Europe often require PINs. Make sure you know yours before you go. It can take 10 - 14 days with some credit cards to send you a PIN if you don't remember it. This delay is because some cards send you a PIN via snail mail. Some
credit cards let you change your PIN immediately, it just depends on the bank.

Do you mind sharing where your 1st hotel is? If it is the one I stayed in on my Paris and HOF then I can direct you to the nearest ATM and just get money there instead of trying to get it at the airport in a jet lagged state.

Do you have Apple Pay or Google Pay? I used them almost exclusively on my last trip to Paris (last year). I ONLY ever had to use Euro coins when I wanted to leave a tip for housekeeping.

For using Euro bills, get 20s and below if you have the choice.

For coming in to Paris in a taxi, go directly to the taxi rank at the airport and get in line. When you are directed to a cab, hold up your CC and ask OK to the driver. Also have the full address of your hotel written on a 3x5 card that you can hand to them. I also make a notation off to the side with something like 65Euro Flat Rate so they know I know it's a non-metered ride. It's 65 to the Left Bank and 56 for the Right Bank.

BTW, I've NEVER had a CC require a PIN# in Europe in travels since 2013. I have never bought fuel so I think that is where some people have found they needed PINs.

While I wouldn't totally disregard the suggestion about getting PIN's for your credit
cards, I haven't ever needed a PIN for a card in Europe proper. Only place it was
needed was to purchase gas at unattended gas stations in Iceland. These days
it's tap and go.

If you can get some Euros before you go on the trip, great, but I would not pay any
kind of major premium to get them on this side of the pond. You will have many
places to get them, starting at the arrival airport as you mention. Just get a small
amount as others have suggested; the tendency to overcompensate before you
start is high, and you don't want to get stuck at the end of the trip with a bunch of
euros you have no use for back at home.

This is one of those "Do what you are comfortable doing" questions. I have travelled extensively in Europe (particularly France, as I worked in Paris for a couple years commuting back and forth to the US). I personally never get euros before my trip (although I typically have 25-30 euros at the house from the previous trip - I never cash my euros in, knowing i will return). I plan on using my credit card as often as I can, and in the cities thats almost every time. If I need/want cash, I'll go to a cash machine (typically a bank), and ALWAYS read the fine print on the machine for fees. It is VERY easy to get ripped off if you do not read the fees. I use Capital One Visa, as they do not have foreign transaction fees as a credit card - many do not have fees - make sure you have one.

I am sure you will get many diverse answers - do what is comfortable, but always mind the exchange rate and fees.

Glenn

"Do what you are comfortable doing"

I usually come home with euros, so I start the next trip with about €150-200. If I don't have leftovers, need more to start or need pounds £ I buy them at BAC, order online and pick up at the branch. With a preferred account, albeit bottom tier, the fee is low. And the peace of mind is high when I don't have to find an ATM right away. If I need €1 coin for pay-to-pee, my German neighbor usually has some. I trade him a dinner or bottle of wine or beer.
If you decide to get money at the airport DO NOT use a money exchanger. Use only a BANK ATM to avoid high fees

In 2022, everything in France was done by credit card. Including buying a 60cent bottle of water. I read that has changed a bit. If you have an iPhone, load your tap to pay credit card into Apple Wallet for easy access or use you credit card to buy things. (Don't know what the Android version is. Google Pay?)

Forgot to mention. Check with your bank and credit card people to see if you need to put a travel alert on the accounts. Some do and some don't. You do not want them to see a transaction in France, think it's fraud, and close down the account.

I didn't need any cash for a week in fall 2022.

Perhaps others can give recent specific example of when cash only is accepted. Pay toilets???? (oops - I see that addressed above)

Returning later this year. I think I have less than $100 in Euros at my home from previous trips. I won't be getting any more than that and would feel comfortable going without any Euros. (depending on compelling examples of where cash only is needed!)

I have been surprised at how rapidly cashless is becoming common in many European countries I visit. To me, it seems to really have accelerated post-2020 Covid days.

I can't speak for the countryside, but I was in Paris recently and did not need cash for anything. You could use cash at most places if you wanted to but even that seemed to annoy some cashiers (not that it's difficult to annoy Parisian service workers). If you are used to using credit cards at home and have one that has no foreign transaction fees, then I would suggest not getting cash until you get there and think you might need it.

Some of this depends on your view about carrying cash. I have no problems with that in Europe, be it having on me 60 Euro or in excess of 600 Euro in cash. In Europe I pay in cash and with the credit card, depends where.

I carry all three denominations that are practical, the 10, the 20 , and the 50 Euro bills. I don't like the five, much prefer having coins in that regard.

I get my Euro cash prior to departing from BofA...no fee charged for the transaction provided the withdraw is at least $1000.

jon,
We each take about 100 Euros when we go to Europe. I get it from BofA without a fee. The exhange rate difference is minimal from the ATM machines in Europe.
We were in France for four weeks last May-June. I used Euro coins for train station bathrooms when the CC machine wasn't working. Also, a couple of merchants at the Wednesday Sarlat market only took cash for their produce. Lastly, we paid for our house to be cleaned (our gite in the Dordogne) by the caretakers, and they only took cash. (This was expected and prearranged in our contract...not a gotcha.) And we gave each of the grandkids 20 Euros to buy a souvenir in Beynac. There were a few other purchases made at a festival in the small town of Taulignan, where the local food and crafts were very much from the small community. It was useful to have cash, and we of course made sure to break the twenties.
We had a bit left so we bought a couple of bottles of pastis at CDG from the duty free shop. (Price was no more expensive than in the stores.) We always wind up with some Euros to take home and just take them on our next trip. I definitely feel having some cash is a good idea, especially because we are often in very small towns! (e.g. Le Pegue, probably about 200 population and not a cc machine in sight, even at the bakery and local museum)
Just be sure your debit card doesn't have any user fees attached. Our bank is "partnered" with one of the French banks that has branches all over, so if we do need to get more cash we don't worry about any fees. As others have said, only use an ATM machine at a bank. Most machines are inside a vestibule or in the bank itself.
Have a wonderful trip!

when you take money from an ATM you can usually select the type of bills you need. I'd probably get 200 in mixed bills to have walking around money for the trip. We now use almost no cash. There are places that don't take cards for small purchases notably fast food or ice cream stands and butcher shops, florists and some stores that sell housewares and souvenirs and such. But the grocery store, bakeries and similar places where you are likely to go repeatedly will usually take credit cards. I use a phone tap which avoids the issue of PINs.

When you take money from an ATM you should be using a debit card which will have a pin. DO NOT let them do the conversion to dollars -- this is a scam to hose you double for the cost of with drawing money and making the conversion. Your bank will do the conversion and at almost certainly a better rate, so 'reject' when asked about the conversion. Same thing in most department stores -- they will ask if you want to do it in dollars or euros and it is intuitive to think 'well my account is in dollars, so dollars' but again this is a hose job where they profit from a terrible conversation rate. Always buy in Euros and let your bank do the conversion.

Perhaps others can give recent specific example of when cash only is
accepted.

When not in Paris, I typically stay in small, mom-and-pop B&Bs (real B&Bs, not so-called airbnbs). They typically request I pay in cash and I am happy to oblige. I also think it is less of a hassle when buying small things such as a single baguette, one beer, etc. And of course, tips, when left, are always in cash—otherwise the server usually won't see any of it.

Perhaps others can give recent specific example of when cash only is
accepted.

While not France, but Portugal, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and the UK, all on a current trip, I have been using more cash than trips in the last several years. I am starting to see many smaller places "preferring" cash, some requiring a minimum purchase if card, and a few cash only places.

In the tourist areas, restaurants, cafes, and shops, as well as larger chains, you can use card pretty much all the time. But get off the beaten path, you will get some sneers if you pull out a card for a 1 euro purchase. My general rule of thumb this trip is to always have 50-75 euro on me, if the purchase is under 5 euro, I use cash, sometimes 10.

Of course in the UK, use the card more, Germany, probably more cash. France, as I recall, lies somewhere in between so far as preference for cash.

If you have any friends who visited Europe, maybe they have leftover Euros they’d sell you. You shouldn’t need more than a hundred.

Last year I needed cash at some cafes in Portugal, France, and Germany. Germany and Portugal had more cash only places than other countries. In Spain there have been a few small kiosk type places that were cash only. In France, a number of places had a 10€ minimum to use a charge card.

Last year in Paris I needed cash a couple of times, once at a takeout restaurant that would not accept CC for less than 10 euros, and I bought something below that, and then in a small shop that did not have a way to process a CC, it was cash only...admittedly these are one off situations, but still, it happens...I still carry cash at home, tend to tip servers in cash, and I carry some local currency in Europe, too.

If it is a case where the proprietor prefers be it a small hotel, restaurant cash even if the credit card is accepted, I am likewise happy to oblige, ie doing him/her a favor instead.

Last summer in Paris in a 2 star hotel, the staff member quoted me the total price 600 Euros for 6 nights but the first three hundred had to be paid in CASH right away, ie, at check-in, the balance later by card or cash. Luckily, I had just a bit over 300 Euro on me to be eligible for this bargain rate. I am going back to this place in a few weeks, this time armed with a lot more cash so as to get this cash rate.

We're less than a week removed from our vacation to London, Normandy, and Paris. We essentially did not need cash, ever. Didn't matter if it was London/Paris or a small rural village. Buses, tube, bathrooms, restaurants, museums, other attractions - they all took tap-to-pay cards and/or ApplePay. Even all of the vendors at the Bayeux Wednesday farmer's market took cards. Having said that, we encountered three exceptions: 1) a take-away shawarma counter at lunchtime in Kensington London, 2) tipping our Overlord Normandy tourguide, 3) not checking beforehand that our Paris cabbie accepted cards for the airport run (which is more of a scam than anything since he happily took US dollars). Europe has become much more of a contactless economy over the last few years, and I can say I'm much happier not having that pocket full of coins anymore.

jon,
If anyone has too much cash or too many coins, they could just spend them! No need to carry them around in their pockets. When visiting churches, which of course are free, I usually drop a few coins in their "poor box".

On a tour, it will be handy to have a few low-domination coins in your pocket for the pay toilets at rest stops.

As noted above. I always send anyone I know who's coming over ten 1 Euro coins, because you'll need them to use the bathrooms in the airport at a minimum.

jon,
I agree with janettravels. Be sure to use a debit card, not a credit card at any ATM. A credit card will trigger a cash advance fee, with a usually NOT minimal charge.

If anyone has too much cash or too many coins, they could just spend them!

I always like to come home with some euros, for the "next" time, but towards the end of any trip abroad, I simply spend down excess euros...I don't leave home in the US without cash in my pocket, and I don't like being abroad without local currency in my pocket, either. Not that difficult...