Walking around money

You are right - the money belt is deep storage. If you are my wife and I, €40 is plenty of cash to have handy. Enough to use, not so much that the world ends if it is lost. You can always visit a private area, like a toilet cubicle, to retrieve more. YMMV. Q2: cash.

Depends how lavish your definition of food and snacks is, but probably not more than 50 euros. Credit card acceptance varies a lot around Europe. In the UK all but the smallest places will accept it, but in Germany even quite upmarket restaurants may accept cash only. Also, many people prefer to give tips as cash even if you pay the main bill by credit card as that makes sure the money actually goes to your server.

I think that 50 euro is plenty, broken into smaller bills and a decent amount of coins. Always handy to have a few 1 euro coins.
Most smaller places will expect cash, and for restaurants I use the general rule that if the bill is less than 30 euro I pay cash, if I am in a nicer restaurant and the bill is larger, generally I pay with CC. One issue travellers report often is having a good number of small bills and change. So plan ahead. If you are going to be sitting down for a nice meal, go someplace and take a 50 out of deep storage, use that to pay the bill, taking away 20 euro or more of small bills and coins.

How much you need handy will become apparent quickly. And if you need, more during the day, just retrieve it from your moneybelt. But losing 50 euro would not ruin most people's vacation. I'm with Paul on using credit cards at restaurants. For smaller costs or informal dining, I try to use cash. If it's an expensive meal or a formal sit down dinner, a credit card is fine.

Some people are happy to travel with no cash in their pocket, while I prefer to always have a enough to cope with any likely eventuality. What I certainly do when away from my home town is never assume that I am going to be able to pay with a credit or debit card. I have certainly been in restaurants which advertise that they accept cards but where for some reason the card machine does not work, or my card will not be accepted. In those circumstances, I pay cash. Personally, I have never worn a money belt. However, my money, cards, phone, etc are invariably in separate pockets, which usually have zips or velcro closures. I am more concerned about losing my valuables, than having them stolen.

I carry about 50 euros, bit more if I have a child with me. I almost never use my Visa , except for hotels and train tickets,, and perhaps one splash out dinner. It keeps my spending controlled( I don't like coming home to a big debt) . I usually leave my CC in the hotel safe.
If doing a daytrip out of hub city I carry about 100 euros, in case I lose my train ticket or miss train I like enough to be able to purchase a walk up ticket( which tend to cost more then prepurchased tickets for some trips)I sometimes carry my CC with me if daytrip is more then a hour away,, just in case I need to pay for an emergency hotel room. If I am travelling I carry my CC in a moneybelt. Cash is in my purse( since I never carry more then 100 euros anyways)

" This will be my one and only trip to Europe " Garnet, please don't allow this to become true. 50 E in my pocket has always felt about right. Have a great FIRST trip!

I will add to that comment, we went thinking it would be a one time thing, that was 12 years ago and nine trips, true, 4 of those were for work that included a few extra personal days, but we found we started scrimping and saving, contributing to a travel fund instead of getting a newer vehicle, buying a nicer home, not getting the newest electronics or phones, one trip and we were hooked.

I usually walk around with something around 50 euro in my pocket. Usually no more than 100 and no less than 20. A drink (soda or coffee) or snack/gilato is probably going to cost between 2 and 4 euro each. A light lunch in a tourist area will be 10-15 (or more). Definitely more than you pay at home. Add some for admissions to your planned sites and transportation (taxi or metro) to get through the day.

Yes, pay cash at restaurants. Many in the tourist areas will take plastic but all prefer cash - they pay a pretty hefty charge to the bank for credit transactions. If you are eating in Italy, remember there is a service charge for a table. If you just want a slice of pizza to carry out, don't sit down or the price increases. If you do sit down, take your time because you get charged for a table whether you sit for two minutes or an hour.

I have a follow-up question to Garnet's. The last time I went to Europe, approx 15 years ago, I carried a modest amount of local currency and a larger amount in Amex travelers checks - just to avoid having large amounts of cash. That seemed to work pretty well at the time. Is this still a reasonable approach? I'm going to Greece this summer so it's suddenly pertinent to me again. thanks!

@Diane, Travelers checks are almost completely gone. There was so much fraud related to traveler's checks that virtually no retailer, hotel or restaurant will accept them. You have to go to a bank during business hours to change them to cash, even the banks are leery of changing them. If you have to pay to buy them and/or pay an exchange discount when you cash them (not sure whether bank charges their normal exchange discount or not), they are also more expensive than using an ATM. Bottom line, almost no one uses travelers checks anymore.