Will Need Lots of Cash (in Euro's) to pay apartment balances??

You could inquire about wiring the money in advanced. Although this is more expensive than withdrawing from an ATM in Italy, it's cheaper than pre-purchasing euros in the US. You'll probably need to obtain the name, the account number, the IBAN number, the name of the bank and the bank address.

If the ATM limit is that high, then the ATM card would be the way to go; but if it's not high enough, I would have to make a lot of withdrawals and worry about someone scanning/scamming my debit card numbers. Who sets the ATM limit, my bank or the ATM machine operator?

We had the same issue this summer in Spain. We actually took a lot of cash with us - I know a lot of people on here don't like to do that but we found it the easiest way (for us). I put the exact amount of euros we'd need for each place into it's own envelope and kept the envelopes in our money belt. We still used the atm occasionally but on a previous trip we were needing to withdraw from the atm almost every day to get enough out for our balances and it became kind of annoying. We were still ending up carrying around a lot of cash - just adding more each day. Depends on how much you need and when you need it, and if you're comfortable carrying around that much money. (We separated it between the two of us).

Have fun!

Kerry, your bank sets your daily limit. Some ATMs, though, have limits of their own for each transaction. Say your limit is $1000. If the ATM's limit is $500 you would just need to do two withdrawals to get your money, or perhaps do one withdrawal with that machine and one withdrawal at another. Ask your bank what their daily limit is and see if you can have it increased during your trip.

Kira, I was thinking of doing exactly what you did too. I think I'll have to bring the cash for the first apartment at the very least, since they will want it upon arrival on the first day. I was thinking about getting my husband a moneybelt (not the kind that R. Steves sells, but the kind that looks like a belt and has a zippered compartment on the inside). I may pre buy the euros if the exchange rate dips down again. I know I'll pay a higher rate for the transaction. The trip isn't until July.

This is exactly my question, only we are headed to England.Instead of carrying BPS around in our money belts to pay for the apartment, and paying the exchange rate here at the origination point, would there be an advantage to bring the payment in travelers checks (I know, clunky)and exchange them in a bank in London? Can you get travelers checks in foreign currency? Thanks for any ideas.

Traveller's checks are seldom accepted, at least by merchants. Landlords may differ but likely will want cash
You can get your bank to give you a higher withdraw amount. We have done so with our bank. It is also a good idea to have two ATM cards which draw on differing accounts.

My family and I travelled europe last summer and had to pay cash for apartments as you are going to do. We used our ATM the whole time and took money out in the highe increments that we could. We had spoke to our bank before leaving and told them what we were doing and why. We requested and the bank increased our daily withdrawal limited. We also had called our credit card companies and told them and they also raised our cash withdraw limit. I would advise not to use credit card cash withdraw as the interest rates and service fees will kill you but it is an option.

happy travels

Thanks for the good advice. I'll bring debit cards for two different accounts and have both banks increase the daily withdrawal limit.

Kerry,
A couple things to check when going to the bank to raise your withdrawal limit. Is the limit per card or per account? What are the charges, foreign transaction fee and out of network withdrawal?
When I have an apartment the first day I ask the key holder where is the closest bancomat? They usually walk me to it and I withdraw the money and pay them. This way you don't have a large amount of money on you.