Cash, credit or ATM advise for 12 days in germany

Gas stations take credit cards.

ATMs have no fees, your bank may have some.

You'll probably use mostly cash in restaurants out of the main tourist areas.

I have no experience anywhere with debit cards.

I use cash as much as possible in Germany, because the places (lodging, restaurants) that take credit cards are usually the more expensive places. I get it from ATMs. Even with ATM fees, I find I pay less with cash.

It is possible to find credit cards (eg, United Explorer) with no fees in Europe. My account at Wells Fargo gives me two fee-less ATM withdrawals per calendar month (four if my trip spans two months).

Here's Rick's page of money tips. Read all the links, and you'll be an expert: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money

To start, just use your ATM card at the first ATM you see, and get out €480. This way, you have at least one €10 and one €20 bill (even if the rest are €50's). If you need more, replenish at ATM's (they're everywhere). If you have extra at the end of your trip, either save it for a future trip, or use it to pay down your last hotel bill (you can put the balance on your credit card).

Call your banks and your credit cards to check on their fees for foreign withdrawals. If they are too high for you, consider getting another account just for travel. Credit unions, Charles Schwab, and TD Bank are three sources of no-fee ATM cards. Many Capital One credit cards have no fees for foreign use.

480€ is over $600. Most people have a $500 limit (I did up mine for the last trip). For under $500, you can get 370€. If that's not enough small bills, get 345€ for about $460.

In my experience, most ATMs in Germany give the first 100€ in small bills (3 @ 20€, 3 @ 10€, 2 @ 5€, or something like that), then the rest in 50s.

Using ATMS to get cash and using your credit card where it is accepted will generally give you the best possible exchange rate, versus changing currency any other way. Do withdraw near the maximum that any machine will give you. Your debit card also has a daily withdrawal limit; check it with your bank and ask about raising it. When lots of vendors prefer cash, you may need to hit the cash machine every day. Plan ahead if you'll need a lot of cash to check out of a hotel.

Harold's 500 EUR is possible from ATMs. I had had BofA temporarily up my daily limit to $700 USD. That said, some cash machines have lower limits than what your home bank will allow. Be advised that some European ATMs are pretty smart and will provide large denomination bills (100 Euro notes) for larger withdraws. The 100 Euro notes are convenient in terms of bulk but can be difficult using to pay for small purchases.

RE: Lee and Edgar's posts: I find every ATM is different as to what sort of bills it dispenses, even in the same country. And of course, Murphy's Law comes in to play. When I want big bills to pay a hotel, the machine gives me a fistful of €20's; when I want small bills, I get €100's.

My bank has a daily limit of $730, so I can indeed get €480 as my first withdrawal without difficulty. But Lee is right, you have to check what your bank's daily limit is. Edgar's right too - you can often have it raised before you leave, if you ask. You should then take this amount and convert it into Euros using www.xe.com or www.oanda.com, so you'll know how much you can take out per day. As said, an individual machine may have a lower limit than your daily limit, so you may need to make more than one withdrawal if you need more money at once.

We have a prepaid debit card from AAA. We haven't used it in Europe yet, but it was great in Asia and Mexico. You don't have to worry about jeopardizing your bank account. I hope it works well in Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

some ATM's allow you to choose what denominations you want.