Cash?

Sure, very common. Europe is more cash oriented than the US. On our trips we pay cash for everything and only use a credit card the last couple of days when we are managing our cash flow so that we return home with 100 to 200 Euro for the next trip. Generally we carry about a 100 Euro a day to cover misc expenses during that day. Sometime more if we know we are spending more that day.

What items do the tours want you to pay cash for? Is it the tip for the tour director and bus driver? What company are you taking the tour with? If it's a Rick Steves' tour, then the tips are included. As for funds to have with you, how long is your tour? If you are paying per withdrawal at an ATM, then I would take out several days worth of cash. Some banks charge $5, or more, per withdrawl plus a percentage. This can add up quickly. I take several hundreds of Euros out at a time and just keep it in my money belt. I never know where the next ATM is going to be and how do you know if your tour will allow time to stop at one. The amount of money for your daily food and drinks just depends on what you like to eat and where your tour takes you. Will you be close to a grocery store where you could get picnic supplies and drinks for lunch? Or, are you going to be at an Autogrill where it's fast food lasagna? Are you going to have wine with dinner? I would say roughly 40-50 euros per day.

It would sure get you better answers if you were to provide more information in your original post. What tour? Where is the tour? How long? Cash price to be paid?

One of the tours is a "Slow Days in Tuscany" wine tour & the other is a Tour of Pompeii day (5hr?) tour. Both have pick-up & drop off included. I do know that our bank will charge $5 per ATM withdrawal, so I will plan to do several day's expenses each withdrawal to minimize bank fees. Great idea to return home with euros for next trip! We'll pretty much be eating fairly light & trying out local restaurants. There will be wine involved, but not too much so I think 100 euros a day should work. Thanks for the advice!

Anne:
If you can, open an account with Charles Schwab. There are no ATM fees (they are all refunded) and no international transaction fees. Then you won;t have to think about using an ATM and can do so when you need to. We tend to carry about 50 euros each as pocket money each day, and 200 or so each in a money belt when traveling. Laurel

For the tours you are referring to, yes, cash is the norm. I think budgeting 100 euros per day for food, drinks and souvenirs is more than enough. Generally, for lunch, we do a picnic by purchasing meat, cheese and breads at a local grocery store. Soda, water, beer and wine (for dinner), along with pastries/cookies, rounds out the meal. We'll even have this for dinner if we don't want to venture out. I also have the Charles Schwab ATM account. However, you need a bit of lead time to open it and test it to make sure it's working. Also, it's a money market account so there is some paperwork that needs to be filled out. I just used mine in December and it works great. Have a great trip!

You mention about being concerned "about caring around a lot of cash" Just how expensive are those tours anyway?
Are they on the same day so that would require you to get enough cash to pay for both? My wife an I go to Europe every summer and usually have 100E each in our money belts with no concerns about it. Happy travels.