Dollars to Euros Conversion

In country is always more favorable as long as you do a withdrawal from an ATM using your debit card. Do not go to a money exchange.

Also, when you use a credit card for a purchase, decline any offer to charge you in US dollars, call Dynamic Currency Conversion. It favors the merchant.

creekside39, dont think of it as "conversion" or "exchange". You are buying euro, and the price is different however you get them. And the best price is via bank-owned ATMs (bancomats in Italy).

money tips

It's better not to convert at all - any exchange that requires a storefront of some kind and a person. Just use a good debit card (low fees, like 1%) and withdraw EU at an ATM. Or use your credit card most of the time, which should work fine. Pick one with 0% foreign exchange fees.

Is there a reason why you want to use Euros rather than a credit card or Google Pay/Apple Pay?

And as stated......don't bring U.S. Dollars to change into Euros. Just bring your ATM card--make sure it has a 4 digit pin--and withdraw funds from an ATM.

If you search this forum, you'll see many threads on how contactless payments are extremely popular in much of Europe.

Definitely buy Euros in Italy. Always try and use a bank ATM. There are many stand alone ATMs that charge a large fee. For the most part use your credit card as there are very few places that are cash only.

Buy Euros in Italy, using an ATM machine at any bank ATM (Bancomat).
I like to have a couple hundred of hard cash euro when I land, so I don’t have lo took for an ATM machine at the airport when I arrive. Since I always have plenty of euro left from my previous trip, I don’t need to buy euros in the US, but if you just buy $200 or so worth of euro in the US, although the exchange rate you’ll get is lousy, it won’t be a huge extra fee.

Merriam-Webster views 'exchange' as a proper term to describe the act of using one currency to obtain another

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exchange

"Convert" is also a proper term ( see 2c) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/convert

'Convert' / 'Exchange' / 'Buy' all equally valid

As already noted, best exchange rate would be using a Bank affiliated ATM at your destination

@joe32, yes, but experience says in this context, exchanged and converted are often construed by infrequent travelers to mean its a fixed cost transaction. Maybe just my opinion, but I think "buy" helps to frame the transaction in more understandable terms.

hey hey creekside39
everyone has their own opinions about getting euros here in the states or waiting till you reach your destination.
i'm on the side to get about 200E here at wells fargo bank in bay area. costs me about $20-30 but i'm happy to have them. i ask for small bills.
years back when we landed in rome, so many people headed to the 2 ATM's in airport, one was broken and other had a huge line. now i've heard they have changed them to travelex machines that charge a higher fee. there's only so much that ATM can hold. learned my lesson, pick up here and walked by all those people waiting, very frustrated, to taxi stand. had enough for taxi ride to apartment and then found an ATM within a bank and got more when needed near to our place.
make sure you tell your bank/credit union you are traveling out of country, expiration date is good.
have a safe and enjoyable trip.
aloha

I agree with *pupule that having euros when you arrive is good as the ATMs/bancomat may not be readily accessible/broken/long lines. That being said, I hardly ever arrived with much local currency when I used to travel more frequently, as I knew exactly where in that airport I could get it. Not so this trip. We will arrive in Bologna at 6pm after a long day and I don’t want to try to find that bancomat, if there is one (and research says it’s now a Travelex experience). With euros in hand, we can easily pay cash if need be for taxi, etc. that night. May find I don’t need it, but the fee I paid to have euro this time gives me some peace of mind to know that my travel wracked brain won’t need to try to figure out obtaining currency upon arrival.