Euro

5,10 and 20 are most commonly used ,not seen a 50 euro note for a while as many places just don't accept them as there were a lot of forgeries around.

Voting with unclegus: avoid the 50's if possible. Also make sure you have some coin in your pocket at all times for restrooms which require a small fee to access.

2 euro coins

I try to get a mix of 5s, 10s, and 20s like others said. Avoid 50s if at all possible. I once got some from an ATM and they were very hard to get rid of.

Many small shops and cafes won’t have a great deal of change on hand first thing in the morning. Smaller bills are very much preferred. Coins are useful not only for restrooms (having a pocketful of change makes you the man of the hour when your group ‘needs to go’) but a few euros in coins can buy a coffee and a pastry for breakfast. 50s and 100s are a serious pain in the neck to break without seeking out a bank.

The ATM in Spain recently gave me quite a few 50 notes, which I have had no problems using in restaurants, although I wouldn’t want to buy something costing 2 euros with a 50 note. Same at home. Any smaller denomination is more practical.

I do not find 50 euros as difficult as they say, but 20 euros are easier to deal with. 100 euros are quite rare as ATM machines do not dispense them, 200 and 500 euros are mostly used by banks.

If I get 50's, I save them to pay for my BnB/hotel rooms, where they require cash only.

Keep track of your 1 and 2 euro coins that you get as change from purchases. With US currency I tend to not use coins and toss them in a jar at home to be cashed in at the bank or the machine at a later date. Since the Euro has 1-and-2 euro coins they are much more widely used. Takes a little getting used to for me, but if I don't make it a point to use them I can easily end up with 20 euros in coins which is heavy!

I've never had a hard time spending 50 Euro notes but, as alluded to above, I wouldn't try to use one for a 1- or 2-Euro purchase. Typically use them in restaurants or shops.

I’ve never had any issues changing 50€ or even 100€, anywhere.
The 50€ are probably the most common denomination.
Obviously if all you need is to pay for a 0.80€ espresso, you might find the occasional place that is reluctant to change a 50€ bill, however even for small purchases I’ve never had any problems.

Most of my cash purchases are quite small, because I use my mileage credit card whenever I can. I have had cashiers ask me for a smaller bill when I even tried to use a 20-euro note, so I avoid 50-euro bills to the maximum degree possible--up to and including making a lot of 40-euro ATM withdrawals. (I pay no ATM fees.) It's my impression that large bills are a bit more likely to be a problem in Italy than in many other countries, but at least people are no longer given sticks of gum in lieu of coin change.

When you use an ATM you don’t know what denominations it will give. I always enter an amount not divisable by 50 so I know I’ll get at least some €20 notes. Even better if you can enter an amount ending in 5!

I agree with Roberto. He is usually correct. No worries on the 50's.

I agree with Roberto, I do not understand this bias against €50 and €100. So long as what you are buying as above about ¼ of the value of the note (for example food), I don't see a problem. A large number of small denominations just makes my wallet fatter.

Maybe I am biased, because the machines in Switzerland which dispense Euros only have €50 and €100, but they dispense Franks in CHF 100, CHF 200 and in one case CHF 1000.

There is no problem with 50 Euro notes. Just don’t try to foist one off on a small shopkeeper first thing in the morning. That doesn’t work anywhere.

50 EUR notes (and 100 EUR) notes are useful for large cash transactions. A number of years ago a German friend prepaid for a bike tour and I needed to make a number of 500 EUR withdrawals from ATMS over the course of a number of days in Paris before getting to Germany. Fortunately, the Paris ATMs were amount sensitive delivered large denomination notes for 500 EUR withdrawals. Carrying around several thousands in 20 EUR notes would have been inconvenient.

That said, for pocket cash 5 and 10 EUR notes and 1 and 2 EUR coins are the most convenient since I usually charge purchases over 15 or 20 EUR depending on my cash supply.

Like many others, I try to stay with the €5, €10, and €20 notes. I haven’t had any trouble spending €50 notes, but generally use them at restaurants, not to buy a soda and snack. Coins for restroom come in very handy, but one can accumulate a large number of coins in a short period of time. I try to spend the majority of coins before returning to the states since you won’t be able to exchange them at currency exchanges. A couple months ago in Belgium I forgot to click on how I wanted my money dispensed and got it in €100 notes. Didn’t have any trouble spending them in restaurants or paying a hotel bill, but couldn’t get a bank to change them to smaller bills.

Since the denomination of the smallest bill is 5€, it is very easy to accumulate lots of coins. Carry a wallet that can accommodate coins and make your best effort to use those coins when you pay for stuff, rather than just handing out a bill. Shop owners appreciate the coins too.

And if you have euro-denominated coins left at the end, it just means that on your next trip you can use the toilet in the train station right away without buying a candy bar to break a €20.

To the people who gave me recommendations about the euro,thank you all.Gives peace of mind when you're a first time traveler to Europe. Love this very helpful forum. Enjoy your day.

We found that if we hit an ATM for 500 euro, it will dispense 200 euro in twenties, and 300 euro in fifties.
There is much less paying for small amounts using plastic than you would experience in Australia.

We use 50 euro notes all the time with no problems. I have never heard of avoiding 50s.