We are currently in Italy and we are having trouble finding reputable places to exchange our US dollars for Euros. This is our first trip overseas that wasn't a cruise so our lack of experience is showing. We will be in Verona for a partial day and then in Venice for the overnight on Sunday night. Local banks do not exchange money.
I admit that I should have researched this part of our vacation prior to our trip.
JGuz
Use your ATM card in a bank ATM machine and bring your greenbacks home. Be sure to use a bank owned machine and be careful about who is around you. Cover your band as you enter the code. Now go have fun and keep your wallet hidden in a deep pocket if you aren't using a money belt.
Poste Italiane, the Italian Post Office is the place to exchange dollars for euro. You'll have to show your Passport to the clerk and they'll fill out a short form, but you get the current Google rate for the day of exchange, No Added fees.
Apparently using ATMs with the "maestro" sign gets u a very good rate...good luck!
If you have not already notified your bank that you'll be using your ATM / Debit Card in Italy please do so now. Otherwise they'll put a "lock" on it and it'll be useless. If push comes to shove, there is probably a currency exchange place at the Venice Airport. Certainly not the best exchange rate there, but you might be able to change enough to get by until you can be sure the your bank knows you'll be using the Debit Card at Italian ATMs.
I admit that I should have researched this part of our vacation prior
to our trip.
Uh, yeah. Cash exchange is one of the worst ways to get local currency. Not sure if the Post Offices will be open on the weekend. As Bets said, stow your US cash away in your moneybelt. Use your ATM card (NOT YOUR CREDIT CARD!!) at a bank owned ATM. Preferably AT the bank, and during business hours, in case the machine eats your card. Hopefully you notified your bank and CC companies that you would be using them in Europe (other wise they may freeze your account).
To avoid extra transaction fees, taking out one large sum (up to your daily limit) will be better than several small withdrawals. But the ATM will also have a limit on how much it will dispense per transaction. Once you've gotten your cash, head for the nearest bathroom (or your hotel room if it's close by). Put all the cash into your moneybelt except for the amount you will need for the day. Put your ATM card back in the moneybelt, too.
Best of luck on the rest of your trip.
@CJean:
Why do you have to go to a bathroom to put your cash in your money belt? Why don't you just put your cash into your money belt right after you take it out of your bank account? When you buy something and you get change, do you just put the change away right away or do you have to hold your change until you find a bathroom so that nobody will see you putting your money away?
I don't, I don't go to the bathroom to put money in my neck wallet or money belt, stopped that after I dropped everything in the toilet. I tuck the money away immediately, right after I get it, then I move away from the ATM.
Why do you have to go to a bathroom to put your cash in your money
belt? Why don't you just put your cash into your money belt right
after you take it out of your bank account? When you buy something and
you get change, do you just put the change away right away or do you
have to hold your change until you find a bathroom so that nobody will
see you putting your money away?
The idea is to not advertise to everyone in the vicinity that you're walking around with several hundred euros in cash. No one should know you have a moneybelt (or pouch). You shouldn't be accessing it (taking money out or putting it in) in public. Take the cash from the machine, stuff it deep in a bag, then go somewhere private to safely stow it away.
When I buy something and get change, that change goes into my wallet and then into my purse.. And I guarantee the change won't be a stack of €50s.
@MikeL: a money belt is not supposed to be visible to those around you; you shouldn't reach in and get stuff out of it in public. Never mind the optics of reaching into the front of your pants and rummaging around, you are trying not to let people know where you are keeping your valuables. The idea is to stash the bulk of your money in it discreetly and securely, which is why going to a bathroom was recommended. You should keep what you need for the day in a wallet or purse you can reach more readily. The wallet is where you put your change. If someone steals your wallet, they should get at most 50 Euros or so, not your credit cards and passport and the rest of your cash.
Or were you trying to say you just think money belts are dumb? I admit I'm not a regular user of money belts, but I use them on long travel days when I have all my things with me. On non-travel days, I usually only have a bit of cash and one card with me in my purse.
To the OP, yes, use your bank card at a bank-owned ATM to minimize fees.
Mike L,
The money belt is where you keep your money, cards, and passport hidden when you won't be using. It is not your wallet for daily cash and especially not coin change. When used correctly, a money belt is never accessed in public and is invisible so no one knows you have it on.
Regarding the ATM (look for Bancomat sign) withdrawal limit, it may be less than your own bank's daily limit. If so, your transaction will be denied. Just choose the bank's suggested limit, and if you need more, do another transaction.
