Euros before I go?

"Should I get euros here, like from AmEx? And if yes, how much?"

This has two common answers, and lots and lots and lots of post with people arguing the two answers over and over and over.

1) Yes, get about €100-200 before you go. You will not get as good an exchange rate as you will by using your ATM card in an ATM in Italy, but it's worth it for the convenience of not having to hassle about money on arrival, jet lagged.
2) No. Why would you want to pay extra for your money, when every airport has ATM's with better rates than you can get in the US, and when almost everyone takes credit cards anyway?

If you know anyone who has euros left over from a prior trip, talk to them about buying some from them. This is "best of both worlds" - you get some advance euros and don't have to pay a premium for them.

For more money tips, do read all of the links in Rick's page, and you'll be an expert: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money

As for your train tickets: if you can commit to non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets, you can book your trains in advance and save a lot of money. On the other hand, if you need full flexibility (or if the advance purchase discount tickets are sold out on your routes for your dates), you can buy tickets in Italy. For long distance trains, there are three fares. Super Economy (cheapest) is fully non-refundable and non-exchangeable; if you do not take the EXACT train on your ticket, it becomes scrap paper. Economy (mid-price) is not refundable, but you can apply its value to a new ticket if you exchange it before travel. And Base fare (highest) is fully exchangeable and refundable. The tickets never go down in price; once a fare is sold out, it's gone, and cheapest fares sell out first.

Go to Trenitalia http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en and look at the prices for your travel dates. For airport to Milan and Milan to Varenna, buy it in Italy (no price advantage to advance purchase, and the online tickets have more restrictions). For Varenna to Venice, Venice to Florence, and Florence to Rome, you'll save with advance purchase if discounts are still available. And for Rome to Sorrento, you can buy advance purchase from Rome to Naples (and back), but from Naples to Sorrento you'll take the Circumvesuviana train (no advance purchase possible or necessary).

When looking at Trenitalia (even the English page I linked above), you need the Italian names of the train stations:

Varenna-Esino
Venezia Santa Lucia (Venezia SL)
Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Firenze SMN)
Roma Termini
Napoli Centrale

Great reply above! I want to add that there is no "right" way to do this. What matters is the way that you feel comfortable with. I do a combination of both. A little pocket money for arrival (after your first trip you just save it from your last) and then an ATM machine as I go.

Here are a few other money tips:
1. Notify banks you will be traveling
2. Know what your credit card and debit card policies are. Most of us make sure that we are using cards with no foreign transaction fees and no ATM fees. You don't want to return home to fees that you weren't expecting.

I don't find the need to buy Euros before traveling to Europe. I simply use my ATM upon arrival, and I carry a few hundred USD as a backup, to exchange at an airport currency exchange as a last resort, in case the airport ATM isn't working and I MUST have some cash. There is ALWAYS a currency exchange at the big airports, and even though it would be a poor exchange rate, it's a last resort, so so what? I've never needed to do it. If I buy Euros in the US before leaving home, I'm guaranteeing I'll pay the poor rate.

Even, then, if the airport ATM isn't working, I can also use one of my credit cards to get into town (e.g. from the airport by train into Milan).

For trains, try www.trainline.eu - they sell tickes to both of Italy's competing raillines, Trenitalia (which is the big one) and the smaller Italo. You can even but tickets with your smart phone, if you have one, and show the tickets on your phone or tablet.

Carol is correct -- there is no "right" way to do this. The most important thing is doing it the way you feel the most comfortable. This is a subject that will bring out many opinions. In fact, asking two people will probably get you three opinions.

It's always a good idea, in my opinion, to have some local currency in hand when you land. Getting a hundred or two hundred Euros from your local bank will cost you a little more, but it eliminates the hassle of trying to find a machine, the stress of hoping it works (they do occasionally malfunction), and doing it all while somewhat jet lagged. To me the small amount extra it cost to have money in hand when arriving is money well spent, and the extra cost relative to the overall cost of the trip is not, in my opinion, that much. Just one point of view -- not three.

The correct answer is whatever makes you happy.

I do not pre-buy FX before a trip relying on obtaining Euros from a local ATM when I land in Euroland. Finding working airport ATMs has not been a problem. I did find that the Venice Airport ATM seemed to have a machine limit of 200 EUR.

While I don't pre-buy Euros, I'm coming to the conclusion that those who have to ask your question would likely be happy having a small supply of FX (say 100 EUR) in hand on landing in a foreign country. And that said, Rick's FAQ response to the money question(s) is good advice: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips

If you’re arriving at Malpensa, you can get Euros at the Banco Popolare di Sandrio ATM machine in the international arrivals area.

Once in Europe, you may encounter an ATM machine that offers to calculate your withdrawal in dollars rather than euros. Restaurants, hotels and shops occasionally do the same. Your answer should be to choose euros. If you let anyone charge you in dollars, you will be wasting money, because that person/bank/etc. will use a conversion rate in his favor.

As already suggested, you should call your bank and your credit-card issuers to find out what sort of extra charges you will face when you use your ATM card and credit cards overseas. Policies vary. A lot of us have acquired cards that charge no fees or minimal fees; they do exist. You may find that one or more of your cards has policies that are unfriendly to you, in which case you may want to open a new account for use during your trip. At the very least, you'll know whether you're going to get hit with a $5 charge by your bank every time you go to an ATM. You'll also no upfront whether you are better off charging as much as possible due to lower fees.

A few European ATMs are beginning to charge fees to users. Always read the screen. If you don't like what you see, cancel the transaction, retrieve your card and go to an ATM belonging to a different bank. It's a good idea to use ATMs located at banks and during banking hours whenever possible. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, you can just walk into the bank and ask for help. This suggestion is one I used to ignore, but now that I've had the experience of an ATM swallowing my card, you better believe I'm paying more attention to my timing.

Because things do occasionally happen, it's a very good idea to travel with more than one ATM card and more than one credit card. The extra cards should be kept in totally separate places. I lock mine in my suitcase except on travel days when they're in a money belt.

Really helpful posts. I thank acraven for answering my question before I asked it. While in the UK and Ireland last year, restaurants and so on would ask if I wanted to pay in dollars (on my cad) but I refused. However, I discovered that my bank (Chase) does add a small amount for a conversion fee to each transaction. They also charge a fee for withdrawing via ATM.

Good decision, Zazie. Believe it or not, your bank would still have charged you that conversion fee if you had let your charges go through in US dollars! It's a real racket.

If you plan to continue traveling, you might want to explore getting a different credit card that won't charge such fees.

Hello- I just bought train tickets on Trenitalia and the station name for Venice is "Venezia S. Lucia". If you use that official site you will be on a time limit to purchase your tickets. It is a frustrating procedure, but the key I found out is to type slowly and let each letter or number register before proceeding to the next. Being with people who wanted the tickets secured before our trip I found this to be an overall easy purchase. Follow the directions and you will be able to print the tickets with the bar code and be on your way. Read their instructions for validation...Happy Travels

I am the poster child of Murphy's Law. So I always try to plan a little in advance. I always obtain a little of the local currency (if possible) before we leave the States. Our bank used to give us a really decent exchange rate, but lately they seem to have forgotten how to handle the process at all. Go figure. (Or see Murphy's Law above.)

Anyway, as others have said, there is no right answer to this question. There is only what makes you feel most comfortable.

If the other people in your party also carry ATM/debit cards, that will give you additional reassurance. Only once have I had an ATM not recognize my card, and my companion was able to get cash from the same machine with her card from a different institution so we could get a cab from the airport. And like many people here, I now carry euros from the prior trip.