Regarding How Much Euros to Carry From USA into Italy and Best cash withdrawal options

I generally follow Rick Steve's money tips:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/money/cash-tips
That said, I bring the spare (unspent) Euros from past trips.

When I travel to new non-Euro countries, I do follow RS' advice and acquire local currency from the airport ATM. I do carry a back-up ATM/Debit card from a second financial institution and have a couple of hundred USD as a back up. So far I have not had any problem getting FX on arrival other than the Venice VCE Airport ATM would not allow a 300 EUR withdraw. It did allow a 200 EUR withdraw.

Euros- common advice here is to just use the ATM. It is cheapest. I do bring maybe 100 euros with me, it's just psychologically easier than worrying about finding an ATM right away. Most cabs, trains, and busses from the airport only take cash so you need it right away. So I bring Euros with me, usually saved from my last trip, but I admit it costs more. Once I'm in town there's an ATM on every corner so there's no problem replenishing my cash later.

Most ATMs will allow 200-300. I can't recommend specific ones, but people tend to like ones in the vestibule of bank branches for security.

If any ATM (or credit card purchase) asks if you want to be charged in Euros or Dollars, always pick Euros. That way the bank sets the rate, not the establishment.

How much money to withdraw from an ATM at a given time, as well as how much to bring with you from the USA is a personal preference, but our strategy lately has been as follows:

1.) It's always nice to have at least a little cash with you before you leave the airport, for tips, transactions where a credit card won't work, etc. Having the benefit of coming home with some Euros (but maybe only €50) from the last trip, I'm OK until I get into town.

2.) Years and years ago, I used our local bank in the Denver area to get foreign currency, but that was before Euros, and involved more than one country and more than one currency. We also probably didn't get a great exchange rate, as our bank charged us for the convenience of having foreign cash before we left the USA. I suspect that you'll get a similar, unfavorable exchange rate, and with the ease and security offered by modern ATM's in Europe, there's no benefit to getting Euros at home, unless you won't feel safe without them. Getting the Euros at home is just more stuff to have to carry on the plane in your money belt, and, again, it's going to cost you more $$$ than if you waited until you got to Europe. Having said that, the Euro-to-Dollar exchange rate is starting to go against the dollar more lately, so the longer it is before you actually get the Euros into your hands, the more expensive they're going to be when you actually get them. Things could change again in favor of the dollar, though, and it's probably not worth stocking up on Euros now, in the hopes you'll get them cheaper than if you waited until your trip.

3.) By the same token, our sense is that ATM's at the airport (especially if they're Travelex ATM's and not from a local bank) are going to give you a poor exchange rate. For that reason, IF we need to get any cash at an airport for any reason, we get the smallest amount we need to squeak by on, and then get our €250 or more once we get to a proper ATM in a safe location in town.

4.) We don't have an account with BOA, but our Checking Account Debit Card comes with just a $3 fee for making foreign withdrawals. that's not a huge amount, but it adds up, so we limit our withdrawals, and get large amounts at one time, to limit our extra fees. Some ATM's only let you take out a maximum amount at one time, so it varies, but we haven't worried about what Bank's ATM we use, as long as it's a legitimate bank (Santander, BNP Parabas, Credit Lyonnais, Bank of England . . . depends where you're visiting). If there's a foreign bank that has a reciprocal relationship with BOA and won't change you any extra withdrawal fees, that would be the one to use, if applicable.

5.) Nothing to look out for, really, unless some shady person is hanging around the ATM. If you have a travelling companion, they can keep a lookout while you withdraw cash. Otherwise, find another ATM, but we generally haven't run into any ATM's in bad, poorly-lit places, or with suspicious characters hanging around.

A couple recommendations:

1. Don't try to get Euro cash at all before going to Europe. The exchange rate in the US will be far more expensive than simply using an ATM to draw cash once you arrive. There's no need to immediately have hundreds of Euros on hand when you board the plane to Europe. People in Europe use credit and debit cards nearly as much as Americans do (and in some countries, even more so), so it's not like you'll need to use cash much more than you normally would in the USA. We have traveled to Europe several times, with zero cash (dollars or euros) in our wallets, and only a couple credit cards and a debit card, and been absolutely fine. In fact, we often go an entire day or two without using any cash. Carrying around and displaying large stacks of cash is risky. Would you carry around hundreds of dollars daily here in the US?

2. Try not to use an airport ATM if you can help it, since they have much higher fees than ATMs you'll find in town - or perhaps only draw as much as you need to pay for a taxi to get out of the airport.

3. There are ATMs everywhere, but for safety and convenience, it's best to use one that is inside or on the outside wall of a bank, or one that prominently displays a bank logo. Just look to make sure it has a Visa or Mastercard (or Maestro) logo that matches whatever card you're going to use. And look for an English button (could also say "EN" or have a UK flag symbol). If it doesn't offer an English menu, move on to another one, as any reputable one will offer English.

4. Don't worry too much about this, but for safety, always approach/use an ATM with your travelling partner, and have your partner look around while you're drawing cash, to make sure no strangers approach and try to "help" (a common scam / theft). If someone does, have your partner prevent them from engaging directly with you while you operate the ATM and put away the cash, and keep yourself focused on the task and don't look up at all. Scammers likely won't even try anything if they see there's two of you.

5. Do your credit cards / debit cards have "chips" in them? If so, you're golden, that means you've got basically the same kind of "chip" card that Europeans have been carrying for years. Much outdated advice to Americans using credit cards in Europe comes from several years ago before American banks started offering chip cards. Make sure you know the PIN numbers of all your cards - and in fact, request the PIN numbers to your credit cards, which you may not know, since we usually still sign for things in the US, rather than use PIN. That said, even after you use a chip card in Europe, they may ask you to sign the screen or sign a printed receipt, depending on how your bank is set up.

If you don't have a chip in any of your cards, you probably still have time to call up your bank / CC company and request one. Virtually all issuers in the US now offer, if not mandate, chip cards these days.

1. Check to see if any of your credit cards have international transaction fees, or more to the point, if any of them offer "no international transaction fees" (many travel-oriented and airline cards do this now). If the latter is true, try to use your credit card as much as possible, as you'll get a much better conversion rate than if you constantly pay ATM fees to draw out cash.

2. If you really want to save money, and have time to set it up, there are many banks besides BofA, that offer fee-free ATM withdrawals these days. Charles Schwab Bank, in particular, refunds ATM fees for any ATM in the world. That's what we use, and we don't have to think twice about using any ATM, even expensive airport ones, since Schwab redeposits all the fees charged by the ATMs back into our checking account at the end of every month!

The strategies that have worked for you in other countries should work just as well in Italy. There are no special issues there. I've never had a problem with various ATMs that I've used in Italy. If one at the airport is charging a fee, then the fee will be stated up front.

In addition to the countries that B of A mentions for these partner banks, several of them will also be represented in Italy, not only BNL D'Italia. DeutscheBank, for instance, has locations in both cities and allows large withdrawals. Any way, these are not the only banks that will work.

Thank you all for the clear and prompt responses.

I think it reinforces my strategy to not make an effort in converting $ to Euros prior to Landing in Italy. I will get just enough at the airport to get us by and then use the ATm's at the cities as and when i need it.

Airport ATM's are fine as long as they are affiliated with a bank and not a Travelex ripoff machine. Will not be hard to find a bank-affiliated ATM at arrival airport.

As a general rule, the least expensive way of getting local currency is from an ATM at your destination.
On the other hand, it's always a good idea, in my opinion, to have at least some local currency in hand when you land. That eliminates the problem of trying to find a machine, the stress of hoping it works (they do occasionally malfunction), and doing all that while you are somewhat jet lagged. Getting two or three hundred Euros from your local bank will cost you a little more. But to me the small extra amount 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