Renting apartment in Florence

Several thousand euro? How expensive is your place? O.O
All the places I'm staying in Italy want cash, but I plan to get it by ATM. Owners are usually OK with being paid in a couple hunks; they understand ATM limits. 2 places I booked wanted a deposit. One, I sent a check (they had a US address) and the other used paypal. Are you booking through VRBO.com?

When renting a place in Europe, where I go every summer, that requires payment upon arrival, I have always told the owner/manager that I would need 2 or so days to get the total amount from an ATM machine using a DEBIT card attached to a CHECKING account. Never had a problem with that but it has only come up when staying for more than a couple of days. I always have my DEBIT card issuing financial institution raise my daily withdrawal limit from ATMs for the time I am traveling and always notify them of when and where I will be traveling. I have found no cheaper way to get European currency that from ATM machines in Europe and I do not take any European currency with me. I have not always inspected the room where I have a reservation before handing over lots of $ as someone else suggested but will most likely do that from now on. Good luck.

The deposit can be handled one of two ways. The first way is through mailing a check (not advisable) and the second is through paypal. This is a secure, fast and reliable way to send a deposit. As far as cash upon arrival is concerned, I think carrying the wad of cash is the only option, if only for a bit. I've always double checked the amount due and picked it up from an atm right before arriving at destination. This is how i've always done these types of transactions and it's worked fine. Someone else might have a better idea. Also, before you give the person the cash, be sure to check out the apartment, make sure it's legit. Have a great trip!!

Thanks for the reply... PayPal is good for the deposit. It seems there is a limit on how much I can withdraw from my ATM each day. Is there a better option to withdraw a large sum. The currency exchange booth at the airport is fairly expensive.. is there acheaper option?

I'd confirm with the rental agent or owner that they will accept very large bills (like 500's) and then order them from my bank in the states and take them along. You can specify the denominations when you order them. It will usually take a few days to get them in.