Getting the best exchange for your money
What is the best way to exchange your US dollars to Euros in Italy? The answer is simple: ATMs. Out of the several available options (exchange offices, traveler’s checks, credit card withdrawals, etc), the most convenient and practical way remains to use your debit card in one of the many Bancomat machines (that’s how ATMs are called in Italy).
Although both yours and the Italian bank may charge a little fee, in our experience a few Euros fee is well worth your piece of mind to avoid carrying along large amount of cash all the time.
That said, it’s always a good idea to keep a safe amount of cash for emergencies, possibly in a hidden money belt like Rick Steves’ silk one.
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Name: Paolo and Francesca Tosolini
Location: Bellevue, Washington, United States
Paolo was born and raised in Italy for his first 30 years. He now lives in Seattle, WA (USA) where he works for Microsoft as a New Media Business Manager.
Francesca worked as a travel agent before choosing the career of full time mom of two beautiful kids.
Through this blog, Paolo and Francesca want to share an insider view of the Italian culture, and offer useful tips and information to make your trip to Italy the most enjoyable ever.
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Bancomat, not bankomat…
You are right, BanComat is the correct way. Let me fix the posting. Thanks
Note that some US banks – Bank of America, for example – require too long of an ATM pin to use on the vast maority of Italin ATM machines. You should be sure you have a card that requires a 4-6 digit pin to get cash. We got stuck on our last trip and ended up having to pay large fees with cash advances on a credit card, as opposed to simply withdrawing from our checking account. Our concierge said this was happening fairly frequently for US visitors.