How much Cash to bring

[sully108]

We will be in Rome a few days prior to boarding. How much Euros should we bring, there are two adults, to get us thru a few days in Rome as well as two days in Venice?

 

Also should we bring more for the rest of the trip or rely on ATMS

[D4]

There isn't one right answer for everyone.

 

Here are some things to consider: Will your hotels take a credit card? (Sometimes there is a discount for paying cash.) How are you getting to your hotels (bus, train, taxi, private transfer)? Have you prepaid for anything such as Vatican Museum tickets? What kind of meals will you have - expensive or not? Do you buy a lot of souvenirs?

 

I always like to have enough euros to get through the first 24 hours and after that we use ATMs. Make sure you have multiple sources of money. We have 2 checking accounts from 2 different banks that we only use for travel and we each bring an ATM card for each account. (Notify your bank and credit card companies about your travel in advance.) A few years ago, an ATM on a Greek Island ate one of my ATM cards near the beginning of our trip. Luckily we had the other ATM cards with us.

 

I highly recommend safeguarding your money, credit and ATM cards, and passports in a secure place under your clothing. We wear hidden pockets on our belts. They tuck under our pants.

 

Some people want to bring all their euro needs with them (even for expensive private tours.) I prefer not to have that much cash on me because of the risk of loss/theft.

[sandij]

For this reason I was so glad our car service (romecabs) allowed the use of Paypal so all the car use is already paid for and that's less cash I have to carry, hotel is paid for too.

[notentirelynormal]

I agree. There is no right or wrong answer here and it is all relative to you and your spending habits.

 

We paid cash for our many tours on a 12 nighter. I had cash for meals, attractions and spending for 3 of us. I had around $7000 Euros with me. For me, I would hate to have to stop and use an ATM and I was quite comfortable with carrying the money that was divided into envelopes for each thing. We hired a driver that took us from the airport to our hotel where the money went into a safe. Three days of tours and we took one envelope each day. From the hotel to the ship where our money went into the safe only to take out an envelope each day. Stress free for me.

[agabbymama]

There were 2 of us on our 12 day Grand Med cruise, with 1 day in Paris pre-cruise, 3 days in Rome Pre-cruise, 3 days in Venice post-cruise and 2 days in Paris Post-cruise making our total trip 21 days. We spent approximately $4000 pp. That's food, hotels, tours, and souvenirs. We are two older ladies with mobility issues, so we did use taxi's some. But we are also old fashioned.

 

We purchased EUROs here from AAA to have on hand immediately upon arrival in Europe (I think it was like $75 worth). But we had paid for a lot of our tours on viator dot com months before we left in US $. We then took $2000 in cash (each) and exchanged at local banks in Italy and Greece.

 

I had just had my ATM card eaten at my Credit Union on a weekend and of course nobody was working on a Sunday. On Monday the gal was able to retrieve my card. If that had happened in a Foreign country on a 1 day port stop, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it except cancel the card. My Debit card stays home. I did have a Capital 1 credit card for the lowest fees and put lots of souvenirs on them.

 

I've done it all from currency of countries traveling to, to travelers checks (years ago) to all US $. You will get lots of opinions here, but it is whatever you are comfortable doing. I may not get the best exchange rate, doing it my way, but it's what I'm comfortable doing. When I walked into the bank on Corfu, the folks were so friendly & courteous (got to see how the Greek banks operate) and got the best exchange rate. It was awesome!

[Chloe1500]

We usually get a few hundred euros from our bank to get us by for a few days and then, use the ATMs, which are plentiful and convenient. We pay for hotels and some attractions with a credit card and use cash for food, transportation, tips, and souvenirs. Many of the private drivers or excursions want cash.

[Markanddonna]

Just one extra point. We had trouble finding an ATM that was open or working the day before a holiday. I was surprised to see signs on the ATM that they were not working. We got a little panicky after seeing that on the two closest ones but kept walking and found another one that did have some Euros. Try to use ATM's inside banks rather than one on the street. There seems to be a whole industry looking for clueless people.

[drbillmc]

For this reason I was so glad our car service (romecabs) allowed the use of Paypal so all the car use is already paid for and that's less cash I have to carry, hotel is paid for too.

 

sandj

 

We will be using Romecabs for three transfer/tours and a tour in Naples. How were they? We also are struggling with the how to get and carry enough euros question. Do you know if we can wait and use paypal a few days before we go or does the payment have to be made early? thanks

[slidergirl]

I always have close to 200EU at home. This way, when I travel to Europe, I have enough money to get me into a taxi and to my hotel. I'll stop at an ATM once I'm settled in and out walking around. I have a British Pounds card that I can fill with some money if I end up in Great Britain. If I'm going somewhere that does not do EU or Pounds, I'll get $200 in equivalent currency through a Internet exchange before I leave.

I'm one who will use my credit card for all purchases that I can and only use cash when it's the last resort. I'll keep some cash around for buying my <enter appropriate coffee/pastry for breakfast for that country> and other little things. But, it's never more than $200 in the currency. When I'm leaving and heading home, I'll make sure to hit up an ATM and get 200EU more to bring home.

This has worked just fine for me for the last 15 years that I've traveled to Europe and Africa.

[D4]

...

I had just had my ATM card eaten at my Credit Union on a weekend and of course nobody was working on a Sunday. On Monday the gal was able to retrieve my card. If that had happened in a Foreign country on a 1 day port stop, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it except cancel the card. ...

 

An ATM on a Greek Island ate my card. Even though I used one at a bank, the staff couldn't help me because they didn't have access to it.

[agabbymama]

An ATM on a Greek Island ate my card. Even though I used one at a bank, the staff couldn't help me because they didn't have access to it.

 

Yep, that is exactly what I was afraid of happening. Sorry it happened to you.:eek: