london and portugal

[originalofthespecies]

hey! im goin to be in london for 5 nights, and then another 5 nights in portugal,i already got my hotel booked in london and in portugal im stayin with my friend...

i just was wondering... if any one has any advice on how much cad money should i take for my entire trip? considering that i wont need as much for portugal since im stayin with my friend. thanks.

[me]

CN$'s will be of limited usefulness in London *or* Portugal. they use UK-Pounds & Euros, respectively.

the best way to go, imo, is to keep your cash in a Canadian checking account w/ ATM. shop around, find a bank that doesn't charge you a fee to withdraw from an overseas ATM.

as for what you need in the bank to take out, for London - a *very* expensive city, CN$50 - 100 a day, depending on how you live. <the excludes accommodations>

cut the per diem in half for Portugal! <well, if in Lisbon the whole time, by a third.>

the short answer: better to have too much than too little.

- d

originalofthespecies said:

hey! im goin to be in london for 5 nights, and then another 5 nights in portugal,i already got my hotel booked in london and in portugal im stayin with my friend...

i just was wondering... if any one has any advice on how much cad money should i take for my entire trip? considering that i wont need as much for portugal since im stayin with my friend. thanks.

[originalofthespecies]

just another question.... should i take all my cash with me?

[LHR02]

Don't be silly! Do not ever have more than a day or two's 'cash' on you. That is why god made ATM or credit cards!

[me]

did you see my post above?

originalofthespecies said:

just another question.... should i take all my cash with me?

[originalofthespecies]

is using traveler's cheques a good way to go?

[LHR02]

For the most part, with the advent of ATM's, they are pretty passe now. Not to say they are not useful and safe, but fewer and fewer places will even take them any longer and actually they are more hassle than they are worth. However, if your only option is a bank with high transaction and conversion fees TC's might still work out the best for you.

Overall though....I'd vote no for using them. Get a bank that will meet your needs and withdraw money as you need it.

[originalofthespecies]

alrighty this is what i've come up with:

about 400 pounds... for london not includin the accomodation and about 200 euros for portugal...

does that sound fine? any advice? thanks.

[MuvverRussia]

London looks slightly high (you could get away with less depending upon what you want to do). Portugal looks slightly low.

Personally, I'd look at maybe £300-350 for London and €250-300 or so for Portugal.

[Eagle]

I would concur with the others that packing around loads of cash is NOT a good idea. Just withdraw the amount you need to last for a day or so. Of course as always, wear your Money Belt!

With regard to Traveller's Cheques, some of our members here use them and have no problems at all. However, as Dustoffmom said there are fewer places that are willing to accept these and they're becoming more of a hassle to travel with.

If you plan on using ATM cards, it's a good idea to have at least two cards in case one card is lost, stolen, or gets "eaten" by the machine. I always carry a credit card for "emergencies" also. You will want to check with your financial institution on the ATM's, to determine what service charges you will be paying. Often it's best to have your funds in a chequing account with a four number PIN.

As Muvver said, it's difficult to know whether the totals you listed for London and Portugal are realistic, as you didn't provide much information on what you'll be doing there? The general opinion on this Board seems to be to allow US$75.00-100.00 per day, but you may be able to get by with a bit less as your lodgings are already covered.

Good luck with your trip planning.

[originalofthespecies]

thank u so much for ur help! any other estimates on how much money for each place i should take? thanks