how many different kinds of money do I bring?

[tigerlilly]

I know it's the euro everywhere, but isn't it different in a few places??
I'll be in london, paris, barcelona, rome, florence, swiss alps, vienna, munich, amsterdam. How much should I land with in London??

thanks!
~michelle~

[dougj]

I had 20 pounds with me when i landed in london...i was going straight to paris.

everywhere else in that list use euro.

there are atm machines everywhere too.

[stanncie]

hi tigerlily

i didn't bring any currency with me. I just took some money out of the atm once i landed and did it that way. It is the easiest way to do it.

If you want, you could go to your bank i guess and get some currency. You will need pounds for england, euro for all the others except for switzerland for which you will need swiss francs although a lot of places in switzerland accept euro as well especially in the bigger cities.

[euroman2006]

Slightly off topic, and not useful. But when I was in Switzerland I went into some shops in Luzern and the keepers would basically take any kind of cash you had. They offered to take Euros, Francs, Pounds, even US dollars. I don't know how common place it is, but a nice little anecdote I thought.

[euroman2006]

Additionally, I would say you want to have enough money on hand for a day's worth when you land. Just incase something goes wrong and you can't get to an ATM (imagine that) soon. Shouldn't be a problem in London, but you might have to wait in line for it, when you could be getting to sightseeing (or sleeping!)

[me]

sure they will take your Euro, but the exchange rate for these places is awful! you loose out buying with the non-standard currency.

€ is still €, all over Euroland. the coins may look different on one side, but they're still good money.

i never bother getting money before i go. a stop at the atm is 1st thing i do if i have no local cash. [atm's have the best exchange rate]

euroman2006 said:

Slightly off topic, and not useful. But when I was in Switzerland I went into some shops in Luzern and the keepers would basically take any kind of cash you had. They offered to take Euros, Francs, Pounds, even US dollars. I don't know how common place it is, but a nice little anecdote I thought.

[Jules80]

i usually have cash of whatever country i'm landing in. frequently if you have a stop over in an airport, the cafes don't take atms... and at 6 am coffee is a necessity... i don't necessarily want the hassel of finding an atm. i actually don't have any recollection of seeing ATM's in airports... maybe there are but i don't ever remember seeing them...

Jules

[Eagle]

Michelle, if I know I'm going to be in the country of arrival for a week or two, I usually take about £ / € / US 100.00 with me. That allows me to take care of coffee, meals, taxi / airport shuttle or whatever until it's convenient for me to get to an ATM. While there are ATM's in all airports, my preference is to have enough to get by for a day or two as I'm usually tired and usually want to get out of the airport as soon as possible.

With respect to Switzerland, you might find it helpful to make a "rough" estimate of how many SF$ you're going to need before making your ATM withdrawal. Once you've left Switzerland and want to convert SF$ to Euros, you'll pay again on conversion. Also, coins aren't normally useable outside their country of issue; of course this is different for Euro coins as these are good anywhere in the EU regardless of the country of issue. Another option for Switzerland (as suggested in other posts) would be to just use Euros in Switzerland.

Happy travels!!!

[MuvverRussia]

jules80 said:

i actually don't have any recollection of seeing ATM's in airports... maybe there are but i don't ever remember seeing them

I can't think of any European airport I've flown through that hasn't had a number of ATMs. This even includes Eastern European airports prior to them joining the EU.

Generally if I'm flying somewhere then I'll just grab some cash at the first ATM (normally in arrivals, or very close). However, if I'm crossing the border by car, train or bus then I'll have a small amount of the local currency with me (£20 or so) to cover me until I can find an ATM. There's nothing worse than being on a long bus ride only to find that you don't have any local money with you to pay the toilet attendant, buy snacks etc .

eagle said:

Another option for Switzerland (as suggested in other posts) would be to just use Euros in Switzerland.

I'd only do that if you're going to Switzerland for a day trip. You will be screwed with regards to the exchange rate (quite considerably in many cases), so it's normally definitely worth taking out some local cash.

[WillTravel]

If a foreign store does take a different currency than the local, it usually will charge you a significant markup fee for the privilege. That's what happens to all the US tourists who use USD here in Canada.

I always get some foreign currency before I go. I have a convenient foreign exchange place that charges only 2% over the interbank rate, with no additional fees, making it competitive with ATM withdrawals for me. There are ATMs at airports, though.

[Eagle]

muvver,

I'd only do that if you're going to Switzerland for a day trip

I certainly agree! I fully intend to stop at the first ATM I encounter, and obtain SF$ for use during my stay there (I've calculated approximately how much I'll need, and will probably just use Euros if I use up all my SF$; I don't want to have any "surplus" when I leave for the next Euro country). It's my understanding that while most merchants will accept Euros in Switzerland, there is a most definitely a cost for the convenience.

[me]

spent a day in Zürich at the end of my last Europe trip. i remember the swiss ATM had a rather high min. w/d of CHF.

now, ive got some CHF in a drawer someplace.

[tigerlilly]

thanks for all the tips guys - I think I will bring over some pounds for london - it's a long trip and I just want out of the airport. I'm glad that there is only 2 places that I'll need different currency, it's a lot less confusing that way. I'll have to figure out how many swiss franks I'll need for my stay there.

~michelle~

[Jules80]

i took swiss francs out when i was there on the suggestion of my friend who i was staying with. i wouldn't have used euros because switzerland is so outrageously expensive as it is! no need to make the problem worse!

i guess i never noticed the atms cause i've always had the appropriate currency with me. also can't say as i am particularly observant on arrival in europe with no sleep

Jules