How to take money to Europe
So here you are after months, perhaps years of saving up your finally ready to go to Europe for a trip of a lifetime be it a couple of weeks or several months, the question on every first time backpackers lip’s is how do I carry it after all you can hardly just stuff a couple of thousand Euro’s in your pocket and set off. So how do you carry it?
Cash
Some people and travel sites would recommend you take enough currency for the first three or four country’s you pass through but in reality all you need is enough to get you by the 1st couple of days, so you don’t have to worry about exchanging or withdrawing money straight away. So enough for the first hostel’s accommodation and other expenses for the first few day’s should suffice.
+ Can use it as it is.
+ Easy to exchange for goods.
- Lose it your screwed, little chance of getting it back.
- Poor exchange rates when swapping it on the road for the next destination’s currency.
ATM/ Debit card
The ATM is the travellers best friend especially in somewhere like Europe where you cant move for the things. Easy to use and a great ways to carry your precious funds. Although remember to make sure you contact your bank to let them know you will be travelling as your card may be stopped for fraud reason’s. Also worth finding out if your bank will issue a spare card encase the first one break’s or is stolen, although very few do this so perhaps split funds between two different account’s that you could easily transfer money between.
+ Easy to use
+ Almost everywhere has ATM’s
+ Good exchange rate
+ Card is easy to carry
- Bank’s may charge a fee, so withdraw larger amount’s
- Lose your card or gets stolen, you wont be able to access your money
- Fraud happens, although rare and its not just Europe it happens be aware.
Credit card
The important thing to remember about credit cards is to remember it is credit the money is not actually yours, so watch out for big bills when you come home! Withdrawing cash from a credit card is usually a very expensive option as interest is charged at a very heavy rate. Credit cards are more secure that debit card’s and usually have greater protection on them. So good perhaps for big purchases or buying off the internet i.e. accommodation, hostelworld etc..
+ Greater fraud protection than Debit card
+ Good if you run low on funds
- Generally high interest on cash withdrawals
- Not everywhere will accept Credit card’s
Traveller’s Cheques
Once extremely popular with the traveller these have been widely overtaken by the ATM, Poor rate’s of exchange and lack of places to exchange them. Great back up option in case of emergencies. Also easy to cancel if stolen and get your money back. Just make sure these are not your main source of funds in Europe.
+ Good backup if you lose your main means of funding.
+ If stolen easy to cancel and get you money back.
- Poor rate of exchange
- Not widely accepted
- Carrying several around can be a nuisance and a hassle.
Illustration by Marie McLaughlin
Thanks for the list, quite a few useful tips I will remember. I haven’t traveled abroad very much, only once and I had a lot of difficulty finding a bank that would accept credit cards I had. I plan to avoid any complications on my holiday to the black sea this year.
Hi, I’m Stephanie and I really want to go to Europe, but I have absolutely no idea how much money shoudl I take with me, and I’m planning to visit at least 5 countries… I need help!
I see you have set up a eurotrip. Add some of the countries and places you plan to visit as well as the time frame on to the application. Then myself and other’s will be able to give you some more help with the answer. A lot of people recommend $100 a day for a comfortable budget trip in Western Europe. I would say at least try to plan $80 to make it doable in the classic city’s that make up a European itinerary.
This is also a good resource to consider when taking the credit card route. As long as you are diligent about paying back your credit card debt, you can apply for a Capital One card, which allegedly charges “No Foreign Transaction Fee.”
A traveler’s caveat: always be prepared to try more than one ATM, believe me it doesn’t matter if you are in europe or asia, the ATMs dont always do what they say they should. So be on the lookout out for ATM companies that consistently work and print up a list of their ATM locations. Very useful.
Yeah great point, You don’t want to lose your card after all!
Also good to note…VISA is probably the best credit card or debit card brand to take with you.
It’s more widely accepted than MasterCard. Don’t even bother with a Discover Card.
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curtis@How to Save Money
hi davy, um i had a question my best friend Mona and I are going to 10 countries, i did make a eurotrip, and i was wondering how much money would we need for 22-23 days for food and traveling by train? we are going to be in europe for 30-31 days but we are staying with family for part of the time and we dont need to buy food or transportation.
We have budgeted 6,000 for the two of us for everything. so a little assistance would be amazing. thanks so much!
Sammi and Mona
Your budget should be plenty, the general rule most people have is to budget $100 a day per person for a very relaxed budget style trip in western Europe, Although i believe it can be done fairly comfortably on $80 a day with cutting a few corners. So your budget should be fine. I have also left another couple of comment’s on your trip in your trip planner.
I’m pretty certain that you can do the whole thing for less than $80, but that’s if you’re staying in one city for a whole day, eating cheap meals, staying in a cheap hostel, and not doing much travel-wise.
I know for me, some days are going to be more expensive than others. I plan to go see Disneyland Paris for a few days when I go in the Spring, and that’ll be a tidy little sum right there.
There’s no doubt it’s possible, but would not really recommend averaging your initial budget out to be much less if your wanting to have a bit of fun and not have too many worries about your budget while on the road.
this is awesome thanks for the advice! also that 6,000 includes 1,000 for plane tickets roundtrip or both of us…so i guess 5,000 for trains, ferries, food, partying, and hotel. i have looked it over and i think we are ok.
thanks a million
sammi and mona
That’s really good because nowadays the world crisis have compelled people to use cash advance. Therefore, this will help people to keep this thing away from them.
Great article and good advice! I was over in Europe with summer (Rome et al) and found the best way to deal with money was to use ATMs for cash (which is preferred) and my visa card for bigger purchases. I have a Capital One visa and they wave the 3% currency transaction fee. Make sure your credit card doesn’t charge this. ~ Steve@displays
Usually when I travel abroad I use cashiers checks and convert my money into the countries currency. As stated before use your credit cards wisely because most credit card companies will charge money to convert the currency. I haven’t tried this method personally but you could buy a prepaid credit card in the country you are visiting. This would eliminate the need to carry large amounts of cash around.
I hope this helps
Mike Booths
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