I would leave most of your money in the bank. ATMs are everywhere. I usually carry $200 in US twenties (or the equivalent in euros) as an emergency stash in a money belt. I withdraw enough at the ATM (in local currency) to get me through 3 or 4 days.

I don’t know where you live in the US, but at my local bank the rate results in about a 7% loss on the actual exchange rate, plus a $5 fee. Using the ATM in Europe is a much better deal for me.

Hi there,

I think you should have about 200 Euros well hidden with you for emergencies. Also, I think you should carry around 75 Euros with you for activities/shopping/whatever you are going to do. Other than that you should get the rest as you need it from an ATM.

I also agree that ATMs are probably cheaper.

The exchange rate at airports will be horrible. You don’t need to exchange money before you leave the US. Exactly as Oldlady and Vinko suggested: keep most of your cash in a checking account at home, and use an ATM card to withdraw money from European ATMs. The European ATM will dispense Euros (in France) or Pounds (in Britain), and the rough equivalent of that in US Dollars (plus a small fee) is withdrawn from your checking account back home. Your bank looks for the best exchange rate in the international financial markets, so you’re best off using your ATM card, rather than trying to exchange cash by yourself, where you’ll get a bad exchange rate and be charged a high commission fee. But it’s not a bad idea to carry some US Dollars with you in cash. You’ll also want to bring a credit card to fall back on, just in case (doubtful you’ll need it, but it’s good to have the back-up). Before you leave home, make sure your ATM pin number has 4 digits, not 5, as many European ATM machines will not accept a 5-digit pin. Also before you leave, make sure you have the phone number to call in case your ATM card and credit card are stolen: keep in mind that the regular 800 number to call in case your card is lost/stolen, this number will probably not work outside the USA/Canada (even if the uninformed bank employee tells you that it will), so make sure you find a non-toll free number [one that is staffed 24 HOURS] with a normal area code (not 800 or 866), that you can call from Europe in case your card(s) is/are stolen.

Large in-your-face type of prints will come off as arrogant and nationalist, but a small, humble print or patch is perfectly fine. However, from experience, the military fatigue/camouflage colors may offend some people. I’m not sure why exactly that is, but I have this military-camouflage coloured hat that offended a few random people in Spain and France.