Money

[dicmor]

What is the e easiest/safest way to have spending money in Italy I.e. bank card, ready cash, travellers cheques etc

[Jennykenny]

As with most countries I'd do a mix. Depending how long you are going for, I'd take about 200-300 in Euros (Post Office seems best bet - you may need to take your passport with you when you go to buy them). Ask for small demoninations, (5, 10, or 20 Euro notes - try to avoid taking 50 Euro notes and above, as many small shops and bars don't like them).
On a daily basis keep about 50 Euros in your wallet, plus another 50 in a safe, zipped pocket, (leave the rest in the hotel room safe).
For small day to day things use cash, i.e. for coffees, glass of wine etc. For meals use Visa or MasterCard. Make sure you have two credit (or debit) cards, one for use and one in the safe for emergency back-up.
Have the credit card details written down, contact phone numbers etc,and keep safely, (also worth photocopying your passport details, and your travel insurance details - keep originals in safe and carry copies with you).
Definitely don't bother with traveller's cheques. Almost no-one accepts them nowadays, and the few banks that do, are really hard to track down.
Haven't meant to throw scare tactics into this answer, but if you take precautions, I can almost guarantee that you will have a carefree holiday, and if something unpleasant does happen, you are covered and well protected.
Go, have a great time and enjoy your holiday.

[Jennykenny]

Ps if you are asked if you would like to pay for your meal, shopping etc in a convertible euro/ pounds sterling rate always say no, you will lose out on the exchange rate. You only want to pay in Euros.

[dicmor]

Thank you Jenny. Appreciated

[theshedman]

If you don't want to use your bank cards while there you could always get yourself a prepaid Euro card. These are quite popular these days. You can get them in many places or order on-line at say Thomas Cook and collect in store, that way you usually get better rate. TC will give you 2 cards so 1 can be put in safe in hotel room and if you happen to lose the one you are using or it gets stolen then you just phone them up and cancel that one and you still have the other which can still be used. That way you don't have to pay for a replacement to be sent to you or wait for one to arrive. These cards can be used just like a normal Debit card either in stores, restaurants or to get money out at the cash points.

[theshedman]

Thought of getting one from the PO myself last time but the fact that they will only give 1 card per account put me off. If it gets lost or stolen you may have to wait a couple of days for replacement. With others they will give you an extra card so you can carry on as normal which for me is better.

[=rizla=]

You can get 2cards and link them from asda pretty decent rate (in fact better than the rate for cash) and also no cashpoint fee's, a lot of them you pay £2 or so per cash point use.

I always have about £200 of cash, then pre paid card with the rest of the holiday money, and my own bank card as backup.