We usually take about €500 with us & then use the ATM's. We bank with Nationwide & their exchange rate is usually pretty good. I know it's not really answering your question as I don't really pay attention to the rate in resort 😁

Been a while since I've done it, but it was dependent on where I was going

In Italy I'd often take Euro traveller cheques and just cash them at the hotel, in Spain I'd just take a small amount of cash and use the ATM's

Went remote area in Brittany, that's when it became tricky and more cash would have been better!!!

In most instances I just take enough for the first few days and if we are privately renting where we have to pay the balance in cash on arrival I take enough for that. For day to day spending I use the ATMs - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose on the exchange rate but I prefer to do that than be carrying large amounts of cash with me. When I go to Cuba, I have no choice and I always feel anxious about travelling with the amount of cash that I need to take with me. As I go to Cuba every 12 tp 18 months I make sure that I keep about £50 worth of CUCs, including some loose change, at the end of a trip so that if there a big queues at the airport Cadeca then I have enough for the day or two before changing money in Santiago either in the Cadeca or a bank.

I usually buy euros or other currency at moneycorp.com , you place your order online and select your pick up branch , luckily for me they have quite a few exchange points ( landslide and airside ) at Gatwick airport , I use whichever one is convienient at the time you only pay on collection and can preorder from 2 weeks before collection . Usually I'm flying from Gatwick , but if it's Heathrow then my wife picks it up after work instead , the provider at Heathrow is currently travelex and I find their rates at just a bit lower. I tend to buy at least about 50% of what I need and then use exchanges in location I'm visiting , with euros I've found that there's not much differences with local rates , but when visiting Dubai I've found the local exchange rate noticeably better , I do payment cards more in Dubai but in " euro land " I mainly pay in cash at local restaurants and shops .

Having bank accounts in both Euroland and the UK, unless I'm flying long haul I'm not usually changing money these days when holidaying in most European destinations. In the past when travelling long haul I would do the same as Sm changing enough at home to cover the first few days then using ATM machines. UK banks though do vary in the charges for using their cards abroad as I found out to my disadvantage when I used my Halifax debit card in Capetown and many ATM's charge fees for just using them, I paid €6 to withdraw €100 in Crete a few weeks ago.

I think it's pretty much the luck of the draw, sometimes beneficial to change at home and other times abroad. Often reading other holiday websites I see questions asking about current rates in various resorts which could prove useful.

I am not an expert in this field but am aware of brokers who are positioned as being cheaper than banks and bureau de change alternatives:

Lee - i see that you are from an SEO agency obviously acting for a client who wants a link.

Please read the terms and conditions and note the part about advertisements.

Your advertisement has been removed

Lance

As I live in Lanzarote, we are always being asked this question and the consensus is that it is better to exchange in resort. But quite honestly, unless you want to change a huge amount, I can't see that a few cents of the Euro make that much difference!

As we now go to the same place in Spain, we usually have some euros left over from the previous holiday to last us a few days.
I take cash and exchange the money at the exchange place that we have been using for years. The rate you see advertised is what you get.

You have to be careful because some exchange places advertise a better rate, but written somewhere in miniscule print, it says that the rate advertised is if you exchange a certain amount....It could be anything from £500 to £1,000.
I've seen plenty of people caught out by this.

Sanji x

We drive to the Vendee so need to take Euros with us for the journey. Hubby goes online and orders them from whichever company is giving the best rate at the time (for the amount we take it usually ends up being either Asda or Tesco). We use a Post Office credit card for buying petrol and supermarket shopping while we are in France so the cash is for buying bread, small purchases, etc.