# ATMs in Italy



## shmoore (Sep 10, 2008)

I just read the thread about getting euros from ATMs in England. How does it work in Italy...extra charges, pin numbers, etc.

We will have to pay several hundred euros cash for an apartment in Rome and didn't like the idea of carrying it around for a week before we needed it. Are ATM's plentiful in Venice where we will be before going to Rome? How about at the train station in Rome?

Thanks in advance. Tuggers are the best for helping each other.

In three weeks I will be in Italy. with my daughter and my sister and her daughter.                      also  what did I forget ?


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## BarCol (Sep 11, 2008)

Having been to both Venice and Rome this past summer, I can tell you that ATM's are plentiful (of course if you are desperate for one you'll never be able to find one...), especially in the touristy areas (if you're in a back street then not so). You'll need a 4 digit PIN and ask your bank at home what your daily withdrawal limit is as the Euros when we were there were about 1.6 to every dollar, so our $600 daily limit would net us only about 350 to 280 Euros at a shot. Also just exercise normal caution in taking money out vis a vis people around you. As far as extra charges as I recall there is about a $4.00 charge per withdrawal, so we always withdrew the max that we could at any one time and I kept the receipts for proof of what I withdrew and what machine I used - but we never had a problem.  And we always inform our bank as well as our credit card companies that we are travelling and the general area of the travel, just so that they don't freeze the accounts if they see some transactions from an unusual place.

BTW if you are taking a taxi from the train station in Rome to your apartment, use the bas at the front of the station, not the side entrance, then make sure the meter is on and zero'd before you take off and when you pay for it make sure you know how much money you hand him - we ended up paying about 80 euros for a what should have been a 10 euro cab ride, because he palmed a 20 euro note and the meter wasn't on, even though I asked - that and I was stupid...never again. 

And in Rome - you may want to get the Roma pass for transport on the buses (3 days) and entry into museums - first 2 free then others at a discount. There is also an equivalent card for Venice for the vaporettos that was really useful as well.

Have fun, I would go back to Venice or Rome in an instant and we stayed in apartments as you are doing


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## Carolinian (Sep 12, 2008)

The withdrawal charge is set by your bank in the US, and if it is $4, I would find another bank.  On top of that, they also pop you with a fee, often 3%, for foreign transactions.  Many credit unions charge $1 or less per transaction and 1% for foreign transactions.  Cap One does not charge for either.

The local usage fee of the ATM owner is not should on your bill but is incorporated in the exchange rate, which to me is an extremely dishonest way to operate.  I recall finding an ATM in Rome that said it had no local usage fee, but I do not remember which bank.  Banks with no local usage fee are very common in the UK, and the ATM usually tells you that.  In Italy, most of them don't tell you one way or the other.  If it is during banking hours, you can always go inside the bank and ask.

As to getting euros from an ATM in the UK, I have yet to see one that dispenses them.  Every UK ATM I have seen gives out the local currency, the pound.


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