My suggestion would be look for prepaid travel cards, like the Visa TravelMoney card. Banks offer these under various names, so consult yours and see what they have. Basically, what you do is before you leave you buy local currency of the country you plan to visit (or just USD) and that fixed amount is available thrugh your new card. You can use this card to withdraw cash at ATMs without being hit by conversion fees at the ATM itself, or swipe it at merchant locations for payments. Visa also has a global assistance hotline that can get your replacement cards, if you happen to lose one; loss is limited to the amount of funds set aside for that card anyway.

I have found this method to be a lot less tedious than having to carry large amounts of cash or bothering about whether travellers cheques will be accepted. If a prepaid travel card is not available in the currency you want, the best thing to do is to get a USD travel card, then use it to withdraw cash; you get charged at Visa's wholesale currency exchange rates plus a 1-2% transaction fee (depending on your bank).

My suggestion would be look for prepaid travel cards, like the Visa TravelMoney card. Banks offer these under various names, so consult yours and see what they have. Basically, what you do is before you leave you buy local currency of the country you plan to visit (or just USD) and that fixed amount is available through your new card. You can use this card to withdraw cash at ATMs without being hit by conversion fees at the ATM itself, or swipe it at merchant locations for payments. Visa also has a global assistance hotline that can get you replacement cards, if you happen to lose one; loss is limited to the amount of funds set aside for that card anyway.

I have found this method to be a lot less tedious than having to carry large amounts of cash or bothering about whether travellers cheques will be accepted. If a prepaid travel card is not available in the currency you want, the best thing to do is to get a USD travel card, then use it to withdraw cash; you get charged at Visa's wholesale currency exchange rates plus a 1-2% transaction fee (depending on your bank).

My suggestion would be look for prepaid travel cards, like the Visa TravelMoney card. Banks offer these under various names, so consult yours and see what they have. Basically, what you do is before you leave you buy local currency of the country you plan to visit (or just USD) and a that fixed amount is available throw a new card. You can use this card to withdraw cash at ATMs without being hit by conversion fees at the ATM itself, or swipe it at merchant locations for payments. Visa also has a global assistance hotline that can get your replacement cards, if you happen to lose one, any loss is limited to the amount of funds set aside for that card anyway.

I have found this method to be a lot less tedious than having to carry large amounts of cash or bothering about whether travellers cheques will be accepted. If a prepaid travel card is not available in the currency you want, the best thing to do is to get a USD travel card, then use it to withdraw cash; you get charged at Visa's wholesale currency exchange rates plus a 1-2% transaction fee (depending on your bank).

My suggestion would be look for prepaid travel cards, like the Visa TravelMoney card. Banks offer these under various names, so consult yours and see what they have. Basically, what you do is before you leave you buy local currency of the country you plan to visit (or just USD) and that fixed amount is available thrugh your new card. You can use this card to withdraw cash at ATMs without being hit by conversion fees at the ATM itself, or swipe it at merchant locations for payments. Visa also has a global assistance hotline that can get your replacement cards, if you happen to lose one; loss is limited to the amount of funds set aside for that card anyway.

I have found this method to be a lot less tedious than having to carry large amounts of cash or bothering about whether travellers cheques will be accepted. If a prepaid travel card is not available in the currency you want, the best thing to do is to get a USD travel card, then use it to withdraw cash; you get charged at Visa's wholesale currency exchange rates plus a 1-2% transaction fee (depending on your bank).