Bringing Money to Rome from the US

One of the challenges of my trip here was how to handle cash for the entire group. As I see it there are basically four ways to handle bringing cash to rome:

• Bring cash and exchange to Euro
• Bring Traveler's Checks and exchange to Euro
• Bring credit or debit cards and spend as needed
Bring cash and exchange for Euro
Has the downside of having you risk a lot of cash. Furthermore, foreign exchanges are not prevalent in Rome. The airport exchanges offered rather poor rates; worse than I saw in Houston.
Traveler's Checks
Same as above but with added costs and security. The exchanges may give you a slightly worse rate with TC than with cash, plus many banks charge a fee to purchase the checks to begin with. Traveler's checks are becoming less vogue and some banks have stopped issuing them.
Plastic
Pretty safe. Check with your bank, but mine (Wells Fargo) charges 3% per transaction, plus whatever conversion rate they give you, plus whatever fees are associated on the European side. Limited to your daily spending limit (determined by your bank), often around $500, but you can ask your bank to raise it. Also, if you use this method be sure and tell your bank so they don't cancel your card as stolen.
Im still deciding what is best. I opted for the first and last methods because I wanted to get the most for my money. I am regretting bringing cash somewhat after seeing the rates I am getting at the foreign exchange (It's not the market rate you see on the internet). I expect I may do better with plastic even with the fees if my home bank's exchange rates are better. I'll post an update when I find out.


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