In Italy, as in most of Western Europe, the official currency is the Euro (€). The Euro is divided into 100 cents (centimes, centesimi), with two decimals after the comma. So, a price will often be displayed as €10,00 (ten euros); or €2,14 (two euro and 14 cents), etc.
For visitors from the US, it is easy to make a conversion: 1 Euro is, right now, about US$1.50. (Rates of exchange fluctuate constantly, so check carefully the rate before changing your money on www.oanda.com or www.xe.com). This rate of exchange means for example that when you go eat a wonderful Italian Pizza, and you are charged say 15 Euro, you will pay 15 times 1.5 = $22.50. You can also consider that 2 Euro equal approx. US$3.
Euro paper money comes into different colors and sizes depending on the face value. 500 Euro bills are violet, 200 Euro ones are yellow, 100 Euro bills are green, 50 are orange, 20 are blue, 10 are red(dish) and 5 are grey(ish). Consider that small denomination Euro bills are a little smaller than a US dollar bill. There are also coins: 2 and 1 Euro (both are made with two different metals - golden and silver - and the value is printed big on one side), 50, 20, 10 cents (golden material) and 5, 2 and 1 cents (bronze material). The bigger coin has bigger value... the 1 cent coin is very small.
Changing money into Euro: you can change money almost everywhere in Italy. You can go to any bank -- public hours are usually from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday (times may change slightly from bank to bank, but all are closed all day on Saturday and Sunday and on national holidays). At most banks you'll pay a flat rate as commission (usually around 5 euro) to change as many Euro as you want. You can now exchange your money for Euro at most Italian Post offices. Commissions tend to be lower at post offices than at banks. In most cities and tourist spots there are also private exchange offices, where you can often exchange your money without commission (but the exchange rate will usually be less favorable). Travelers' checks are becoming more and more difficult to exchange at hotels and shops, but can still be cashed at many banks and foreign exchange offices in main railway stations and airports.
Credit Cards / Debit Cards / ATMs
Major establishments accept credit cards whose logos are posted in their front windows, just as they do in the USA and Canada. You should check with your credit card company to see if they charge you an international transaction fee or foreign transaction fee. Visa and MasterCard charge a 1% processing fee on international transactions, and most card-issuing banks add their own fees on top of that. They equal to generally a percentage of your overall purchase price, sometimes as high as 3% extra.
Beware that taxis can often be paid with cash (euro) only! In reality, some taxis accept plastic, (in Rome, for example, there is one company with all taxis taking C/C) but since the driver must pay a 3% commission to the bank, they prefer cash payments.
ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) in Italy are known as Bancomat, and can be found anywhere in large cities as well as in small towns. The machine operates just as ATMs do anywhere else; at the beginning of the transaction, it prompts the user for the preferred language.
Using a credit card, or even better, a debit card or your local bank ATM card is very easy. One must first locate either the Cirrus, Plus or BankMate symbol (on the Bancomat and on your card) to insure the card is usable on that particular unit. Cirrus, Plus and BankMate are the most popular and widespread banking circuits in the world so they are the best to have. If you are unsure about the compatibility or the banking systems, contact your credit card company or local bank. After discovering the system is compatible, simply withdraw money as you would at home. Of course, in Italy the money will be dispensed in Euro, but when you return home, your bank will have converted the amount of your withdrawal into dollars using the most beneficial exchange rate possible. Be careful though when using credit cards, as many USbanks are now charging large fees of 2.5% to 4% for cash advances -- which wipes out the advantage of using the Bancomat in the first place. One's best bet is to use your regular ATM card and simply withdraw money from your account just as you would do at your local bank. Pay attention: your bank account may have daily withdrawal limits, e.g. US$300, therefore, you have to account for the currency conversion when withdrawing euro in Italy. Italian ATMs/Bancomats limit pin numbers to four digits.
ATMs at Airports
There are ATMs at all Italian airports. However, it is wise to have a few Euro on hand when you land. Sometimes, the airport ATMs may be empty when you land. If you land on a Saturday or Sunday, the machines may not be scheduled for refill until Monday, which will put you in a bind as you will need some money to get into city from most airports (via train, taxi, etc).
ATM locator
The Italian Banking Association has launched an efficient ATM locator on its website at http://faro.pattichiari.it/index1.phtml
Although it's in Italian only, it's very easy to use:
1) Enter the name of the town under "Localita'"
2) Enter the name of the bank which issued your card under "Banca" (even if it's a non-Italian bank, doesn't matter) - Ignore all other fields
3) Click on "Cerca sportelli"
On the next screen you'll see a map with the location of ATM's in the desired town along with names of banks, addresses, etc.
You can obtain the same information also by calling (from inside Italy) 800 002 266 (toll-free), but the service is in Italian only.
