Welcome to the TravelPod forums

[megs-anoop]

Hi,

I'm going on an extended trip to France and western Europe. Do people have recommendations on how to access money that's sitting in an overseas bank?

Here is what I've found to be the most convenient and cheapest option so far (please inform me if I'm mistaken!):
- get an ATM card from my local bank that is on the PLUS or Cirrus networks and open an associated account that doesn't charge for international ATM withdrawals
- while in Europe, use ATMs to take out the required cash (possible fee charged by ATM machine, but no fee charged by my home bank) - of course, the conversion rate might not be the best rate out there.

Do people have any other suggestions ? In particular, is there a way for a non-EU resident to open a bank account in say France (that way, I could transfer a whole bunch of Euros over to the account and then just use the local bank's ATM machines)....

thanks for any advice/suggestions!

[rakethetable]

I plan to use the ATM as you mentioned.

Everyone says that the best way. The currency transaction is minimal.