best place for changing £'s to euros

caris · 19 May 2011 at 8:38PM

We have never been abroad and our boy is going to Paris with the school for his first time abroad. We have been told to exchange our own money and to try and keep the euros to small notes/coins for ease.

Where is the best place for us to use to change it, bank or post office?

Thanks

SparBear · 19 May 2011 at 9:20PM

It depends on where you live, oddly enough, as some towns have so many places to change money, the competition between them can bring down rates a lot.

If you have a moneyshop near you (they do cheque cashing, payday loans, that sort of thing), I find them hard to beat on foreign currency. You could also pre-purchase your money from the travelex website to get the best rate, and arrange to pick it up from one of their outlets. DON'T use a credit card though, only debit cards to avoid horrible charges.

busiscoming2 · 19 May 2011 at 10:38PM

I usually find Thomas Cook or M&S the best locally. Don't use a credit or debit card though, get the cash out from the ATM as your bank will charge you for changing currency.