Lake Garda what do you pay for things with , cards or cash

[cleo333]

Hi all we are off to lake Garda and I'm unsure how to pay for things ( not been on holiday for ages) ?

Cards or cash ? Do you get charged by your banks to use cards ?

We were there last summer. It was a mixture. I would take a bit of cash but most shops and restaurants have a card machine.

I used cards everywhere.

As to banks charging to use cards abroad, it varies bank by bank. First Direct has just stopped charging for withdrawals abroad. If your bank does charge, get a card like Starling and move money across to it, no fees charged. Bare in mind that the bank you are using abroad may itself charge.

We used cards everywhere.

I've got a starling card (easy to apply online) and it doesn't charge for using abroad.

I heard yesterday that if you have an account with hsbc and use the app, you can add a global money card that allows you to spend abroad with no charges (it's only a recent development)

Thanks @finewelshcheese just what I need for my holiday! Never knew this was a thing

Are there preferable cash points to use ( I'm aware in some countries some charge and give a poor exchange rate ) ?