advice on changing money

[Guest]

I was hoping someone would be able to advise me, I am coming over in June from the UK and i have US Dollars to change i know that if i change them to euros over here i would have to change them to sterling first, would i be better off changing the dollars straight to euros in Portugal?
Thanks in advance for your help
Loretta

[Gambrinus]

Loretta - Cash dollars can be very hard to exchange here as they are very cautious about counterfeit money.

Your safest bet is to buy AmEx travellers cheques in dollar or euros - They are insured and you should be able to easily get the cash from the local bank (Caixa Geral de Depósitos).

[Baz]

Definitely agreee with the suggestion about AMEX Travellers Cheques, but would go for Sterling as they could then be spent or exchanged for cash if brought back to UK. Also wouldn't recommend changing cheques in the banks in Carvoeiro. We did this last Summer and it was a very costly business. Better we later found, to use the Travel/Car Hire agent close to the Pharmacy and Sully's Bar where they charged no commission.

Have a good holiday. We have to wait until August for our next visit.

Baz