Florence is one of those cities that you dream of visiting for its undeniable beauty. When planning your travel you think about many things: the places to visit, the museums and monuments that can not be missed, the best experiences to have. You look for advice on restaurants and typical dishes. You also want to know what the weather will be like.
However, we often don’t think about having cash, that is actually one of the first things needed. In Florence and in Italy in general, the use of cash is still widespread. You can pay everything you need by credit card but normally small amounts are paid in cash. So the cappuccino that you enjoy in one of the beautiful bars of the city is still paid in cash and yes, you can pay it by credit card but that’s not what is normally done.
So right from the start, as soon as you arrive, it is necessary to find a good or even the best exchange office in Florence. Here I recommend some:
Poste Italiane
Another suggestion for the best exchange office in Florence is to look for the Italian post offices: Poste Italiane (with a yellow and blue sign).
They exchange money for a nominal fee and normally their exchange rate is a bit more favorable than the one of the banks.
So if you arrive in Florence by train, the closest post office is in Via Alamanni. It is in the same building as the Santa Maria Novella train station (so exit to the right of the tracks – by track 1) and make a right. Just off the stairs).
Instead if you are in the center of town then go to the Central post office in via Pellicceria 3 (left corner of Piazza della Repubblica looking at the arch, past the Apple Store). This is a nice thing to do also because this way you can see a monumental late 1800 building. The Post office, like that central part of Florence is one of the most recent parts of the city. It was in fact completely transformed when Florence became capital of the new born Italy in 1865. So it has got the flavor of that time with this very welcoming central room with all the beautiful seats and lights. Very remarkable are the incredible stain glass windows of the ceiling! This is for sure a unique place to visit during you stay in Florence.
Banks
Another very best exchange office in Florence are the banks. They offer BANCOMAT service, that is the US equivalent of an ATM where you can use your debit and/or credit card to withdraw money. You can use your ATM card in the bancomat machines of any bank, but some charge more in fees than others. The ATM will list the fees associated with withdrawing money before you complete the transaction so that you can always stop it. A good suggestion is to contact, before leaving, your bank at home to see if it has any partner banks in Italy to avoid ATM fees.
Among the many banks exchanging money, the best exchange office in Florence is Credit Agricole in via dei Rondinelli 4. Their exchange fee is very low. At least lower than BNL and Deutsche bank.
I always advise to use debit card (instead of credit cards) to withdraw local cash from ATM.
Best exchange office in Florence… but where is it?
The best exchange office in Florence is in via della Ninna 3. This is a little street on the south side of Palazzo Vecchio on the way to Via dei Leoni, if you are coming from Piazza Signoria. This is a super tiny place (where only 1 person can fit) and, I have to admit, does not have a fancy look (but we know that we never have to judge a book by its cover!). It was opened by Carlo about 50 years ago and now it is run by his son Marco.
This is the best exchange office in Florence because:
- They do not charge any additional commission , no extras, no spreads .They just add a few cents above the official exchange rate.
- They are open everyday from early morning till 7 pm
- They exchange cash too
- The location is super convenient
What to do if you have cash to exchange?
If you instead have cash with you and need to exchange it to euros you need to keep in mind that you will be charged a fee for the operation. It is best to exchange your cash at a bank in your home country before arriving to avoid the fees at exchange offices and especially to avoid the very long lines that there are in banks. For sure you are going to loose a lot of time queueing up!
Another important thing to remember is to spend your coins before flying back home because they are not exchanged back in dollars or any other currency when home, only bills are.
Where not to exchange money
On the contrary we do NOT suggest to use the “Best and Fast Exchange” and similar places because their commission and their fees are both very high. They normally are advertised with a very big red or blue CHANGE sign. These are small shops or kiosks that are all over Florence.
I just checked one of their shops in Por Santa Maria (the street that takes to Ponte Vecchio) and on the board with all exchange rates they write clearly BUT in very small letters that their exchange commission is 19,9% and their fee is euro 9,90, on every transaction .
So their strength is their location but, for sure, they are not the best exchange office in Florence.