I would respectfully disagree with the statement that the exchange rate at an ATM will "suck". I just returned from Europe and I exclusively used ATM's for my cash withdrawals, they are everywhere, and the rate is the most accurate current rate offered as the major banks bundle these with their other large currency exchange. The other pitfall to doing one large exchange is the bank will offer about a 7 to 15% difference between buy and sell and then you are stuck with carrying a large amount of money. You don't want to ever have a bunch of money as pick-pockets are everywhere. We were approached 4 times in Rome and 5 times in Paris by pickpockets, so be very careful with having large amounts of money with you ( I tried to never have more than 50 or 60 Euros).
Just check how much the ATM's fees are charged, in my case, the Credit Union I am a member of only charges a 1% foreign transaction fee and then offers the current exchange rate. Yes a very sweet deal. As long as you stay in network for example the PLUS network the Credit union covers the Europe ATM fee.
As an example I went to the ATM in France and took out 100 Euro as of Tuesday, my statement shows a withdrawal of $125.13 + $1.25 (foreign transaction fee) for a total of $126.38 for 100 Euro. Checking the rate today for Tuesday was $1.28 for 1 Euro from xrates.com. So in this case I actually got a lower rate than what was published.
I always try to use my credit card when possible, but it charges a 3% fee, but I also get a 3% rebate, so this doesn't cost me at all. The other problem with banks or the exchange bureau is whether they were open or not and the rates were crazy high like at the airport in Paris they were quoting $1.38 for a Euro. So I would certainly check to see how much your bank will charge for ATM usage.
One other thing to check is to be sure your ATM has a 4 digit pin as any others will not work with European ATM.
