Exchange USD at airport or withdraw from ATM in San Marino?

San Marino uses the euro, so ATMs give better rates than airport exchange desks in nearby Rimini or Bologna. Machines from Italian banks like UniCredit or Intesa Sanpaolo are widely available and provide near-market rates. If you’re budgeting €60-80 daily for meals, buses, and museum entries in San Marino’s historic center, withdrawing euros from ATMs is the smarter choice. Airport counters in Italy charge big margins and should be avoided.

Only changed €20 at the airport kiosk and instantly regretted it - the rate was off by almost 10%. Once I got to San Marino, found an ATM near Piazza della Libertà, and took out more cash. Way better deal, no sneaky commissions. It’s all euro here, so just treat it like any other EU country. Lesson learned: only use airport exchange for emergency espresso and taxi fare.

Rates at airport counters in Italy were consistently worse than local ATMs inside San Marino. I use Revolut and my card gave me near-perfect exchange when I withdrew €100 directly at an ATM inside the Old Town. Even with a €2-3 ATM fee, it still beat the rate at the Rimini exchange by a good margin. Just remember to press “Decline conversion” - that screen comes up often.

I compared both last month. Changed €50 at the airport and got noticeably less than what my bank app showed. Then used my debit card at a Banca di San Marino ATM and declined the DCC - got a rate close to spot. ATMs are just more transparent, as long as you avoid those “with conversion” tricks. So yeah, bring a card and take out what you need here. Better value, less hassle.

I flew into Rimini and changed a bit at the airport - big mistake. Rate was terrible and they added a flat commission on top. Once in San Marino, I used a Credito Sammarinese ATM, declined the conversion, and the rate was way better. You’re technically still using Italian eurozone banking here, so cards and ATMs follow similar rules. Definitely skip airport counters unless you're absolutely stuck.