Take a Caxton FX ... Don't be fooled by credit/debit cards offering no charges ... industry experts reckon you can save between £80 and £100 on a week's holiday if you use a currency card.
Even the better DD/CC cards get you on their exchange rates ... with the currency cards, such as Caxton, you can choose when to load it up, so by watching the exchange rate you can get a really good rate ... just to sum up:
Caxton FC has no application fee, no ATM fee, no point of sale fee, no top up fee ... you can 're-load' online, by phone or by SMS.
It's a no brainer!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
According to Moneysupermarket the best card with the best exchange rate is FairFX but they still say the best way for foreign spending is the Halifax Clarity credit card provided you pay off in full,it gives the best exchange rate, ie yesterday FairFx rate was app 1.11 Euro to the pound Halifax Clarity rate was 1.146 and it is accepted at toll booths etc unlike the pre-loaded cards.
True that the Caxton won't work at toll booths ... but we use a Sanef tag, so that doesn't bother us.
The Clarity is a good card ... however, like all CC's you pay interest on cash withdrawals from the moment you take the money until it is repaid in full ... that can quickly wipe out any minor exchange rate advantage.
Also ... if you are clever, you can set up your pre-loaded cards way ahead, when the exchange rate is favourable, thus getting a better rate than the one you have to accept at the moment of transaction on a CC or DD.
It could work the other way rounf if the rates happen to be extra good when you are on holiday (e.g. right now), but on the whole, when stability is better, the longer range choice should pay off.
The clarity card interest rate is 12.9%, if you pay it off at the end of the month it works out to app 1% which is cheaper than most banks charge for ATM withdrawls.I use my N/Wide credit card or my Halifax card for most purchases and rarely use cash,apart from the odd small item.