I would like to go against the grain a bit here and put my vote in for some good old travelers checks in U.S. dollar denominations.

If you need a small amount of cash ATM's can be very expensive. In Paris last summer I was charged a five dollar fee for using my ATM card by the machine that originated the transaction. If I could read french I would have been aware of the fee, but I do not. In addition my bank in the U.S. charges a five dollar foreign transaction fee. So it cost me more than ten dollars every time I used the ATM. I use my credit card for must large purchases and I do not like walking around with a lot of cash so I only get one hundred dollars at a time. The result is that ATM transactions cost me more than ten percent. Travelers checks are free from AAA and most banks. If you loose them you have some recource.

Another problem with ATM and a caution we should all be aware of is; never use an ATM card in an unattended machine. For some reason ATM machines sometimes have trouble processing foreign transactions and when this happens the machine keeps your card. This has already happened to me twice. The first time I spent an extra weekend in Penang, Malaysia waiting for the bank to open and return my card. The second time the bank was open and was able to return my card. The lesson I have learned is do not depend too much on your ATM, and it is not always the safest or cheapest!