Best place to exchange foreign currency

I had no idea. Thanks!

I already went and came back. You're saying I need to alert them that I want to bring foreign currency for exchange, or am I too late?

My bad. I thought you meant you want foreign currency before you travel.

I'd give the bank a call and ask how they handle the exchange. It should be a simple process.

My (large, national) bank doesn't charge any fees at all. They simply use the day's exchange rate & give you foreign currency in the amount you request (you must have the funds on deposit, obvi). It's by far the easiest, cheapest thing to do. It generally takes 2-5 days to arrive at my local branch. You simply do the reverse with any foreign cash you have left in your pocket upon returning home. Bank will happily take it back, convert & redeposit to your account.

Use ATMs to supplement your funds while abroad. Find out if your bank will refund foreign ATM fees before you leave the country....if if bank won't do so, be sure to withdraw the max amount of cash allowed by the machine so you don't get hit with as many fees.

I used an ATM and only incurred a 1% fee. There may be some banks that don't have any. I just have to figure out how to change it back now.