Where is the best place to exchange money in Granada, Spain?
If you are close to the center of Granada and looking for a good place to exchange money (and get a good rate for your Euros), the place that I found to give a really good exchange rate when travelling (whether it’s for your dollars, pounds or whatever) is the chain bank called BBVA. It is on the Calle Reyes Catolicos street and just a few minutes walking distance away from the NH Victoria hotel and Burger King – which is basically the center of Granada.
Bring your passport to exchange money at the bank
You will also need your passport in order to exchange money at the BBVA bank – so be sure to bring that as well.
Watch out for the exchange rates
One thing that was strange was the fact that at BBVA, the exchange rate you would receive would vary depending on how much money you exchanged – so for instance, if you exchange $100 US dollars you may get 73 Euros, and you would expect that for $200 USD you would get 73 * 2 = 146 Euros, but in fact you may only get 140 Euros or something different. The best thing to do is to ask how many Euros you will get for different dollar amounts, and figure out which rate is the best.
Don’t go to Caja Granada
There is another bank that you may see called Caja Granada – in order to exchange money there you have to be a customer, so it’s not an option unless you happen to be a customer.
Don’t go to Western Union
I went in to the Western Union on Calle Reyes Catolicos to check their rate, and found that they had one of the worst rates I had seen in Spain – they were offering me about 62 euros for $100 US dollars at a time when the official exchange rate was about 80 Euros for $100 US dollars. So, I wouldn’t advise going there – but one thing that is nice is that they don’t require a passport, so if you just have a driver’s license you can easily exchange money there.
Caixa bank in Granada
I didn’t personally check out the rate at this bank in Granada, but I did get a really good exchange rate at another Caixa bank in Cordoba, Spain. So, it may be worth going to this bank even though it is a bit further away from the center of Granada – you will need your passport here as well.