I'm an American living in Europe, with most of my money going in to an American bank account. As such, I've done a lot of looking in to this. I've found the best deal is just using an ATM. I have a card that doesn't charge (or refunds) any out of network fees.
Also, chip and pin is a very, very minor problem. I hear people talk about it but have had 2 experiences where I would have needed it, in 2.5 years. Know the PIN code for your CC. Sometimes, that is a substitute for real chip and pin. But in general, places that have real employees, and especially those in more tourist heavy areas, know how to deal with swipe cards. And for any large purchases, that should be fine. Having ~20 Eu, hopefully some of which is coins, will protect you from the rare chip and pin issue.