Opening a no foreign transaction fee card is probably a decent idea if you can't find a bank account that offers a no foreign ATM-fee withdrawal. A request for a new credit card will add an inquiry to your credit report and give you a slight ding for the next two years.
The exchange rates debit cards give at ATMs are highly-competitive, near FOREX rates. The catch of course is that you'll face some heavy ATM-fees and possibly additional foreign currency exchange fees. Find a free bank that offers no ATM-fee withdrawals and no foreign transaction fee. Chase was mentioned, and I'd like to add USAA. USAA does cover all foreign ATM withdrawal fees, even if their site indicates otherwise- I've had fees from every ATM-withdrawal automatically refunded to me, including dozens in Nepal, India and Sweden.
I'd suggest looking at the Capital One Cash Rewards card. No annual fee, no foreign transaction fee. ~1.5% back (1% comes with the standard cycles, 0.5% is actually awarded as an annual bonus).
As far as opening a credit card and then closing it, my question is why close it if you've already opened it? If there's no annual fee, you might as well hold onto it. Having an additional, essentially unused account open long-term will provide you with more credit history, increase your total available credit and decrease your credit utilization- all generally good things which will almost certainly outweigh the slight decrease in your average age of credit after 2 years. Plus you may decide to travel abroad again and this will save you from having another credit card inquiry.