I use nationwide and find them pretty good. you can register for internet banking (even with just a card account) and check it from time to time over there although I don't advise doing this from internet cafes.
The other no-penalty card at the moment is issued by Civil Service Motoring Association - CSMA - which you can join if you or any member of your family works or has worked for any gov. department or offshoot like post office, police, BNFL, etc. etc.
This card used to be from Frizzell but is being handed over to Egg (I think). Currently they have promised to honour the present terms, but not sure how long this will last. Last year it stopped being world-wide and becoame only EEC.
It's better to draw cash on a debit card, or you will find the interest on a credit card starts when you take the money out, not at the statement day, and since any direct debit payments you make are delayed usually two weeks from the statement date, it will take some months for the interest to actually get paid off, giving an overall rate quite a lot more than the published rate.
There are also new cards you can "load" with money before you go - I think directly into euros - and then withdraw cash without any further charge _ don't take this as gospel as i have not done my homework on them yet.