Are tablets or ipads very helpful when traveling in Europe?

I've traveled with my smartphone Internationally 3 times in the last year+. I disabled the data when I got on the flight for the international leg and just used wifi throughout the trip. It worked just fine for me and did what I needed it to do. I also had downloaded What'sApp to be able to text using wifi and that worked fine too. I did have a Kindle with me so did not need it to access books.

Yes, you can disable calling on a smartphone, so it functions like an iPod Touch (WiFi only, no cellular data). You can also bring a tablet (an iPad is just one brand of tablet). As you are aware, the trade off is larger and heavier thing to carry, vs. larger and easier to read screen. Your choice - both can work well. Many bring both (since they want a phone on the US ends of their trip, even if they're not going to use it in Europe, and want the larger tablet screen too).

I do travel with my iPad and I enjoy having a larger screen. It's also easier to type when doing emails or if you plan to keep a blog. My upcoming trip to the U.K., France and Germany will be my first with a smartphone. I have an AT&T iPhone 5. My plan is to use it for necessary calls and texts, but cellular data will be turned off. I will use wifi only. When I'm out and about I will have my phone only. I'll leave the iPad wherever I'm staying. If I had an iPad mini I might be more inclined to take it with me.

Took the iPad and used it once! iPhone did all I needed, and worked as others have said.

One less piece to carry on future trips for me.

I have an Ipad mini and take it with me. If I'm bringing any guidebooks, I generally get them in ebook format so I will use Ipad to look things up. I also store my travel docs on Ipad.

dsevedge,

Depending on they age and model of phone you're using, it may not even work in Europe with US Cellular if it's a CDMA product. If that's the case, you could still use the phone for internet in Wi-Fi areas but no calls or texts would be possible.

Regarding your original question, tablets or iPads are often useful when travelling in Europe. I prefer a Netbook, as I can't function with a virtual keyboard and like to have a "normal" keyboard and I also like the larger screen. I also travel with a Smartphone these days, but find the small screen and virtual keyboard are "awkward" and only good for very limited use. If my Netbook ever quits working, I'll probably buy another small PC as I need the capacity of a hard drive for photo storage.

I'm like Ken - I travel with a netbook. I blog as we are traveling and I prefer a real keyboard. Mine fits nicely in my purse. I also carry a smart phone but keep it on - cell, data & wifi when available. I loved using google maps - never got lost as it tracks you as you walk. I could use the phone as a virtual tour guide by either translating the written plaques on exhibits (cool feature using the camera lens translates the text) or by doing a search of what we were currently viewing and being able to read about it. The phone was also a menu decoder, my camera, transportation info and restaurant guide - I could stand in front of a restaurant and check the reviews before going in. The few times I didn't - I wished I had! For 30 days of traveling in Europe my phone bill went up about $230 - for me a small price for all of the convenience.

We took a netbook on our trip in 2010, but it was slow and heavy (even tho it was a small one). Took our ipod touch one trip in 2012, but other then for music or maybe passing time with a game, using it for maps was not very useful. I got an ipad mini and took it to California last year (we got it in between going to Europe in 2012 and Cali in 2013). Was lightweight and great for carrying in my purse, connecting with friends on facebook, updated my blog, watching tv shows when stuck at the airport for 8 hrs when our flight got cancelled, using the CityMaps to go App (which, after connecting once when arriving in a city, then uses satellites or something and wifi isn't needed - which I didn't discover until 2 days before coming home), reading books, magazines, the local newspaper, booking hotels for the few nights we didn't have ones prebooked (I always make sure to stay somewhere with free wifi). Looking up tours, opening and closing hours, things to do - I found it invaluable. Watching movies on the plane, keeping in touch with home...hubby bought an ipad air after we got home, and I know the air and the mini are going with us in Sept (the mini will come out with us, the air will stay secure in the room). Some people do prefer a 'real' keyboard, but you can get a cover with a keyboard built in.

One caveat - we don't use a cell phone...well, we have one, an older flip style, that barely gets used -but we don't have a smart phone, so I can't comment on their usage...

**The other great thing about the CityMaps app is you can pin places you want to see, which was great in San Fran and other spots as we could look before going out for the day and pick and area to explore...also pin restaurants, make your own pins (we could pin where we were staying)...great app. I already have so many sights and restaurants (ok, gelaterias) pinned for our Italy trip in Sept...

I left my smart phone at home but took my iPad mini. Loved it, used it with wifi to look up directions, sights, and other info. Nice to have a book or game when winding down at the end of the day.

Nicole, I didn't know about that feature with City Maps but will try it today, sounds great!

I use my iPad all the time. Email photos, keep a journal in Pages app, and everything others have said.

I'm with Ken. I own a pad, but it doesn't go with me to Europe. I do a lot of typing and the virtual keyboard, particularly having to constantly switch to the 3rd keyboard, makes it totally useless. It is also nice to have a netbook that shares an operating system with my home desktop, so I can save related files that I use in planning and then transfer them to my travel computer.

I travel with my iPad mini but I also bring a logitech mini keyboard with it as I don't like using the virtual keys on the iPad. The iPad and keyboard (it snaps to the iPad like some of the covers do) both fit in my little padded sleeve.

Nicole wrote the "CityMaps to go App (which, after connecting once when arriving in a city, then uses satellites or something and wifi isn't needed". She also wrote about how she could track her movements in real time on GoogleMaps.

Apart from how these programs work, as you're walking around a city, outdoors and out of reach of local wifi signals, to whose data feed does this connect? How can that possibly be free and open to wandering planless people?

I love traveling with my IPad whether it's in the US or elsewhere. I find it easier to do email on it; I find it easier to use the Internet on it; it hold my books and they are easier to read on it; it has some fun games on it that help with travel woes get in the way; and I can upload my pictures to it. I would not travel without it.

Pam

It depends on the phone and/or mapping app. Some phones use AGPS - which is assisted GPS - the assistance is via cellular data. Some use regular GPS which connects directly to the GPS sats. and does not require data. Have you ever driven somewhere and did not have cell or data but your directions still worked?

It must be the GPS. We def don't have cellular on my ipad. We were driving around San Diego and I had my ipad out looking for a parking area in the Gaslamp Quarter...and then I notice a little dot on it and I'm like - wait a minute - that's us, in real time! This was 2 days before our trip was over...mind you, we had a GPS we borrowed from a friend for the driving. We have the pro version of the app, which is 2.99 (android or iTunes), but we got for free one time when they had free downloads.

From the app description:
DETAILED MAPS
Never get lost. See your location on the map, even without an internet connection. Find streets, addresses and POIs – and get pointed in the walking direction of places you want to see.
OFFLINE ACCESS
Maps and guide content are stored on your device so they can be accessed at any time even without an internet connection. That way CityMaps2Go is fast and reliable no matter if you have a Wi-Fi-only device or want to save data or roaming costs while abroad.

The only thing - I think when you arrive to a city, you first have to connect to wifi, so it can pinpoint you, but after that, as long as you are still in the area of the downloaded map, you are good to go, connected or not. Now, I'm not a fan of flashing my ipad around to pickpockets and such, and hubby is pretty good with a paper map, but for a quick look to see where that darn church is located, or that restaurant everyone is raving about that you pinned on the map, it's awesome! (No, I don't own shares in the company - maybe I should!). And you wouldn't use it for long distance driving, as you only download a city map...

...and I didn't use google maps, just the maps on the City Map app

My wife took her new iPad mini to Europe in May and June of this year. We have no upscale phones. She was glad she took it, used it often where wifi was available, read books she had downloaded at home, and said she wished she had had one years ago.

For those who take a netbook because they want a real keyboard - I was at my local airport today and was browsing in the Brookstone store. They had a folding keyboard that has real keys, not rubber. It's lightweight and small. It connects to your device(s) via Bluetooth. I haven't tried it out with my iPad yet, but I was trying it out in the store to see how it felt. I can connect both my iPad and iPhone. It comes with a carry pouch for travel.

Edit - I synched the bluetooth keyboard to my iPad and iPhone and am typing on it right now. I think it will take a little getting used to, but it should be faster than typing on the iPad screen. This is an option if one wants the flexibility of a tablet with the ability to use a real keyboard.

@Andrea,

I've thought about using an iPad with a separate keyboard, but have so far ruled it out as there are a few other issues....

1. Tablets with solid-state memory simply don't have the same capacity as a unit with a hard drive.
2. The photo transfer gadgets for iPads and other tablets seem to be limited to SD cards only. My camera uses CF cards, so I'd have no way to transfer photos. It's an awkward solution for my uses.
3. In reading reviews for some of the external keyboards (even those sold by Apple), performance is sometimes "lacking" and some users have reported problems with them.

I may yet try an iPad with a separate keyboard, as it would be much easier and lighter to travel with. However, I'm not ready to try it yet, and will be packing my venerable Netbook again this year.

I always take either a tablet (Samsung 8 inch) and/or a netbook (Samsung NC10+) so that I can check and change reservations and check traffic and schedules from the comfort of my room.

I have noticed recently that a number of smaller hotels, especially in Germany, have overworked networks resulting in very slow speeds and marginal availability. The wifi (W-LAN in Germany) is not a given, but there is always internet around somewhere.

I keep up with things here at Rick Steves and in the absence of anything more uplifting on television than bimbos and bimbettes on Italian TV, pictures of mountain tops on Swiss TV, and bimbos and mountaintops on German TV, and very intense French dramas on French TV - no bimbettes there -, or the one English channel devoted to flippin' BBC World or the marginally better CNN-Europe, or the tiny bit better Sky News = = come on guys how many times do I have to watch somebody being blown up in Nigeria or floods in Bangladesh while I'm on holiday ?!?!? so I watch recorded shows and youtubes and other TV on my tablet, some on the internet and some off my dropbox.

Tablet also good for a little game play, and playing with all the apps I don't use from day to day, and reviewing pictures. I put all mine in dropbox everyday and the tab is very good for reviewing them.

I use the Nook app on the tab and find it an excellent way to read books, and the RS books are easy to read and use on that app. I prefer it to the kindle app and other e-readers.

Since I don't have a smart phone, I've brought the iPad for the past several trips and used it every day. Negative: I usually only use it in the hotel, since I consider it too heavy to carry around all day. Positive: It's a good size for me for handling email, researching trip plans online, viewing maps before I head out, etc. Staff here who do bring a smart phone use it as their camera, too, so that's one less device or them.

dsevedge,

i just got a smart phone for my travels this year. Its actually a phablet (phone & tablet) 5.7" screen so its not too large and not too small for what i plan on doing with it this years travels. I will use it and determine if im going to keep it or sell it for future travels.

But for a tablet, if you are going to use it than, fine. But if not, its just extra garbage to have to worry about.

Just so you know, up until this e revolution all travelers have been fine without all of this stuff. So i would consider WHY you want to bring one and go from there.

happy trails.

I bought one of the Basic bluetooth keyboards from Amazon for about 25 bucks, it works great with the iPhone when I have a lot to say and packs easily. As for iPads, the one thing I really dislike is when people use them for a camera, effectively blocking the already small view of Mona Lisa like a big hat at a ballgame.

Mostly older people use them as cameras, so I will not be caught doing that!!! Haha

I'm taking my ipad mini with me next month. Last year I had Rick's book, some printouts of smaller cities we went to, some maps of places I wanted to check out in some towns, and other papers. This time i have Rick's guidebook on my ipad and all my documents and research that I will need. I also can use Rick's audio tours for places from it. I have all the cities I'm visiting saved with offline maps so I don't need wifi when I'm walking around.

I can send some emails with the wifi once i get back to my hotel.

Took my mini on a GAS tour last month. Many of the hotels had poor wifi - especially in the rooms.
As a result there was usually a huddle of tour members in the lobbies trying to get on-line. I guess
that would qualify as a real first world problem...

I used to be against taking electronic gadgets on trips, that changed in 2009. We were traveling for London to Inverness by train when a storm did something to a switching signal(?). This caused us about a 2 hour delay getting into Inverness. My oldest daughter whips out her Itouch, connects to the trains wifi and sends an email to our b&b letting them know about our delay. After that I became a fan of electronic gadgets.

I like my Ipod touch. Lots of uses in a small package. I can store docs on it, have a translation app handy, maps, contacts, music, alarm, Skype, etc. WiFi is available all over Europe, so I never found it particularly tough to live without a data plan. I also carry a local phone and sim card - primarily to call a half day ahead to book lodging (off a list I built at home and keep on my Ipod).

I might go with a tablet just to have a slightly bigger format - or not. I bought a Samsung tablet a year or so ago but I'm not happy with their privacy policy associated with any app you put on it - so I'll probably go to an Apple product if I decide I need it.

I am looking at purchasing the new Samsung tablet when it's available...can you explain what you mean about their privacy policy? I have the Galaxy 5S so keeping it in the family was appealing to me.

I recently spent 2 weeks in Italy this past June with my Samsung S4 on T Mobile's Simple Choice plan. Here is the information from their website. "If you are on a Simple Choice plan that includes international roaming, calls and texts back to the U.S. while using our Wi-Fi calling feature are free and calls from any Simple Global country to any other country are $0.20/min (same as cellular). Wi-Fi calls made from non-Simple Global countries to other countries are charged at World Class rates." I was a little leery and felt like it was too good to be true. I can tell you after returning that it is an awesome deal! For me personally, my phone was more than adequate for my needs. I was able to carry it with me easily throughout the day. I was able to read my e books with my Kindle app. I was able to text or call home as much as I wanted. And I had free data most times throughout the two weeks! Unless you need to edit photos or other specific tasks that require a bigger screen, I would opt for packing lighter with just a phone.

I just got back from a week in Munich (and a big thank you to the list for all of the suggestions and feedback!)

I did not end up taking 2 things, one of which I wished I had and one of which I was glad I didn't. The latter was the Bose headphones my mother gave me. Yes they are great for noise cancellation, but are bulky to pack in their case and I found that the Apple earbuds worked fine for muffling sounds. However, I do wish I had taken my Ipad, which I left at home, again due to the bulk and weight. I found that my Iphone was sufficient for sightseeing (maps, photos) and wi-fi email back at the hotel. However. on the flight to and from Munich, I wished that I had my Ipad with movies or tv shows downloaded. The selection on Luftahansa was mainly films or TV shows I had already seen, and that flight back to the west coast is loooong and dull, like a never ending day. Hard to sleep in the middle of the day and I wanted a break from my book.