Best way to make free calls/texts from Europe

Barbara,

Yes, as long as you are on wifi your texts and FaceTime will be free. If you have an iPhone 4 it won't work as a cell phone anyway because it doesn't have gsm capabilities. Just keep it on wifi the whole time and you should be fine.

I have an android phone and T-Mobile with their world roaming plan which makes calls cheap to begin with. But the phone is also fitted with WIFI calling so when I am in an area with WIFI the calls are free.

Barbara,

Postcards work for me.

The owner of an Italian coffee/bakery i use to frequent wanted to know where i was going on my trips so i sent her and other friends and family a post card from each stop. They may not get it the next day, but they do get an idea on where i have been and if i feel like it will let them in on where to next.

Happy trails.

Hi Barbara, if you haven't used Facetime, please try it. It's free and easy to use! I took an I-pad on my last trip and was able to find wifi connections everywhere in France, Belgium and Holland. If you're lucky, your hotel room will have wifi, if not, try the lobby.

FaceTime is great, but both you and the person you're calling have to have an Apple device such as an iPhone or iPad.

You can see if your phone carrier has an International texting plan. They wouldn't be free, but certainly less expensive than paying for a call.

If you are just trying to stay in touch but don't need to talk to people, why not just stay in touch by email?

In my world I would not need or take a iphone, tablet and laptop. Why all the hardware? Just more stuff to carry and to keep track of. I think the tablet would work just fine. We use a iPad with both Facetime and Skype for visual contact. Since free wifi is nearly everywhere, we use the iPad for all of our emails and web searching during the trip. I am sure the android tablet would function in the same manner as the iPad. We also upload and store phones on the iPad as back up to the SD cards.

I use skype and email. Email first when you'll be skyping so they have their device on.

Hi Barbara, I would agree with the posters on this thread. They are steering you in the right direction.

Facetime if you're both on Apple products. If not, Skype works. For a couple cents a minute, you can set up Skype to call land lines. I used my Ipod to check email and call home using Skype from either our hotel or one of the many restaurants, cafes and bars that offer free WiFi in Europe.

Agree with the others about using Skype, which can be used on both Apple and Android devices. You can download the free Skype app to your phone and use it wherever you have wifi. Skype to Skype is free for both users.

Viber is totally awesome. You both have to have the free app, but you can call and text for free over wifi.

I once arrived a bit early to our apartment rental meeting with the owner in Venice. I knocked on the door. No answer. But I knew our apartment was just above me on the 2nd floor and I had been given the wifi access code in the rental agreement I had with me on my little laptop. So I took a chance;

Sitting outside on the stoop, I opened my laptop and looked for wifi connections. There it was - the router in our apartment, with the little lock symbol next to it. I used our access code to log in. I opened Skype. Then, calling as if from the USA (because our Skype service is routed through the USA), I dialed the number for the landlord. The call went through. I said "we're at the door" and he said "Oh, I was cleaning and didn't hear..." about 10 seconds later he opened the door, phone to his ear, to see me sitting there looking at my computer.

That call cost about $.04 and traveled about 10,000 miles to call someone 20 feet away, but worked flawlessly.

FYI; You have to front load your Skype account with some money for it to function. $10/year usually does it for me.

Facetime is great if you all have Apple devices and a good strong wifi connection. Slow connections become problematic.

I've never been a fan of cell phones or the idea that a person always needs to be in contact with everyone in their lives "just in case". We take month long trips every year and never, ever, ever call anyone just to "chat" or "catch-up". We're gone. We'll chat when we get home. Information gets passed via email or Facebook. Calls, even with Skype or FaceTime, are rare.

You are a lucky man Randy. The down side of my life is that I have elderly relatives, children and am self employed with quite a few employees that I can never have the luxury of being totally cut off from. The upside of my life is that I have elderly relatives, children and am self employed with quite a few employees; so yes, I benefit greatly by having my cell phone, email and text service.

Barbara,

It would help to know which cell network your iPhone 4 is with? Assuming it will work in Europe, are you planning on only texting or calling when you have Wi-Fi available? If the phone is capable of operation on GSM networks, you'll need to disable the data roaming in order to avoid huge charges!

One option you might have a look at is VIBER which is available for a variety of platforms. A couple of important points to note are that all of the people you wish to communicate with must also have Viber, and you'd need Wi-Fi to use it.

I've been travelling with an iPhone for the past few years, and normally use a SIM from one of the "travel phone" firms which provides consistent rates across many of the countries in Europe. I use texting quite extensively and outgoing texts are only 49¢ each and received texts are Free. However I also like to have voice capability to confirm hotel reservations or whatever, and outgoing voice calls are 69¢ per minute. Of course to use a travel SIM, the phone has to be unlocked.

Hope this helps.

My iPhone 4 worked just fine in two trips to Europe - ATT.

I brought an Iphone 4 on the last three trips (Spain, Italy, Austria). I purchased no special international phone plans or data packages from AT&T. I turned off roaming and cellular data prior to take off. I exclusively used free wifi to text via whatsapp, to skype, access the internet and email. My phone bill was not a penny more than usual.

Incidentally, I do exactly the same thing as Allen, except I do it with an iPod Touch, which functions just like an iPhone with the phone and roaming turned off. And like Allen, My phone bill was not one penny more than usual, which is to say, it was $0. I bought it two years ago for $200 and the total cost to me for two years of use in 6 countries and 30 US states (including original purchase price) has been $200.

You can have your phone company give you a global plan temporarily. It actually is really helpful having a working phone in Europe.

Just use the app called whatsapp. It's a free app you can get for your iPhone. Free texting from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world. I used it all last summer from Europe to the US and it saved me a LOT of money. It is super easy to use. The only drawback is that you have to open the app to see if you have messages as do the people you are sending messages to. Once it becomes your primary texting platform though, there is no reason to ever pay for a text message again!