Cell phone--Sweden?

Get your own cell phone enabled for international calling if you plan on traveling again alot in the future, otherwise no. Cellphone coverage in Sweden, Norway etc. is fantastic. You don't even cut out after the 1,285th tunnel in Norway. Payphones etc. are a dying breed, I mean, who do you know that doesn't have a cell phone? That said pay phones are available. We only use our phone for emergencies anyway. Contact your relatives via email or SKYPE for their take on the issue.

Why not ask the Swedish relatives if they have an old, unused phone? Then have them pick up a SIM card there for it and send both to you. You'll know the number and have a working phone upon arrival in the country.

As an alternative, you could find an unlocked used phone here and they can send you the SIM card with the same result.

When we were in Sweden last year, we bought a phone card the minute we arrived. Our practice had been to call relatives at phone booths or if any of our hotels would allow us to use their phones. We could find hardly any phone booths and were told they had been taken out because most people had cell phones. So, the phone card approach did not work for us.

Thanks for your replies. I really don't like learning new technology. I don't like learning new terms like "unlocked" and "SIM cards." I anticipate making less than 5 calls. I think that I'll e-mail the relatives and see what they suggest. If they suggest getting a phone, I will. Is it expensive to call from Swedish hotels using their phone? It was amazingly cheap to use the hotel phone at one hotel in Italy, and I was dumbfounded at how expensive using the hotel phone was in California.

When we were at a larger hotel, we were able to use the phone card we purchased on the hotel phone. When we stayed in smaller hotels or B&B's, we were not able to use the phone (and, as I said, could not find a phone booth in the smaller cities). It was even very hard to find a phone booth in Stockholm.

Karen,

As you "really don't like learning new technology", you might consider a GSM rental from firms such as Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe or similar firms. That way you'll have a phone when you land to contact relatives or whatever.

One caveat though, be sure to check the rates carefully so that you have a clear idea what the costs will be.

Cheers!

Thankyou for all the replies, especially thanks to Sharon (who convinced me that relying on pay phones might not be a good idea) and Ken (who pointed me to the Call in Europe website.) Does anybody have any experience with renting or buying a phone from "Call in Europe."