Cell Phones

Nancie, There are several choices you could consider.... 1). Buy an inexpensive PAYG phone when you arrive in Italy. That will provide the least expensive rates for use there. There are lots of Cell phone shops in most places in Italy, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a phone. 2.) Buy a quad-band, unlocked GSM phone off E-Bay, and use that either with a SIM card purchased in Italy or with a SIM card from one of the travel phone firms. 3.) Buy a phone from one of the travel phone firms - Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial or Mobal. This will likely be provided with a U.K. phone number, but will provide consistent rates for calls in most of western Europe. Billing is usually on a post-paid basis, with calls charged to a credit card. Check the websites of the above firms for details and pricing. I prefer this option, as I like having a working phone as soon as I step off the plane. I have heard of EuroBuzz, but the reviews for that firm seem to be a bit "mixed". They wouldn't be my choice. Good luck and happy travels!

Actually found a phone that we bought two years ago for my daughter's trip to England through GoAhead Tours. It's a prepaid phone through rechargeminutes.com (whatever that is) and it is apparently still usable. Charge is $.99 per minute and it's good in Italy. Do you know anything about this type of phone? As I recall, we would call, then get a call back? Any opinion on this? We only want a phone for emergency purposes while we're there.

Nancie, I'm not at all familiar with the Go Ahead / Recharge Minutes phone service, so can't offer any comments. I don't like callback-type phone services, so would likely never use it.

If the phone you've got looks like it still works, take it. If you run into problems, you can always buy an inexpensive prepaid phone there.

I have used a Mobal SIM in the past, but now have a Eurobuzz SIM that I will use on my upcoming trip. (Eurobuzz is owned by Mobal.) I would never use phone/SIM that uses a callback system. With Mobal (or Eurobuzz) you just dial like you normally would, and the call quality is excellent.