Cell phones in Europe

I have one I purchased on line stateside. It has a charger and is country specific as I only get the sim card for the country of Spain. I tried to use it in England and it did not work....I think you can get one for multi-countries as well, but am not sure.

You just need one, Dennis.... and they come with chargers.

Dennis, If you purchase a Cell phone in the first country you visit, the rates will be cheapest when the phone is used in that country. When you move to the next country, you'll be "roaming" and the rates will increase (ie: with PAYG phones, your "minutes" will be depleted faster meaning you'll have to top-up more often). You could also consider obtaining a phone from one of the "Travel Phone" firms such as Call In Europe, Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial or Mobal. Their rates are typically consistent across a "zone" of countries, and the calling plans are often "post paid", with calls charged to a a credit card. Check their respective websites for further details. Happy travels!

A phone you buy in Europe will work in multiple countries but the SIM card is what you may need to replace when you travel to a new country. As said above phones do come with chargers. Your other option is getting one of the international phones while in the US but you won't have a local number for the country you are in.

Lisa, "but you won't have a local number for the country you are in" That will depend on which countries the OP is travelling in. Many of the "travel SIM's" use numbers based in the U.K. or in countries such as Liechtenstein, so these do provide a "local number" to some extent. Cheers!

What I meant is your number would be the same for all your travel as opposed to getting a SIM in each country. Could be a US#, could be and international# but to make local calls in the visiting country other than the original you would have to dial international codes.

I'd been advised to purchase a pay-as-you-go SIM card in the destination country, so before our last trip to France in 2009 my wife had her cellphone unlocked by her carrier. Then when we got to France we bought a SIM card for about $20. It worked, but we were unable to refill it because of new anti-terror rules that require identity verification before refills or international calls are allowed. The verification involved mailing a card off and would have taken longer than our entire vacation. So after the 15 introductory minutes were used up we were left without a phone. I don't know if there are ways around it, interested to hear if anyone else has had the same experience. Thanks, Matt M.

I took my unlocked cell phone to Italy and bought a SIM card there. The instructions were in Italian so when I needed to make a call I didn't know how to do it! Eventually someone I met on a train listened to the prompts for me and explained how to use the phone. When I arrived in Germany I discovered my Italian SIM card would not work, so I had to buy a new one there. I would have been better off financially buying one ahead of time that could have been used in both countries, and that I would not have had a language barrier using. Additionally, I was not able to use the phone to text. For my next trip I will make sure my phone will work when I cross borders and allow texting.

I just found a site that is a wealth of information on PRE paid phone, SIM cards and it also has many forums Re: phones. Hope this helps. Prepaidgsm.net

I am sorry to hear that many travelers have problems with their cell phones. We go to Europe yearly, mostly Paris and Venice the last few years. I purchased an unlocked quad phone, Motorola Razr3, from Amazon.com four years ago. I use the cellphone here at home with an AT&T PAYG simcard which I top up every year for $100 to keep it active (have never used up all of the annual $100). I have used the same cell in France with an SFR simcard purchased from BHV in Paris 2009. We do not go to Paris often enough to keep the simcard active. It becomes inactive just a few months after last top up. I also use the same cellphone in Venice with an Italian Vodafone simcard. We have had this simcard for 4 years. I simply top up (5euro) just before leaving Venice to keep the simcard active for another year (until our next visit). Last year, when we were in Paris, I decided not to buy a new french simcard. I used my cell with the italian simcard to call the landlord on arrival and for emergency. I had to be careful not to use up my credit. For calls home and other calls, I used my laptop and GoogleTalk - free or very inexpensive. I also used the same cell phone in Switzerland with a swiss simcard in 2007.

I bought a phone in 2008 from Mobal. Worked well in France and England. I plan to use the phone this year in France and Germany. Rates are $1.25 per minute for calls and .80 per outgoing texts; incoming texts are free. Mobal now sells a phone for as little as $29. You will get a charger and international adapters. You will be assigned a permanent international cell phone number and there are no monthly charges; just per call and text charges to the credit credit number on file. www.mobal.com.

Because this somewhat old thread has been revived, let me add some more information: Getting a SIM card from the U.K. is the best solution for low-cost calls short of using Skype over wifi or making calls from a payphone with a calling card purchased at a European convenience/tobacco store. I know that a U.K. SIM will work and should avoid the problems that some countries cause when they impose anti-terrorism restrictions as were described above. The biggest advantage of a U.K. SIM: everything is in understandable (mostly) English. This SIM will give you a U.K. number that can roam elsewhere in Europe. Roaming rates are more expensive, but the EU regulates them so they aren't as much as some other carriers or travel firms charge. The U.K. SIM also gives you access to data at somewhat reasonable rates. It is the only realistic option, in my opinion (and in the opinion of my wallet). As an alternative, get a world phone and a T-Mobile or AT&T account. Then just use the phone very, very sparingly. It is expensive, but you have a U.S. number and don't have to do anything special to get it to work. Do NOT, however, use it for data access.