Can anyone tell me where I am able to pick up wireless internet throughout Europe ? coffee shops ? museums ? hotels ?
In the states, you can usually pick up free internet at Starbucks, etc.
Any advise on how I can keep up with my employees back home ?
Thank you
Lots of pubs have free internet in UK
Libraries do not have wifi, but vast majority have computers to rent by the 1/2 hour, about half counties are free
Going rate at internet cafes is £1 for an hour if you get stuck
Lots of pubs have free internet in UK
Libraries do not have wifi, but vast majority have computers to rent by the 1/2 hour, about half counties are free
Going rate at internet cafes is £1 for an hour if you get stuck
Free internet is not as wide spread as in the US. Nearly all hotels will provide some access. Have had everything from unlimited to one hour/per day. Mostly free but sometimes a small fee. McDonald is commonly recommended but does require a purchase. On our recent trip we could not get our free Starbuck to work. Some claimed they had never heard of it.
On our Rick Steves Germany tour in 2008, there was wifi available in all hotels except one, and of the hotels that offered wifi, only one hotel charged. I was able to send e-mails home from my Touch, just about every night.
Starbucks doesn't offer free wifi...
I walk along backstreets in cities with my iphone (be careful with your settings) and can almost always find a free wifi network. I type up emails in advance and send and receive when I find a network.
Timeout had an article on free wifi in London last year. Here is the link
http://www.timeout.com/london/features/6187/Where_to_find_free_wi-fi_in_London.html
One of the easiest things to do is to google "free wifi" in each of the cities or towns you will be visiting. They will list all the cafes, pubs, etc where you can go and sit, buy a coffee or a drink and use your laptap.
If you are going to be staying in one country for a couple of weeks, you can also look at signing up on T-mobile. They have month-month contracts for each country that runs about 30 euro. Having this allows much more freedom with your laptop or i-phone.
Starbucks in the UK does offer free wifi if you have one of their pre-paid cards. The card its self is free so just load £5 and you'll spend that on the drinks you consume whilst using your free wifi.
TBH I've never found, as a tourist, free wifi to be that much more prevalent in the US than it is in Europe. You'll find it in the same sort of places (coffee shops, museums, hotels, even pubs,) with the same mixture of totally free access, free-with-purchase and chargeable.
If you come back with a more detailed itinerary (countries and cities) I'm sure the gang will have some specific locations. In the UK Starbucks, McDonalds and Wetherspoons are a good start.
As a follow-up to Richard's comment, some UK libraries do have wi-fi.
