iPad in Europe

Works just like it does in the US. Sometimes the wifi connects can be a little slow but otherwise it is fine.

Any time you are in a wifi area, everything will work just as it does at home.

Sometimes, I had to open Safari in order to connect. That brings up a page where you either click a button to connect through the hotel's (or cafe's, or airport's, etc.) wifi, or it is where you enter the password you received from the front desk. Once (Detroit Metro Airport,) I couldn't connect to Gmail by using the "Mail" icon -- I easily got in by opening Safari and signing in that way. Overall, I was very pleased with how easily it worked.

Loved my iPad in Italy last month. Each night I got a code from the front desk at the hotel and logged in to check email and surf the web. I downloaded 4 movies from iTunes before we left and we loved having a movie night. Set the iPad on the bed between my husband and I and we watched a movie. Forgot the screen was so small, it was fun, and a great way to fill up a late night after walking or riding our bike all day. I don't pay for wi-fi, and there is none free at train stations or on an airplane. (well, some airlines do offer wi-fi but not for free in economy on Lufthansa) We had club passes for United and I used my iPad on a 3 hour layover before our final flight home. Facetime worked like a charm. I "called" my kids when I could (8 hour time difference remember) Sometimes the video would "freeze", so we just hung up and called right back. iMessage also worked just fine while we were connected to wi-fi at the hotels. I bought the camera connector and downloaded the photos from my carmera each night, I got to delete the bad ones and I used my iPad to download 3-4 photos each night to my Facebook page so my friends at home could see our journey. Got lots of comments on the pictures! I had my iPhone too, but honestly, I used the iPad a lot more. Had the phone just incase my kids needed to call me in an emergency.

Sitting in Kirkwall. Messages flying back and forth from my adult leader stuck at home. Sent from my Ipad.

We used our iPad last summer in the Baltic region, St. Petersburg, and Central Europe. Wifi worked fine in restaurants and hotels, depending on strength of signal. A couple times I had to go to the lobby for a stronger signal. Note Lisa's comment about sometimes needing to open Safari. We did FaceTime with ease; that also depended on the strength of the signal. It should work fine for you. Happy travels.

These are all fabulous responses. We bought it just for our big trip. Hope to download photos and put them on a blog eventually. Also, keep in touch with fam and friends while we are away. Any other experiences are greatly appreciated. Does the cloud backup work ok? Is it possible to use Netflix of buy book through amazon kindle app while away?

I don't know if it would be the same in Europe but when our daughter was working in Kenya, she wasn't able to buy more books for her Kindle. I suppose if she had more time, she might have been able to figure it out, but she was too busy working. I make sure I have plenty of books on my Kindle before I leave and if per chance I have to go to a bookstore, it just adds to the experience.

Darcy, I haven't tried this in a while, but Kindle and Nook used to be limited as far as downloading new books when out of the U.S.

Have traveled out of the US with a Kindle for the last two years and have never had a problem anywhere downloading onto it. Use my iPad for photos, email, web, newspaper reading, skype, etc. But keep the Kindle for intensive and bedtime reading.

Hi - I've taken my iPad to Europe for the past two years and had no difficulties using wifi. Also, I was able to purchase books from Amazon without a problem. Another great resource that has worked for me is the virtual library from my public library - with my library card number and pin number and a free app called Overdrive, I can download print books and audiobooks straight to my iPad. I don't know where you plan to go in Europe, but the public libraries in London all have free wifi and I have also had free wifi on some buses and first class trains (Paris to Amsterdam, for example).

I live in Germany and have no problem downloading books on my Kindle when I have a wifi connection.