mobile phones, Italy & France

Yes, getting a local prepaid phone at the start of your trip is a good option. If you want the phone so others can reach you, be advised that they will have to pay international rates. Texting would be cheaper and perhaps easier. You'll have to be sure the folks in the U.S. know how to dial (or text) an international number and you'll have to give them the number once you get it. A foreign prepaid account is likely the least expensive option. Other options: Get a phone from a travel phone company before you go. The advantage to this option is you often will get a U.S. number you can give out that will forward calls from the U.S. automatically to whatever foreign number the company gives you. This option is more expensive than buying a local phone, but may be less expensive than using a U.S.-based phone account. A new option I'm exploring is getting a "no contract" account with a U.S. phone company that permits international calling. This is easier for anyone calling from home, but can be expensive. You say you don't have a phone that can be activated to use globally. Which cell phone company do you use? It is possible you can use the account you have but just need to buy or borrow a phone to use overseas.

Beware of sim cards you can buy here for international use. I bought one from a company that included both US and UK phone numbers. My husband had a very difficult time calling me, and I never could make a call. I sent the company an email telling them I couldn't make calls. They sent me a long email explaining what I should do. I followed their instructions, but it didn't help. A big waste of money. Edit - I bought the sim card from Telestial. When I went to Italy I bought a sim card when I arrived. The prompts were in Italian, so I didn't know how to use it until halfway through my trip when I found someone on a train to translate for me. When I left Italy the sim card no longer worked and I had to buy another one in Germany. If you buy a phone when you arrive, be sure you know how to make a call, etc., and make sure it will work in multiple countries.

Cheryl, To begin with, do you currently have a Cell phone and if so which network are you with? If you have a Verizon phone, one option would be to use their "international loaner phone", which I believe is available for trips up to 30-days. The charges are higher than other options, but for infrequent use the costs are reasonable. If you'd prefer to use a "travel phone", you have several options: > Buy a PAYG phone when you arrive in Europe. The costs would be lowest in the country of purchase, and slightly higher in other countries since you'd be "roaming". > Buy a quad-band unlocked GSM phone off E-Bay and then buy a PAYG SIM card when you arrive in Europe. The costs would be the same as with the first option. > Buy a phone or just a SIM card from one of the "travel phone" firms such as Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Call In Europe, Telestial or Mobal. These usually operate on a U.K. number and provide consistent rates throughout most countries in western Europe. The rates are slightly higher than a phone purchased in a particular country, but there are no roaming charges unless the user travels into a different calling zone (ie: eastern Europe). Billing is usually on a post-paid basis, with calls charged to a credit card. The advantages of this approach are: (1) You'll have a working phone as soon as you step off the plane (2) No need to top-up or worry about running out of minutes in the middle of a call (3) No worries about dealing with Menus in other languages (4) Some of these can provide a local number which is "mapped" to the travel phone, so that people back home don't have to dial an international number and pay long distance. With travel phones, be VERY clear on the Terms, so there are no surprises. Good luck and happy travels!

Mobile phone use in Europe is complicated, but you can get a phone that will work in France and Italy at a reasonable rate per minute. My advice is to go to a Phone House or Virgin store in Paris when you arrive. They usually have English speaking staff who can advise you on the best deal for your intended use. The Phone House website currently shows a phone + Orange sim with talk time for €20. Orange will work in Italy but at a higher roaming rate which is capped by law. You can see the current deals at http://www.phonehouse.fr/ It's in French, but you can get a rough idea. Look for "prépayé". Lebara has the best per minute rates, but sells only sims so you would need to have a phone already to use the service.

Cheryl, I've taken multiple approaches, including buying a European phone a number of years ago. However, as noted above, instructions for adding euros/minutes, as well as warnings about time remaining/expiring, are not in English... I found that to be a huge source of frustration. What I've settled on is using the international option from my provider (Verizon). It's a little more expensive, but I don't have to spend vacation time hassling with foreign-language cell phone instructions. I got a simple Verizon GSM flip phone, which I activate before I leave on each trip and deactivate when I return. They also have a loaner program for GSM phones, which I've used a couple of times. As soon as I get back, I have them take the itnernational plan off my phone.

You should take a look at www.telestial.com. They have phones, SIMs and pretty good rates for travelling in Europe. They'll even forward calls from your regular number to your new phone.

Before travelling to France last month I bought a Blu quad band GSM phone on-line for around $35, then got a France SIM card through LeFrench Mobile (http://www.lefrenchmobile.com). It was already activated, but I could only get a number when I made my first call in France. It worked great, except for no service in one small village (but it was fine just a couple of miles away).