Staying connected in Europe

Free wi-fi is ubiquitous throughout much of Europe. Practically every cafe, restaurant, pub and many shops provide it. It's available on many buses and trains as well as public hotspots in major towns and cities and not forgetting your hotel. I would suggest that it is going to be very unlikely that you will find yourself in many places in the cities you've mentioned where you would not be in the range of free wi-fi and even if you were, those uploads to social media can surely wait for 30 minutes or so before you do find one.

I honestly don't think there is any need to go to the expense of buying such a device or paying for data whilst abroad. As for using gps, you can download the maps when online and use them offline.

I had a great experience with Travelers Wifi last summer. https://www.travelerswifi.com I probably could have done without it (free wifi really is almost everywhere), but as a woman traveling alone, it gave me some peace of mind knowing that I would have it in case I ever got lost. It was especially helpful to have when navigating bus and train schedules!

Thank you for the replies guys. I was considering free wifi, but i also didnt want to only rely on that in case of any emergency. I will check for free wifi on those towns and also the travelers site too, if you guys have any other options that would be interesting to consider, just let me know.

Ita

Before a trip last May, I bought a Dutch Vodaphone SIM card on eBay and activated it before I got to Europe. It cost me a total of about $30 USD (including 20 Euros for 3GB of data good for a month) . The EU has done away with most roaming fees, and the phone's data worked well in Slovenia, Italy, and France (I never even visited the Netherlands on that trip). But you could buy a SIM card at your first stop if you have an unlocked phone and use the SIM in other countries. Some SIM cards allow using your phone as a hotspot too so your friends might share it (like a "pocket WiFi") though two or three people using the same SIM's data might use it up pretty quickly.

As others have said, there is free wifi many places, but really the only place you can rely on a connection is at your hotel, otherwise, it is hit or miss. A SIM card on a unlocked phone is much better, especially since now if you buy coverage in one European country, roaming is at no additional cost in other countries (new in the last year)

For calling back to the US, you will need additional credit on the account, or use internet calling apps. If you need people to call you, then they need your "European" number, or have a phone with a US number still active. (Dual number phones would be great, but generally not available in the US)

As for buying a SIM once there, several reports have indicated issues with foreigners buying a SIM in Germany in the last 6 months due to registration requirements, but not a problem at all in the Netherlands or UK, other places are likely not an issue, but I have no info on those. Buying on line as a previous poster mentioned is another option.

Paul mentioned "internet calling apps." I use Google Hangouts to make free calls to the US, even to landlines. It works on WiFi or mobile data. If you don't live in the US, the free calling to phones isn't really an option with Hangouts, but you can still use Hangouts (like Skype) to make calls to other countries for a few cents per minute. I use Hangouts to receive calls for free as well, using my Google Voice number.

There are plenty of free texting apps too. I use Google Voice for that.

It would help to know which country you're from, as that will provide some idea of what roaming options are available.

As none of you have previously travelled in Europe, my first suggestion would be the read Europe Through The Back Door. That provides a lot of good information on how to travel well in Europe and things like getting around and the differences you'll encounter there. After that use city or country-specific guidebooks for more detailed planning in the cities you'll be visiting.

A WiFi Hotspot is certainly one option, but there will be a cost for that as well. One unit that I looked at recently required about US$150 for the unit plus a cost of US$9 per day for use. For all of you to take advantage of that, you'd all have to be within range of the Hotspot, which seems a bit awkward. It will be less expensive to use WiFi in hotels and don't bother with data when you're away from that. Most hotels provide guests with a city map so a GPS won't be required all the time.

How long will your trip be? In terms of getting around, it's easier to work that out once you have a more-or-less definite Itinerary. Using open-jaw flights is usually best, and within Europe travel by train is usually the most efficient method. If you post more details, I'm sure the group here can help you work out the details.

Switch to T-Mobile. Free international roaming and probably less than you pay now. Having unlimited data while traveling is a game changer. Public WiFi is worth what you pay for it. When you need it most your connection will be dismally slow.

We don't know that the OP is even American, so switching to T-Mobile US may not be an option. Even so, T-Mobile isn't cost effective for everyone. I had them for a long time, but today it's possible to get much cheaper phone service for a single line than T-Mobile offers. T-Mobile makes more sense if you can get some sort of a "family plan" discount for multiple lines (e.g. their 55+ offer - two lines for $60/month). But if you need only a single line of service, you'd be better off getting US cell phone service from someone like MetroPCS (owned by T-Mobile) for say $30/month for unlimited talk + text and buying a European SIM like I did for all of $30 USD one time, with plenty of data for one trip. Doing that saves me hundreds of dollars a year on phone service.

Public WiFi is worth what you pay for it. When you need it most your connection will be dismally slow.

In Europe the vast majority of public wi-fi is free. I haven't seen any that charge a fee for many years now. All the connection speeds I've experienced have been very good, perfectly acceptable for uploading images to Facebook etc so I'm not sure where you've experienced poor and expensive public wi-fi or how long ago but here in Europe it's certainly not how you've described it.

The quality of WiFi connections in Europe varies greatly in my experience. Sometimes the WiFi at say a hotel is fast and reliable; sometimes it isn't. I'd say WiFi in Europe has improved a lot on average over the last several years. On my last trip to Europe in May (Slovenia, Italy, France), I stayed in eight different lodgings. At six of them, the WiFi connection and speed was excellent. At the other two, WiFi was usable but a bit spotty at times. At least once I simply used my phone's WiFi hotspot instead.

I agree that free WiFi is usually available at lodgings or at restaurants, etc.. Paid WiFi in some cases still exists but is getting rarer.

I never seem to have too much trouble finding WiFi. Yes, sometimes it's better than others. I put a local SIM in my phone and rarely need all the data if I stick to WiFi when available. I like that I have a different number and don't waste money on people calling/texting who don't realize I'm in Europe.

Keeping in touch:
1) Family and friends have our itinerary so they don't panic if there's bad news from a city when we are not there.
2) ALL hotels are selected to have WiFi.
3) Because of time differences, e-mail works best to connect back home. WhatsApp also works for times when both travelers and home people are awake and have time/WiFi connection to text. Social media postings are done in the evening on free hotel WiFi. GPS applications like CityMaps2Go used offline only.
4) In many trips we have not needed to call home.
5) Once our phones go off contract we will probably have them unlocked and buy European sim cards for limited local data and calls.

Guys thank you so much for all the help and replies. Your advice are going to to be really useful for us.
We are from Brazil, our carrier charges for roaming are quite expensive, so not an option for us.
I will try follow the steps that Laura mentioned, although i still need to make myself available to my company at most of the time. I will try to download the map of those places and also ask for a map at the tourist information center of those countries.

The thing with SIM card is that as you guys mentioned, a few countries might facilitate the registration process while others might make it stressful.

For the free Wifi everywhere, although it seems the best options, it is indeed a hit or miss. In my last SEA trip some places in Japan and Taiwan would require me to register, which shouldn't be a problem, but most of the networks required a phone number or asked me to go to the closest visitor center in order to register. So am still a bit skeptical about it.

Andrew, for the SIM card, is there any other carrier that you recommend besides Vodafone, one with no complications?

mp125 regarding the pocket wifi that you mentioned seems really nice, but other people in other forums mentioned iVideo to me, they have a good price for a monthly rental and i have no experience with this at all, have you experienced this company too? If yes can you share a bit more about it? If no, is there any other besides world travelers that you know recommend? I don't want to limit our options.

Guys once again thank you all for the replies and insights, you are really being helpful and welcoming.
Ita

p.s Ken i will read "Europe Through The Back Door", hope to find even more info there.

I didn't find the Vodafone SIM that complicated. I have written a description of how I set it up in another post here:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/dutch-vodafone-sim-card-for-use-in-europe

The benefit of a Dutch SIM card is that you don't need to register in country - you can activate it ahead of time before you leave for Europe, like I did. (I never even visited the Netherlands on that trip.) So complications can be cleared up before you get to Europe. You won't have to waste time on your trip buying a SIM for your phone. But if you don't mind waiting until you get to Europe, you can just go to a mobile store in the first country you visit and have the agent set up the SIM card for you - no worry about any complications. Just make sure whatever SIM you buy allows roaming in other EU countries.

I haven't used any other European SIM cards since I bought a smart phone, so I can't recommend another one besides Vodafone. Some people have used UK SIM cards which also don't need to be registered in person with your passport. You can buy UK and Dutch SIM cards on ebay.

We have unlocked phones and always buy a SIM in the first country we arrive in. The worse thing you might have to do is show a passport. No big deal. In September we got 12GB/month for 25 GBP in London. Very cheap.