Verizon iPhone 5 in Europe

Madeline, Are you planning to use the phone only for voice and text, or do you want data capability as well? Your two basic choices are: 1.) Roam with Verizon. I believe they have "travel packs" which will reduce the cost of roaming (check with them for details). If you're planning to only make a few calls and texts, this is often the simplest solution. Leave cellular date "off" and access the net ONLY in Wi-Fi areas. One disadvantage with that approach is that anyone calling your home number will reach you in Europe, and YOU will pay for EACH incoming call. You'd have to stress to your contacts that they NOT call you when you're travelling. Calls received in the wee hours of the morning from someone that didn't bother to check the time difference are especially annoying. 2.) If your phone is unlocked, you can either buy a SIM when you arrive in Europe OR use a SIM from one of the travel phone firms. If you buy a SIM in Europe, calls will be cheapest in the country where the SIM was purchased and slightly more expensive in other countries since you would then be roaming. Buying a SIM in each country is a nuisance as your number changes with each new SIM. You'd also have to deal with topping-up and may or may not be able to get data. Using a SIM from one of the travel phone firms will be easier as they provide the same rates in most countries. Most use post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card), so no issues with topping-up. Some travel SIM's offer data, but it tends to be expensive. I'm not sure there's any "one size fits all" solution. You'll likely have to make a few compromises. There are solutions that will provide the same functionality as at home, but they're usually not cheap so one has to be willing to pay for them. Good luck!

Ken,
Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it. What travel phone companies would you suggest? I would probably want data since I would use iMessage over data and could use the Internet for maps and such. My iPhone 5 is unlocked because it's Verizon.

Did you go to Verizon's website? We get the package mentioned for every trip we make to Europe. I set it up so that we can call Europe at a discounted rate from the US before we go (and for a little while after we get back) and so that we can make discounted calls within Europe and to the US from Europe. We have used our Global Ready phones successfully in all the countries you listed. First you must make sure that your phone is Global Ready. If it is, you do not need to mess around with SIM cards anywhere. It will automatically adjust each time you cross a border and you will get a cute little (free) text message from the local service provider welcoming you to that country. Here is the link to Verizon Global Services: http://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms/global.html. You should be able to find all your answers there. If not, call a Global Services person, not just anyone who answers at Verizon. The 2 times I talked to anyone who answered my call, they screwed the service up and I had to call Verizon on a landline from Europe to straighten it out. Thank goodness in both cases the places we were staying had free calls to the US. The one time I talked to a Global Services person, it worked perfectly. This year I did it online myself and it also worked perfectly. When I'm sure we're done using Global Services, I call Verizon and have the Global Services removed from our account. Verizon also has rental phones, and you can keep your number, but I haven't tried that and probably never will. Last time I checked, it cost more than doing what I described, and we only buy Global Ready phones.

@Ken: Verizon staff stated that the iPhone 5 model in the U.S. is unlocked with no action required by Verizon if wishing to use a non-Verizon sim card card while outside the U.S.

@Bruce, Thanks for the info. I don't use Verizon so wasn't sure about that and didn't take the time to check.

Madeline, There are LOTS of travel phone firms, but the usual ones are Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, Mobal, Max Roam, One SIM and others. You could also have a look at Keepgo (formerly iPhone Trip). Many of these firms offer good prices for voice and text, but data tends to be expensive with all of them. I'd suggest comparing them with the Verizon roaming plans as it may be cheaper to use Verizon.