Wifi for the budget traveler

I've taken my Mac laptop to Europe several times with no problem. I leave it in my luggage in my hotel room, or in the hotel safe. I would not carry any computer around with me all day, but I understand your fear that it might be stolen. Have you ever tried Apple's iPod Touch? It's like an iPhone, except there is no phone, but it does WiFi. Or, if the screen is too small for you, what about one of those new iPads? The cheapest model is $499 and does WiFi, and I don't think it would be too heavy to carry around in a backpack.

Thanks Tyler. I do like the looks of the iPad and have heard great things about it. However, I have a modest income and I spend all my discretionary money on traveling so I'm going to stick with my netbook for now.

I don't have a lot of discretionary income either, but most of my hotel bills run about 80 to 100 Euros a night for a single room. Where do you travel to get 40 Euro rooms?

Hi Tyler, we've been all over Europe (not staying in hostels) and have been able to find lots of cheap places. I only want to be centrally located. It helps to travel off season, but it can be done even in high season with creativity and research. France, esp Paris, is the most expensive, though I've had good luck with Etap hotels.

If you have any specific place you're traveling to feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to share my research.

I travelled in London, Paris, and the South of France last spring. I carried my little Acer notebook. The budget hotels where I stayed all had Wifi. I usually was able to use my little computer in my room, then left it there during the day. In London, libraries have wifi. In France, many bars and cafes have free wifi.

Matt, I travelled with a Netbook for the first time this year, and I'll be taking it on every future trip. I found that most Hotels offered free Wi-Fi, although in one Hotel there was a small charge. As you noted, the "basic" Hotels may not offer free Wi-Fi (in order to keep their room prices in the €40 range, they have to eliminate as many frills as possible). I've found that many Hotels these days will list Wi-Fi availability on their website, so you might check that before you book. ¶ I've never seen Wi-Fi offered on Buses, but have seen it offered on trains in some areas. However, at least in Germany access seems to be limited to T-Mobile customers. ¶ I normally leave my Netbook in my room, locked inside luggage. While that's not a high level of security, it does provide some protection. I always make sure that essential files are backed-up on a USB Flash Drive (which is kept in my Money Belt), so even if the Netbook is lost/stolen/damaged I'll be able to carry on. Happy travels!

Where do you travel to get 40 Euro rooms?

First, I travel in Germany, if that makes a difference, and generally in small towns. While in Munich I might spend €55 per night, outside of Munich I spend less than €30 per night. One thing I use to keep my costs down, is to avoid overpriced booking websites.

I'm in my fourth hostel right now and all have had free wifi, which I'm using with my iPhone right now. I can't imagine a hotel wouldn't have wifi available if even a hostel does. Have you ever considered a private room in a hostel?

Hi Anna. For two people it always seems to be just as cheap (and quieter) to stay in a hotel or b & b rather than a hostel, but I'm open to anything. Where have you found decent hostels with private rooms?

Thanks for your responses.

Swan: I didn't know about the libararies--thanks.

Ken: Thanks for the tip about the flash drive, I hadn't thought of that. Do you know if trains in Italy have wifi?

Lee: My last trip was to Southern Spain and we found we could get decent places, centrally located for 40 euros. I just booked a room in Assisi for 42. But yes, a big city price is more like 55, esp. if you want your own bathroom.

Matt, I'm not sure about Wi-Fi on the trains in Italy. I vaguely recall Wi-Fi on some trains, but only in the first class cars and I'm sure there would be a charge. Again, this might only be available for T-Mobile customers? I tend to travel second class most of the time, and there was NO Wi-Fi in the cars I've travelled in. I normally use internet access at the Hotel, either at breakfast or after I'm done touring for the day. Good luck!

Thanks Ken!

My experience has been that the lower price hotels seem to offer free wi-fi, as do the hostels, but the pricier, business type hotels will charge you an arm and a leg for this service. My tip is to google "free wi-fi" for all the cities that you are going to visit and you will then have a list of all the McD's, Starbucks and various other cafes, train stations, pubs, etc. that will offer this. You might have to buy a cup of coffee from McD's. but that is pretty cheap wi-fi.

Ah, good advice Jo, thanks!

Matt, I never pay for wifi in Europe. In all but the most rural areas I can pirate onto someone's signal. Cities are especially easy. There is are usually multiple wifi connections every 50 feet. Many are password protected, but not all, by any means.

That said, I carry an iPhone so it easy to be flexible to pull it out and wander down a street trying to pick up a signal. With iPhone you can load up outgoing emails so that once I find a signal, I can dump all the messages and then pick up any new ones in a matter of seconds.

Then back in the pocket goes iPhone.

I brought an iPad in the spring, but left that in the room.

Matt:

If you are really frugal and can put up with the inconvenience of having to search for the free wifi spots, I think you will find you can do so if you are patient. It is similar to the situation in the U.S.: wifi is available in lots of places, but not always when you want it or everywhere you'd like it to be.

Here is an alternative idea: Get a mobile broadband USB stick in Europe and get prepaid broadband access. It is slower than wifi, but it works in more places and isn't that expensive. For example, T-Mobile U.K. sells the USB sticks for about 20 pounds and gives you unlimited access for 90 days for about 20 pounds. They also advertise packages that let you use broadband in other places in Europe.

On my last trip, I took a netbook and used wifi on occasion, but I think I used the USB stick to connect more often.

Personally, I got tired of lugging the netbook around. Next trip I'm thinking seriously of relying on my smartphone or my daughter's ipod touch. It is amazing what you can do with those tiny devices.

Home Made Hostel in Budapest is amazing! I also am loving Sir Toby's in Prague. Both have a much more B&B vibe than a rowdy hostel. HMH especially, it only has 22 beds total and isnot loud at all. Sir Toby's is bigger but the hang out area is in the basement, well away from other common areas.

Thanks so much for letting me know, Anna.

I loooooovvveeee Budapest and I've been looking for an excuse to go back and a cheap place to stay!

Thanks Michael and Paul. I didn't know about the USB stick--that could be handy, esp at the airport.

I do realize there are better gadgets out there like the ipad etc but unless someone give me one (my netbook was a gift) I'm not buying anything new right now per my budget. I'm not about to give up traveling though, as long as I can scrape by and always pay cash!

We were in London, Paris, Normandy/Brittany, Bruges & Brussels last month. All our lodgings had free WiFi and Eurostar/Thalys trains offered it for a fee. We took our iPhone 4 and iPad and loved having them. We could plan out routes for walking and public transportation, check museums info and stay in touch with family & friends back home. I uploaded captioned photos to Facebook each night. So many commented on loving their virtual vacation & it was like keeping a travel journal so we wouldn't forget all we had seen & done. I carried the phone and my husband the ipad in his messenger bag. Sometimes he left it in our room.

Thanks Carol!

Like Jo, my experience has been that teh more expensive teh hotel, the more expensive the WiFi. I have seldom had a problem getting it and, as someone mentioned, libraries in the UK have it free and I think I got it in a library in Switzerland.

Thanks Iain, it's a relief to hear you and Jo haven't had any problems getting wifi.

Just returned last night after taking the village italy tour and my netbook was used at all the hotels in the lobby area except the last hotel in Lake Orta where they had a charge for using their computer. Last 3 days spent in Paris and the Warwick Hotel had free wifi in the lobby.

Thanks Byron! The Village Italy tour? Oh that sounds delightful!

If you are in a hotel with wifi "in the lobby," see if it will work in your room. Often, the wifi will reach to the lower floors as well as the lobby. I'm happy to hear that Italian hotels have wifi, as I will be in Italy soon and wasn't sure if it would be worthwhile for me to bring my netbook.

Good idea, Swan.

You might NOT want to try for wifi in your room if it is offered free in the lobby. At least one hotel in Chicago offers wifi free in the lobby, but if you connect in your room there is a fairly hefty charge. Of course it might be different in Europe, but you should probably ask rather than get an expensive surprise at checkout time.

Nancy: eeeek! I'll be careful!

In the village Italy tour the wifi only seemed to work in the lobby. Hardly anyone was able to use the computers in their rooms. One person in our group at a IPad which did not seem to connect in any of the hotels. My Samsung netbook worked fine although I could not open all my websites I liked. I would not go to europe without my own computer.

Where are the usual Luddites on this board to condemn using technology on vacation?

I've returned from my trip to some smaller towns in Tuscany and Umbria and wanted to let you know how I fared with finding free wifi. I stayed in 7 places, a mixture of rooms / b&b and a three budget hotels. Only one hotel had free wifi, the other two had wifi available for a fee. One of the b&bs had free wifi and the rest had no wifi at all. So the free wifi count was two out of seven. I received great advice here about finding free wifi from fast food places/Starbucks/libraries but didn't have a chance to test much of it out. We had limited daylight hours and kept our days busy as a result. Most of the towns I was in didn't not have a McDonalds or Starbucks that I could see (and I'm not complaining). It was great to have my netbook when I was actually able to use it. As a very light packer, I noticed the weight difference in my backpack and I had some anxiety about keeping the netbook safe when I left my bag in somewhat insecure situations after checking out of the hotels. We also experienced abnormally heavy rainmy backback was soaked and I worried about damaging the netbook. Would I bring it again? Yes, since there was a critical moment when I was very, very happy to have it: our flight into London was delayed due to a snowstorm and we missed our connecting flight and had to spend the night in London. That's when the netbook was essential to write our family and jobs.

Matt, Thanks for posting the Wi-Fi information! It's great to hear that you had such a good trip (except for the flight delay). Did you use Wi-Fi in the airport to notify family when your flight was delayed? I definitely agree with your comments on the value of Netbooks. I took one along for the first time this year, and will most certainly have it on every trip from now on! I can very much relate to your comments about the "soggy" Backpack in a rain storm, as I've also experienced the same thing. Although my Pack has in internal rubber lining, it didn't keep the water out (possibly leaking in via the zippers?). I now carry one of Rick's Rain Ponchos, and find that it works well to keep both me and the pack relatively dry. While out day touring, if it looks like rain I'll throw the Poncho into my Daypack "just in case" (it doesn't weigh much). Cheers!

Hi Kenyes, it sounds like the poncho is a good investment (is it okay to say I'm a little too vain to wear one?) We didn't email from the airportwe did it once we took the tube into London. We were starving after being trapped in the airplane / airport for hours and were suprised that the cheapish diner we ate at had wifi. I imagine we looked crazy typing away while scarfing a sandwich, but hey, it did the trick. Yes, we did have wonderful trip, thanks!

"...had to spend the night in London. That's when the netbook was essential to write our family and jobs" I travel with a netbook too, but for the benefit of those who don't I wanted to point out that you are not without internet at the airport if you travel without a netbooki/laptop. There are several areas at Heathrow where you can use a computer for a small fee. If you had been without your netbook you could still have emailed your family and jobs.

You're right Nancy--I saw those places. In this particular situation we were exhausted and stressed out and because of the snowstorm Heathrow was a total zoo with stranded passengers. We were anxious to get out of there.....

I stayed in four star hotels in Rome, Florence and Venice and always had to pay plenty for wi-fi - still, I was glad to have my netbook and would do it again - also used it for downloading my photos every evening.

We did Tuscany and Umbria last summer and I used my Iphone for WiFi contacts. Italy has big restrtictions on public Wi-Fi, but many hotels, etc., have it. (Italy in 2005 imposed serious restrictions on wifi access in public places after a series of bomb attacks in London, forcing wifi providers to require documents proving the identity of users and to track their Internet activity.
In November they just passed a new law that is supposed to open up WiFi, but........) Our Agritourisimo's had it, MickeyD's have it, and I found it once in restaurant in Orvieto, but basically you are not going to find many hotspots when you are wandering around Tusany and Umbria. Jo, has the right idea. Do an internet search before you go to see what is available.

Ghent (Belgium): Open Air Free Wifi along the historical quays of Korenlei and Graslei. GoogleImage 'Graslei' and I'm pretty sure you will come over ;-) to discover one of the most beautiful sites of Europe.
Free Wifi in the Public Library too. Other posters are surprised to find out about your 40 euro rooms. Hikers and cyclists in the Low Countries (Belgium + Netherlands) can do it for this price when hiking or cycling and joining 'Vrienden op de Fiets'.

Hello Fiets-- Yes, I have visited Ghent and found the Korenlei and Graslei to be absolutely lovely. But my favorite was the Van Eck altarpiece! I hope I can return now that I know about the free WiFi. I've been planning a trip to France and it's much more expensive. Many of the rooms are more like 60 euro (but worth it I'm sure).

Last summer, I had free wifi on the Amsterdam-Paris Thalys train (first class car) and I had free wifi on several buses in England (London and Oxford). In Paris, there are free wifi spots in many tourist areas and parks - I believe it was called the Orange network. I used their wifi in the park near Place des Vosges and in the Carnavalet Museum area. After a couple of summers lugging my MacBook to Europe, the past two summers I have only taken my iPod touch and it was really all I needed. Public libraries in London have free wifi - there is a small library near Victoria Station and another library just behind the National Gallery.