Wifi in Europe

WiFi is widely available free or modest charge at most accommodations. Skype calls throughout the world are free when made between computers (or equal such as smart phones) and costs a very small amount when initiated from a computer (or equal) to a land line or cell number.

I have travelled to europe three times in the past 15 months. I've brought my Ipad and relied on Wifi at hol\tels and other businesses with total success. Each time I go, I find more "hotspots" A sim card is really unnecessary.

I got by fine just using wifi with my iPad.

I just got back from Germany/Czech R. I was there fourteen nights in seven places. I had Wifi (called WLAN over there) for 6 nights in 3 places. One other place (1 night) I found a nearby Internet cafe; a second time I found one but it was closed. So I'd say it's a toss-up for getting WiFi. If you stay in small family run Gästehäuser and Privatzimmer, probably less than 50%. Spend more € and you'll probably get it. A couple of times I saw T-Mobile hotspots (once in a McDonalds at a Bahnhof) but they charged. For a lot of the time (6 nights) I had a "Webstick' with GSM reception from Pennymobile (€2 - €2,50/night). Fortunately I can use any GSM service with a webstick in the USB port on my netbook.

Skype over wifi will not count as data use on a cell plan. Skype over a phone's cell data connection can be pricey because of the amount of data used. Skype has some other options, such as local numbers that can be used to make international calls. Are you asking about just your IPad? If so, why not stick with wifi alone? How much do you think you'll be using this device? How long is your trip? You have to determine whether it is more important to you to have a connection, even if it costs something, versus going with the cheapest method possible.