Cell & Internet Options

You can get an international data roaming package and use Skype, WhatsApp or Line to call home.

Or get a local SIM with data and do the same.

I would get a local pay-as-you-go (or pre-paid) SIM card for your smartphone. If you can't get your current provider to unlock your phone, you can buy a used unlocked phone pretty cheap. (Your smart phone may already be unlocked for foreign travel...) Also, Sam's Club has started selling unlocked GSM smartphones for a pretty reasonable price... A tourist pre-paid plan usually includes talk time to the USA for as little as € .03 a minute making calls home really affordable. You could also purchase a calling card but their call rates are usually significantly higher.

Most towns and cities in Italy that I visited had free municipal but you had to have a local phone number to access it. Either the phone number was required to "log in" to the network or you SMS texted a phone number and received a text back with a network access code.

I've been researching this quite a bit myself, though I am more interested in having internet connectivity while out and about so I can look up information like maps, reviews, etc. There are a couple of different Italian wireless carriers that offer 'no contract' plans. As long as your phone is unlocked and supports international travel, you should be able to pop out your US SIM card and replace it with one you purchase in Italy. I have an iPhone 6S that qualifies on both counts.

The service I am considering is TIM for Visitors. For 30 euro you get 4 GB of data and 100 minutes of voice calls to a large number of countries, including the U.S. You have to purchase online from the U.S. before you go. Supposedly you get an email confirmation which you take to any TIM store in Italy (of which there are many, I'm told) and they will install the TIM SIM for you. Since I haven't yet done this (I'm going next week) I can't report on whether this is a good option, but all of the research I have seen tells me that this is a popular and sound choice. https://www.tim.it/tim-visitors-en

That said, I have seen a few cautionary tales, namely that not all TIM stores are created equal. To be safe, people suggest printing out the promo page in both Italian and English. That way when you show up at the store if the clerk is confused or wants to charge you extra for the SIM (which is generally 10 euro, independent of the plan) you can show them the details in Italian. I don't believe you can access this deal within Italy, so if you try to show the webpage to the clerk on one of their devices, it won't show up.

The other drawback is that you can't text with this plan. That is easily remedied though by installing Facebook Messenger, What'sApp or some other text messaging app. I also think if you have an iPhone, iMessage will work. In addition, you will be assigned an Italian phone number. Not a huge deal, but if you use an app like WhatsApp that's linked to your phone number you will need to let your contacts know what your Italian number is so they can create a temporary new contact for you.

The other local Italian carrier is Vodafone. I don't believe they have any special tourist plans, but much like the pay as you go carriers in the U.S. (Boost, Metro PCS, etc.) you should be able to buy a one month plan. You will just need to swap out your SIM card. The drawback to this is that you may need to physically cancel the service when your vacation is complete to avoid monthly charges. With the TIM SIM it is valid only for 30 days from the date of activation.

Good luck and have a wonderful time!

Last June I was able to get a Vodafone for visitors plan. 20 euro, 300 mins of calling both local and back to US, 3GB of 4G data and valid for 30 days. Perhaps they will have a similar promotion this year.

Our carrier is Verizon Wireless and we purchase their Europe package for 30 days. We also turn off cellular roaming and just use wifi in cafes. This may not be the cheapest strategy, but it is easy and convenient for us. Our hotels have free wifi and that's where we use our iPads.

Before switching to a smart phone years ago we did buy an unlocked quad band phone on eBay and then purchased a sim card through TIM in Italy. The smart phone eliminated this second phone, which we no longer use.

Buon viaggio,

TIM and Vodafone are the big carriers, and both have 30-day offers (at least during the summer if not year-round). You may want to look into Skype functions as well.

Vodafone Holiday plan for international visitors (I have this plan every year):
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Estero/Vodafone-Holiday-English

Or similar plan from TIM:
https://www.tim.it/tim-visitors-en

Both are available year around. Both are 30€ for the month.

I don't know if Wind or 3 (two additional major mobile phone providers) offer something similar.

Although Vodafone has the most extensive 4G coverage in Italy (but TIM is not far behind), however the locations where you are going will be all well covered by any provider.

lb,

In order to use any other SIM cards, your phone will have to be unlocked. It may already be unlocked - I'm not familiar with AT&T policies on that.

The easiest and simplest solution will be to just use one of the AT&T international travel packages. That will provide voice & text features, and limited data for using GPS. The GPS will operate without internet connection, but you will need internet to download maps. You can minimize costs by....

• Not making voice calls unless absolutely necessary.
• Use Viber or similar app to make texts in Wi-Fi areas, as that's free (receiving party also has to have Viber I believe). Regular texts are not really that expensive, and as I recall received texts are free.
• Leave data roaming "off" when out touring unless you really need it. Do as much web surfing, E-mail and so on just in Wi-Fi areas. Try to limit this when in more public areas (ie: McDonalds) as those are less secure. I've never had any issues with Wi-Fi at hotels, as a password is usually required.

While you could use a local SIM card, you will then have an Italian number so it may be more difficult for people to reach you, as they would have to dial a long distance international call. If you use an AT&T roaming plan, they only have to dial your regular number and the network will find you wherever you are. That can be a minor disadvantage if any of your contacts phone without checking the time difference. It's highly annoying to receive calls at 03:00 from some moron that was told, but didn't bother to check the time (I've had that happen).

Good luck!

Since you have an iPhone, if any of your kids also have iPhones or iPads you can communicate for free face to face over wifi using Face Time. Free Wifi is widely available. And my Verizon 30-day international plan includes free unlimited receiving texts, plus 100 texts sent. Don't know if yours thru AT&T is similar.

Becky's husband here:

We use Ooma at home. Before we leave home we forward our cell phones to our Ooma home number. Once we on the plane, we remove our sim cards so we dont have to think aobut roaming charges and use wifi for all our connections.

Ooma allows all of our phones to ring to our "wifi" cell phones via the ooma app. The voice mail feature allows us to retrieve our messages when we wake up. All of our calls to the US are free. We use skype for international calls and whatsapp for texting.

I'm with Ken on the AT&T international travel package! My cousin went to England/Scotland in November and told me that she paid $40 in advance to AT&T for the international plan, and her iPhone worked and functioned just like normal when she went overseas.

My husband and I were at our local AT&T store about a month ago and talked to a wonderful sales rep (they can be hard to come by!) who explained the international plan in detail and the $40 fee. We were buying a new phone so we didn't do anything else at the store with the international plan. It's actually on my to-do list today to call AT&T to set up the plan for our trip.

TW, point of clarification about the TIM for Visitors plan. You don't need to purchase in the US, you can buy it any TIM store.
There is a TIM booth near baggage claim in T3 of FCO. Anyone can access that booth, no need to go through security.

I bought one at FCO April 2016 and used it while traveling in Puglia. It worked very well!

ATT has a new program called International Day Pass, did the rep mention that one? It is $10 per day but only on the days you use it. It allows you to use your phone the same way you do at home, talk, text and data and you only pay the $10 instead of international roaming fees. While it could add up if you use it everyday the convenience is great and to get the same amount of data and international calls buying a local sim would cost almost as much. I'd buy some Skype credit and wifi home over Skype but the ATT plan would be a great back up and you'll probably say heck with it and use it everyday.

Adding to Richard's post - the $10/day is per device and basically extends the geographical boundaries of your in-the-US plan to include where you are visiting, in my case Italy & Amsterdam. If I use wifi only for data, text, email and don't place a phone call the cost is $0. If I phone over wifi (Skype or WhatsApp) the cost is $0. If I use cellular or place a phone call, it's an automatic $10 for the 24 hour period beginning with that use. I was unaware that AT&T had changed its plan (again) until reading it on this forum.

I personally liked ATT's Passport package, but I can see the benefits of this one. I don't tend to call home when I travel; however several of my landlords have asked that I call them in advance of showing up. I think I'll see if I can make other arrangements with them about that. I'm also considering unlocking my old iPhone 6 (since replaced with a 7) and buying a sim card once there.

For my upcoming 3 week trip..... I think I will switch to T-Mobile and switch back when I get home. T-mobile has poor reception where I work so that is the reason for switching back.

As an AT&T customer that has traveled numerous times to Europe, I would strongly advise you to NOT use their international service. It is extremely expensive compared to what you can get from a local SIM card. All the $40 plan gives you is free texting and a "lower" rate for calling to the US. I had to call United airlines to change my plane ticket and it cost me $50 for one call. Also, the amount of data that AT&T allows you for their Passport plans is ridiculous. You can blow through that easily in a week depending on your usage. The local SIM cards work great in Italy and you know what you're getting without getting ripped off. I would still try to find some other way to call home (such as Skype on wifi) that doesn't eat up your minutes. Also, I'd check to be sure that with your temporary Italian phone number, it didn't cost people back in the US to receive calls/texts from you. There are of course many ways to get around that. The "carry-your-plan-to-Europe" sounds great, but would cost you over $200 for your trip. Hardly worth it. If you are arriving in Rome (I am just guessing about that), you can easily find cell phone stores in the Termini station that should have employees that speak English in case that is a concern.