We will be traveling to Italy soon. Our pay-as-you-go phones will not work there, and cannot be unlocked to change SIM cards. Any advice on where to get a phone when we arrive (Marco Polo Airport)? We really only need texting ability. Latest posts I can find here are 4 years old.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12113 posts
Do you have time before you leave to try ebay or amazon for a basic/cheap text capable unlocked phone, and then just get a sim card there?
Cannot offer any info on buying a phone in Italy
I just did email from the hotel on their wifi, which in almost all cases was free.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32402 posts
Mobile phone shops are ubiquitous in Europe, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding one. You would probably be better to wait until you get into Venice to buy a phone, as there will be more shops. Ask the desk staff at your hotel where the nearest shop is.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
We bought basic dumb phones from Eurobuzz (Mobal) several years ago -- just use them for calling hotel when we're running late (or lost) or if we get separated. Otherwise we use our regular phones (not connected to data) on hotel WiFi for e-mail, texting our kids via WhatsApp, and information lookup. Texts to anyplace are 79¢, calls are 79¢ per minute, NO monthly or daily charge.
Mobal will send the phone to your home so you don't need to search in Italy.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thanks so much everyone! We went with the Mobal and will let you know how it works out.