Ok, this is actually two separate questions. Has anyone stayed at I Coppie in San Gimagnano. We have reservations that in mid April and will not have a car but want to try to take the bus around to some of the other towns--how easy would this be? Question 2, I just spoke with AT&T about using my iphone in italy. I'm mainly interested in using it to access the internet rather than make calls. They said as long as I'm in an area with wi fi access that I won't have any charges but that I need to shut off the data access in my phone before I go. Has anyone tried this and if so . . . did you have success? Thanks!
Posted by
Secaucus, NJ, USA
148 posts
I turned off data roaming when I travelled to the Caribbean in October and used my phone with wifi access without a problem. The problem is that you will still be charged for each incoming call you receive, even if you don't answer. When the call is transferred to your voicemail they consider it an international call. Do not trust an AT&T rep who tells you otherwise, because that's what happened to me. Fortunately I was able to get the charges removed because of the misinformation. I've read some posts about people who've set up a google voice account and had all calls automatically transferred to that number. I'm planning to research that option a bit more before my trip in May.
Posted by
San Francisco, CA
166 posts
Hi Marla, I just wrote a blog post with full instructions and screen shots to show you how to set up your iPhone for voice and data in Europe -- and not break the bank: http://www.lodgephoto.com/blog/set-up-iphone-for-europe-travel-save-money/277/ Cheers, Mathew
Posted by
Ballwin
833 posts
What Amy said is true about incoming calls. Therefore, you may want to turn your phone on airplane mode for your entire trip so that you do not receive calls. You can set it up to have texts forwarded to your email if you'd like to receive those over wifi. If you only have an iPhone go ahead and bring it, just make sure you set off the data access otherwise you accrue enormous charges! If you do have a iPod Touch, it may give you the peace of mind just to use that to connect to wifi and not having to worry about fees or charges.
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
Marla, wifi is limited in Italy. Because of strict laws there are not that many wi-fi sites....but many Hotels, B@B's, and all? the Mickey D's have wi-fi. I used my unlocked and jailbroken Iphone to acess wi-fi hotspots last summer when we were in Tuscany, Umbria, and Sardinia. I bought a pre-paid EU SIM chip from an electronics store, and slipped in my Iphone, and used the phone for inter-EU calls. I put my AT&T chip in an old Razor and used it for calls home. Make sure you understand how to shut your data/ calls/voicemail off, (or buy "lower" ?cost data/or phone minutes0 or you will arrive home with thousands of $$$$ in phone bills.