iPad in Italy?

Hi d,

Personally, besides my phone, I take a Kindle - (it acts as a mini PC.) Fortunately, my hotel I stayed at in Rome had nice PC stations. "If" I had to print anything, the desk staff could do that for me - but, along with that, I would use their office size PC.

My room had great WiFi so using phone and Kindle was excellent. I also took my Kindle down to breakfast - browsed things, etc. Phone can sometimes be too small. lol.

While out and about, I carried my phone and portable (charged up) charger with me. Kindle stayed in room.

I have taken my IPad Mini everywhere since I bought it 4 years ago. It’s wifi only and I have had no problems using it for everything in Italy, Greece, Hawaii and on a cruise (only problem there was cost and sometimes a slow connection!). Used it for email, Kindle and Google maps/earth. Last time in Greece I took my IPhone and used it as my camera. Worked great and I liked the quality of the photos, not professional quality obviously but good enough for blogging, slide shows etc. No SIM card used for either device.
I don’t like to be laden with too many electronics, but do make sure to carry a couple of adaptors for charging that work in Europe...a few have stayed behind over the years when using my IPod back in the day.

From a traveler’s viewpoint I think that the functionality of IPad vs IPhone is very similar. What the iPad offers is a much larger screen that makes certain things much easier or nicer.

For instance:

• Watching movies or videos. I like to have a few loaded in case the airplane IFE is not working
• Reading books.
  
• General web browsing. Many mobile websites offer a less than great experience.
• Possibly anything that requires using the Apple Pencil, such as drawing or retouching photos.

In terms of a SIM card for the iPad, getting one will allow you to have cellular connectivity so that you don’t need to rely on having WiFi. Since you already have 2 iPhones I would suggest getting SIMs for both phones and not the iPad. Get plans that specifically allow for tethering. Tethering is a function that allows you to turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot. Connect your iPad to the iPhone’s hotspot when needed. Note that turning on the phone’s hotspot will will drain the battery on it quicker. So best to turn it off when not needed. Should your phone fail again it maybe possible to physically move the SIM into the iPad and continue using it.

My husband and I each have an iPad Pro that is cellular-enabled. Mine is on the Google F1 network, and his is on our family ATT plan,along with our phones. I believe he plans to keep data "off" when we travel abroad and just use the wifi. We generally do not buy the ATT international plan so data use is expensive.

I use mine as a PC ( it has the attached keyboard) as well as camera, photo storage, texting device, email, and for FaceTime calls with the grandchildren. I have used it that way in Italy and many other countries as well. The photos I took of mosaics in Ravenna are amazing.

If yours is cellular-enabled, it should already have a SIM card installed; in that case you just need to sign up with a carrier (like your home service provider) to get the signal. But ask carefullynabout the data cost for international travel. I don't know if you can buy and install different SIM cards in the iPad like you can with a cell phone.

We take our iPad but not cell phones. The hotel WiFi allows us to check on to see if anything is happening at home.

We also don’t get sim cards for our iPad or cell phones. But I do download the maps for where we’re going on Google for offline. Then I highlight the places on google maps that I want to be sure to visit and have a meal. I’’ve found that if I I hook up to the wifi at our lodging, when I’m then go out and away from an internet connection, I can still look at the google map to see where we are (via satellite) and plan our route as desired. For needed phone calls, we call via wifi skype from our room as needed. We’ve also had very gratious locals call for us if we get somewhere new and need to contact our next lodging. I really don’t miss having accesss to wifi at all times.

I usually buy a SIM for the iPad too, so I can use it even in a forest without needing a WiFi hotspot.
They start at 10€ a month, but then you must add the cost of the SIM plus the 5€ credit. Expect to pay 25-30€ for the first month. Then if you stay longer it automatically renews for 10€ for the next month.

Tim for Toursit plans for the 2 cell phones.

1. Please, be aware that texting is NOT included in Tim for Visitors plan. You must de-activate iMessage and block all automatic texts that an iPhone may send to US in background. Otherwise after a couple of texts to non Italian numbers, you will run out of credit and block the SIM.

2. Ask friends and family members to install WhatsApp, then use it instead of iMessage. WhatsApp works only via internet, so you can't inadvertently text home while using it.

3. Ask the Italian store staff to turn all V.A.S. services off on both SIMs. They can do it in a minute and you will avoid strange charges and unsolicited services.

4. As suggested above, ask if Tim's plan for Tourists allows tethering. Since you are getting data connection on both mobile phones, maybe you could use one of them as a modem / hotspot.

Dario,

Not sure if this makes a difference, but we are bringing two Moto G5 plus cell phones (not iPhones) and one iPad Pro-WiFi and Cellular..

I actually do not know what the iPad Pro can do realtive to the designations WiFi and Cellular. We use it for emails, maps, research, etc.,
but have not used it for any other purposes.

So we are wondering what else can it do for us while in Italy, and how we can best accomplish this. Learning curve for us!

When I travel in Italy, I take my iPhone and non-SIM iPad. I get the TIM Tourist card for the phone and use it as an on the go tool - Maps, locating sites, finding restaurants, listening to podcasts, researching on the move. My iPad never leaves my hotel room and I use it exclusively on the hotel’s WiFi. I find it’s size more conducive to researching in depth, emails, checking schedules, editing photos, etc. I have not been in a hotel in Italy in the last 5 years that hasn’t provided free WiFi. I don’t think it’s necessary to get an additional SIM card for your iPad.