Purchasing a SIM card at or near the Rome Termini train station

I've read that there are fewer lines, and that things went smoothly......so, ultimately it probably depends on when you go and what else is going on. Another option is to go into a city outlet and get it done there. I will be flying in to Rome next month, and I will want to buy a SIM before I get on a train to Padua, so I'm kind of in the same boat. I intend to buy a tourist SIM (Wind or TIM) somewhere in my travels to Padua, but I know if things don't go the way I have planned, I can walk into a Padua outlet and buy it there.

If you are arriving at FCO there is a TIM kiosk in terminal 3. After exiting the baggage claim turn right before going outside the terminal. It will be on your right a short walk down. They can help you swap the cards. It may take up to an hour to activate but TIM will send you a text message when your phone is ready to use. A visitors card is 30 euros, is good for 30 days and has phone minutes and data. Google maps will work fine. I've used TIM several times with no problems.
RDJ

We got a SIM card from the TIM store at Termini a few years ago. No problems what so ever. No line and the clerks spoke English.

My experience has been the prices at the airports are significantly higher for the same SIM card than what you get in town.

I also purchased a SIM at Rome Termini with no problems (the year before last). Their English was fine - far better than my Italian. I had a brief wait as there was one person in front of me. Everything went smoothly and the SIM worked throughout my trip. Don't know if you can count on this but my experience was positive.

Anyone have some positive advice

Sure, the remaining 99.9% of customers who had no time to write a review saying "nothing bad happened"

480,000 pass through Termini station any given day, if one out of 1,000 purchased a SIM... did you read 480 negative reviews per day?

No Italian shop can give assistance if you buy a plan that does not include texts and you keep on texting blocking the SIM. Most U.S. customers do not understand what they are buying and then they complain

Thank you Dario. That is the kind of info I am looking for.
These people all seemed to have purchased tourist SIM cards. The cards seemed to have lots of data on them but quit after 2 days!
Here in North America texting is always included and is virtually free. It is the phone calls and data, (gaming/movies etc.) that costs.
So what kind of card should I look for? We need texting, a few local calls, some data (maybe 10GB) for the google map gps. and researching info, google translate. I don’t plan on any international calls, we use WhatsApp and email unless we have an emergency.
I try to do most of the downloading of maps, directions on wifi but service can be spotty in hotels etc.
The TIM card seems popular, I need a month of service.
So what do you advise?

Either an UK Three sim on Amazon (Brexit Permitting) or a Vodafone Italy Sim that has less data than Tim's, but includes around 200 texts. I've read many complains about Tim, but only 2 about Vodafone. Sure, with Vodafone you'll have to check data and use the free WiFi any time you can, but it's 10 times better than blocking a SIM because an app you have completely forgotten sends texts in background to an US based server.

I am in Canada so not familiar with the first two but I will look into Vodafone
Thanks Dario, it is our third trip to Italy but the first one with the technology gizmos.
You have a beautiful country our favourite go to place.

Could I "piggyback" with a related question? Do those Italian simcards mentioned cover countries in addition to Italy? We will be spending a few days on land in northern Italy (Rome, Venice, Milan, Verona) then going on a Mediterranean cruise to Malta, Greece and the Greek Islands.

Italian SIMs work all over the world. The plans for tourists can be used without paying roaming charges in EU countries and within 12 miles from the coasts of EU countries.

If you use those SIMs in Switzerland, in Turkey or while you are sailing in international waters you'll pay the extortionate per Mb / per minute / per text prices. Odds are that in ten minutes you would use all the complimentary credit coming with all SIMs, you would go negative and block the SIM up to the moment you top up with 5 € or more.

So Dario, you seem very knowledgeable re:the phone business, could you clarify the Italian side of this for me?
In Canada I have a monthly plan. I have; 2GB of data, 400 min of phone calls Canada wide only, unlimited evenings and weekends, unlimited texts Canada and International, all for $40 cad/month which would be around €30. I do not come near my limits.
If I data roam, especially in the US, I would use up my data in no time and be paying extra.
So we text a lot as it is virtually free.
What would be a comparable/typical plan in Italy?

I bought a SIM card from the TIM store on the 2nd floor of Termini in April. No problems whatsoever. The man that helped me spoke excellent English and made sure everything was working before I left. I was in and out within 15 minutes.

Kels, That is good news.
Do you mind if I ask what features you got on your card and the duration of your stay?
The Italian cards seem to be different than North American ones. More data and less texting.
I guess it probably comes down to the language barrier which is all part of travelling.

Your Canada plans would be Off the market in Europe. I pay 10 € a month for 50 giga, 2,000 minutes of talking time and 2,000 texts a month to be used all over the EU. Incoming calls and texts are always free in Italy. But I'm not a Foreign customer who will be in Italy only for one month.

In Europe we use texts only to send Xmas Greetings to our elders; for the rest of world we chat via WhatsApp, that works via internet and that is free wherever you are in the world. Texts are so 90s...

Yes, Dario, we pay the highest digital rates in the world I think. Canada has its problems.
Yes, we drink coffee in our car and not in a cafe with friends too! That is why we love Italy💕.
So, they sell different cards for tourist. I get that. So basically make sure I have enough GB, texts and phone time for my month stay. I just need to find an English speaking clerk, no prob. There must be one in the Termini somewhere.
Thanks for you enlightenment into Italian culture.

I never stay more than 10 minutes in a bar for coffee, we can say I nod at friends.

If I were you I'd get an UK Three SIM on Amazon; it seems you want an Italian SIM so If you want texts, minutes and data you must avoid Tim and purchase a Vodafone Sim for tourists: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Estero/Vodafone-Holiday-English

Well, i’m afraid I am old school. I don’t trust Amazon but, I will look into it.
What is the problem with the TIM tourist card? Is it just low texting?
So tourist are restricted to purchasing only the tourist cards in Italy?
I could get an International plan here with my provider but that is $12 a day for 21 days=$252 cad!!!

Hmm, Vodafone sounds good initially but a lot of small print regulations I don’t understand with “Holiday Card”. Is that what you call the tourist card?
UK Three card sound awesome but buying on Amazon you are on your own, no techie support. Kind of a one size fits all! Not all phones have the same specs! I would have to activate it myself and I find things don’t always go well!
I have a Samsung 8 which is probably pretty standard but I know the European phones have different specs than my Canadian phone.

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, and is just as secure and trustworthy as Facebook. Signal, a cross platform app for smart phones encrypts everything before it leaves your phone and neither Facebook nor the NSA nor Google can read your texts. Also it is free. Most of my friends use it, and none of them wear metal foil headgear.

if Carol,

Is there some flavor of T-Mobile/Vodafone/Deutsche Telecom available in Canada? I switched to T-Mobile in the United States six years ago, and I left my hobby of buying European SIM cards completely behind. I take my phone with me when I go to Europe and I do the same things with it that I do at home (including not touching the SIM card). During the month that I spent in Tuscany in 2015 my monthly bill was lower than it would have been had I stayed home in western Washington, but only slightly.

Is it just low texting?

It's Z-E-R-O texts, whereas there are many ways a phone can send texts abroad in background. Look, there are dozens of complaining messages about TIM on the Internet, but in the end they are all caused by phones sending texts in background or by customers thinking that EU and Europe are the same thing.

So tourist are restricted to purchasing only the tourist cards in Italy?

You can get any plan you want, even Tim's plan aimed at foreign workers from "south of the border" if you like and if you have always dreamt of calling Egyptian phones for free. The problem is that being a new customer Who is activating A new number, you won't pay much less than 30 € with Tim and Vodafone, the 2 big players.

Therefore You should go with either Wind or Iliad or Three Italy to save money. They all have a decent network, but - for instance - Iliad has no shops, they only sell SIMs by mail or automatic machines in SuperMarkets. Are you ok with that? Iliad obviously caters to very young customers who need no technical assistance. More, I've been an happy Wind customers for years, but yesterday I was trekking in Sardinia's Gran Canyon and guess who was the only member of the group with a spotty 0.5G data connection?