SIM card, cell service or personal wifi?

We will be traveling in October for 3 weeks around northern Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Croatia and we end in Spain, my question is what is the best option to have mobile service throughout all countries?

Get on Amazon.com a Three UK sim. Up to the 31st of October it will be possible to use it all over EU.

Italian sims either include texts (Vodafone) or enough data (Tim), the UK sim will give tons of both at a cheaper price. In Italy you would most probably connect to the Wind-Three network; it is not at the same level of Tim's and Vodafone's infrastructures, but out of rural and deserted areas Wind-Three 4G coverage is ok.

I use our data plan from AT&T, my wife keeps her phone on Wifi only. It works for us. Here is a thread from a few weeks ago if you want to go the sim card route: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/italy-sim-cards-fb3caf41-8ffe-4c6f-90c2-6f6a80b12fdb. SIm cards are widely discussed on this forum, just use the search function and you will get a lot of information.

You can use one SIM card for all five countries. EU Roaming has mostly been done away with (with exceptions). I've used my Dutch Vodafone SIM on three trips now, in Italy, Slovenia, and Spain (plus France and Portugal). Never in the Netherlands yet - I bought the SIM on eBay.

If you start in Italy, you can simply buy a TIM or Vodafone SIM card at a mobile store when you get there - and make sure it supports EU roaming. Not every prepaid SIM or plan does, but many do.

Here is more info on Italian SIM cards:

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Italy

Note that you won't have your home number while another SIM is in the phone - you'll have an Italian number with an Italian SIM. People who want to call you will have to call that number. If you are from the US, install the Google Voice app on your phone. This will let you make free calls/texts home to US numbers, even calls to US landlines, from Europe using WiFi or with the SIM's mobile data. Install WhatsApp also so you can call Europeans for free (WhatsApp is very popular in Europe).

If my trip is by train and air, or i'm renting a car but won't be driving in rural areas off the highway then only using my phone on free wifi is fine. If i'm in rural areas and renting a car I want a cell phone in case something happens to the car. By wifi I assume you mean using your cellphone to connect to wifi with an app like Skype or Google Voice or something like that.

if you want cell coverage, look into google Fi. If you have an unlocked phone then all you need is the Google Fi SIM, and you can set it up at home so you know it will work. No long-term contract, and calls made abroad are 20 cents/minute. Data is at the US rate when travelling, $10/Gb. So for $30 plus the cell calls you make you can have coverage all over Europe (check their list to make sure all your countries are on it).

We were just in several of the same countries as you were and would have had to purchase 5 SIMs or buy 1 SIM and pay for roaming fees

This is completely wrong and untrue - please stop repeating misinformation. The EU got rid of roaming fees for most SIMs back in 2017. I've already told you I used one SIM in many of those countries (except Bosnia) without roaming fees. Please do stop telling me what I've already done can't be done. Thanks.

I second Dario about the 3 Sim Card from Amazon. We used it last year to travel on the Rick Steves' Eastern European tour and it worked flawlessly in all the countries as well as in Amsterdam. It's only $22 and has all the texting, calls, and data (12GB) you'll need. It works in all European countries. The only catch is that you will have a new UK phone number and can only call the US with a work around or using wifi apps. You activate the cards before you leave so that you can make sure they are working correctly.

I used the GPS in Amsterdam and Prague quite a bit. When you enter a different country, you don't have to do anything. They send you a welcome text and you're good to go.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FI1JW72/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Glad to answer any questions,

Have fun!

Hi, blazerskj7315,

I usually like to get my SIM card in the first country I visit on a trip and then use the European free roaming rule that allows the card to work in other countries. I’m glad you listed the specific countries you are visiting. Since you are starting in Italy, it could be worth considering this Sim plan from the Italian network TIM: Tim Tourist
Lots of data, and it roams in the countries you’re visiting, good for 30 days. Hope this helps.

In response to the disagreement above regarding coverage in EU countries; as I recall the one posters trip took him to Switzerland, Montenegro, and I believe Bosnia, in addition to Italy and some other EU countries. In his case, yes he would have needed multiple SIMS because of non-EU countries (The first three mentioned), perhaps confusing European with European Union (EU). All of the countries mentioned by the OP are EU countries, so should be able to roam at no added costs.

I would suggest doing some searches on articles about using SIMS in Europe, it will lay out the requirements needed (unlocked phone, how to get one, etc.), and limitations (different phone numbers, countries included or not) and some costs.

If you have T-Mobile you get free data and text in more than 200 countries. I used them before and worked great in Italy, France, London and Spain. If you dont have them, maybe switch before you go and save the hassle on future travels.

Andrew H Before we left on our vacation ans the same questions and RS posters told me we would need 5 SIMs for the countries we were visiting.

You obviously didn't ask me. I would have told you that I had used my Dutch Vodafone SIM in Italy and Slovenia (and France) in 2017 with no roaming fees. I have mentioned this SIM over and over and over again, to the point that no doubt some readers roll their eyes whenever I mention it again. I'm sorry you missed my repeated posts about it, but I have also noted this to you since you have started mentioning that you would need five different SIM cards. EU "roam like at home" rules went into effect in mid-2017. Vodafone started adhering to them even sooner. Numerous other SIM cards from other companies and countries would also most of the countries you visited.

May I ask what carrier you are using?

Vodafone. Even though I used the Dutch version, Vodafone operates subsidiaries in different countries that probably have similar rules. I have looked only at Vodafone NL's covered countries, but I'm guessing you could find info easily on the others.

Can you provide a link to which shows what countries your carriers won't charge roaming or additional fees?

Sure. I guess you think I'm either lying to you or don't understand whether I'm being charged roaming fees or not (but the other posters who told you you would need five SIMs were telling you the truth). But - if you just don't believe me, here's proof from Vodafone's website:

https://www.vodafone.nl/_assets/downloads/tarieven/actueel/tarievenoverzicht_prepaid.pdf

Yes, it's in Dutch. Here's what it says (use Google Translate if you need to), but: the SIM charges no roaming fees for use in Zone 1 (EU), which they list as (Switzerland also included but not part of the EU):

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Czech Republic, Vatican City, United Kingdom, Sweden and Switzerland

As I have told you in other threads, only Bosnia is not included - not in the EU. Bosnian SIMs, like everything else in Bosnia, are cheap. When I was there, I bought one for about $3 USD that covered me for the six days I was there.