sim cards /cell phones

$15 Cad/day? ... Makes the pirates at Verizon look downright generous.

As long as you know how to change out your SIM card, or your phone can support eSIM,
it should not be a big deal. You just need to know your requirements (how much data,
where you might call, etc.) and length of stay to purchase the right coverage plan. Usually any
tabac or convenience store will sell SIM cards.

Plenty of articles in the Technology forum that can help you. Just know that your existing
phone # will be inactive if you change the SIM card. Don't lose the original SIM card.

If you have a more recent phone and it has eSIM, Airalo or Mobimatter were names I were told to check out. About to go on a trip and Airalo's setup and pricing was reasonable - only using a data plan with them

I also live in Canada so I have to deal with the same roaming rates. Over the years I've tried travel SIM's and other solutions and they worked reasonably well, but I found the process somewhat cumbersome and a bit of a nuisance. I have to be available at my home number so I finally just decided that the roaming plan was the easiest and simplest solution. I don't have to worry about how many texts I'm sending, how much data I'm using or whatever. That's the method I've been using for the several years and it's worked extremely well.

The $15 a day has a "cap" of $300 in any billing period, so it helps to have some idea whether the trip will extend into two billing periods. In the overall cost of a European trip, I don't find the roaming cost to be a problem.

You could also look at travel SIM's from firms that specialize in that, such as this one - https://cellularabroad.com/ .

Good luck!

I’m from Canada too.
When I go to Italy , nearly every year, I buy a TIM sim card from a TIM phone shop on my first day.
Search google maps for the nearest one to your first stop in Italy.
They are in the big cities and smaller towns too.
The shop will set it up for you in a very short time, and you can use it within the hour.
Last visit in May I believe it cost me about E30, and gives you more data than you will ever use.
You can also make calls to Canada with it.
I don’t need to be available on my own home number when I’m away, so an Italian card works best for my trips.

Take a very small ziploc bag (Dollar stores have them in the craft section), with you for your home sim card so you don’t lose it.
You can practice removing and replacing your current sim card into your phone before you travel, then you’ll know how to put it back in so it works when you land back in Canada.
You just need a paper clip to open the tiny “drawer” in your phone.

Don’t buy an Italian SIM card from the airport or from a corner store.
As it sounds as if you haven’t bought one before, so if you buy it from an actual phone shop such as TIM, you can then go back into any TIM shop in Italy if you have any problems with it.
There is also Vodafone, and they have their own shops everywhere too.
The whole process is super easy!

thank you for your tips, Just found this forum and you are all so helpful and the forum is full of great information!

The people in the TIM stores will put your sim card in for you, and they might, as they did last year at the TIM store in the Rome train station (Termini) tape your old one to the inside of your phone case. We always purchase locally even though we are pretty sleep-deprived after the long flight and the people at TIM have always been helpful. They check to make sure the new sim cards work, too.

I would definitely have the phone store set it up. There is often a need to change some settings on your phone to allow it to access the new network. They will know what it is. Also, it's sometimes necessary to have your passport with you when you purchase the SIM..