Using Iphone or iPad for internet in Italy

For both your iPhone and iPad, you can use WiFi for free (or whatever the WiFi charge is, which you will know in advance). It's often available in hotels. If you're going to Rome, this post from Ron in Rome will be of help; following his approach should also work in other cities. For your iPhone, it depends on which model you have. If it's a 4, you can use WiFi as described above. If it's a 4S, you can also use data from Verizon, but you will be on international data roaming, which is VERY expensive. Furthermore, you won't know the real price until later (unless you can tell how many kilobytes you are using in advance). If you are interested in this, check out Verizon's international roaming plans. People have come home to bills of thousands of dollars, so be careful. You may also be able to get your iPhone 4S unlocked, which would allow you to use an Italian SIM or international SIM. The Italian SIM would have much cheaper data rates, and the international SIM will be more, but probably still less than Verizon.

If you have the new (version 3) IPad, it will work with a local 3G SIM card in Europe, or you can buy an international data plan from Verizon. Of course it will also work in any wifi hotspot. If you have a Verizon IPad 2, in Europe it will only work with wifi, not with 3G. For voice, if you have a Verizon IPhone 4s, it will work in Europe. You need to call Verizon ahead of time to have them set it up. The IPhone 4 and earlier versions will not. Wifi is wifi anywhere you go.

If your hotel has free wi-fi, you are set. Internet cafes are harder to find now, and they have their own computers, you can't just walk in and use your device. Most hotels now seem to offer free wi-fi, just ask when you check in. If that's not available, some have a computer in a common area for you to use. (some hotels will still charge for wi-fi) you will most likely need to get an access code. That code could be good for your entire stay, or just for a few hours. We've been handed a slip of paper with the code on it for our use. I always turn off data roaming when I board my flight to Europe. It's expensive to use. My kids text me now, and with my AT&T ipad2, I have Facetime..that's FREE with wi-fi. so I can talk to my kids if they need me.

I spent 3 weeks in Italy last Oct.and had great difficulty sending emails. The concierge in our hotel in Rome told us that Italy has the worst internet connection in Europe; our experience confirmed this. It can take hours to finish sending emails and longer for those with photo attachments. The experience was so frustrating that this year I am sending postcards! We stayed in fine hotels, so a better hotel didn't ensure better service.
Great patience is required.