what is the best cell phone option while in Italy?

We are from US, but we just added a travel package to our phones... seemed like way less hassle, and we had some friends who tried to go the SIM card route, but had trouble finding one, getting it to work... something, I can;t remember but seemed too much hassle.

I just liked having my regular phone. Now that said, we weren't planning to use them much... if I had to do a lot of calling I mayhave felt differently.

Kim

I have an Italian TIM phone that cost about 30 euro, came with a few minutes, and then I bought minutes as needed. I use it for about 3 months every year, seldom spend more than 30 euro for minutes in that time (I usually email or text hotels). Calls to the US are about 1 euro per minute, probably the same as with an Italian SIM card.

I have two I use in Italy. Both with Vodafone.
One is only voice/SMS (no data) and I add money each year so that it doesn't expire. I use that one on an old Motorola Razr flip phone (unlocked). I don't think they have simple plans like that anymore. I think all plans come with at least some internet data nowadays.

In addition to that, I buy a new SIM with data plan every year for my Iphone. I usually stay 2-3 weeks, so for the smart phone I buy a monthly plan and then I let the SIM card die of old age (actually the data plan SIM card even goes negative after the second month, so I buy a new one each year).
So I don't know what you need. Just voice/SMS or do you need also data for surfing the internet with a smart phone?
Either way just go to a phone store, and buy a SIM card. As I said I think all plans come with some data too, even if you don't use it.

For example let's check the prices together below with Vodafone:
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Tariffe-cellulari-confronto-tariffe-cellulari-naviga-da-smartphone-Vodafone

First Select the 1 - TARIFFA BASE (for example International with 300 min included, 50 of which toward overseas, since you'll be calling Canada)
Then select the 2 - PERSONALIZE your choice (for example Rete Sicura and 4G, which is only 100 Mb of data at high 4G speed, or you can choose 300 Mb if you need more data at only 2 euro extra. Maybe you don't need data at all, but I think all plans nowadays come with some data with it)
Then select the 3 - MINUTI (if you need more minutes than 300 in the base tariff for the international plan chosen above at 1. If you don't need more than 300 leave blank, otherwise upgrade to 500 min for a couple of euro).
Then select the 4 - SMS (for example 100 SMS messages for 2 euro, or 500 for 3 euro).
Once you have made your selections, on the right side you see how much you would spend. So for the minimum package you would probably spend 12 euro for a month (if you stay less than a month, just let it expire) plus 3 euro for activation fee.
Just go to a phone store (either vodafone or authorized) and get that plan.
Remember that in Europe you don't pay for receiving calls or messages, you pay only for outgoing calls and messages, therefore you don't need a lot, if you tell people to call you from Canada, rather than you calling them (let them pay if they want to talk to you!)
Since you don't have a SIM card already, I think the cost of the actual card is an additional 10 euro, I don't think it would be included in the above. But basically, even if you have to pay 10 euro for the new card, with 25 euro you are more than set for your vacation and you have some internet data too, if you need it. Nowadays all phones are smart phones, so I don't even know if they have plans with no data at all anymore.

If you go with TIM, another major competitor, the deals are similar in price.

We are from the US and we just add a temporary International plan through Verizon on our Iphone. It seems to be the simplest thing for us. We only use our phone for emergencies. Other wise we email on the Ipad or Iphone when we hook up to the Internet at the hotels we stay at.

Roberto, thank you for all the information. You've really broken it down so that it seems quite an easy thing to do. All we need is voice and text, we can use the internet when we hit free wi-fi spots. How easy is it to find stores that sell sim cards? We'll be landing in Florence - are there any places at that airport? Do all phone stores sell that same packages - can we get Vodafone or TIM everywhere? For 25 euros it's the obvious choice. Except, we've already made some contacts booking hotels with our current cell # - it would just be convenient to be able to continue using our phone. If people need to get in touch with us - they already know our cell #, rather than having to tell everyone our new Italian cell #.

joe,

I assume you're using Smartphones. Although your phones are unlocked, one of the other things you'll need to check is whether they have the necessary frequency bands to operate in Europe. That may not be the case with all Virgin products sold in Canada.

Whether to buy a SIM card in Italy, use roaming with your home network or another solution will depend to some extent on the anticipated use of the phones. If you're only planning to make a few voice calls, the Virgin plan may be the most cost effective. However, when using your home number, anyone that calls you from home will reach you in Italy. Being awakened for a trivial call at 03:00 by some moron that forgot the check the time is especially annoying!

One other option you could consider is a travel SIM from firms like Roam Simple, Cellular Abroad, Telestial, Mobal or EuroBuzz (there are others). The plans differ but you can check their respective websites for all the details and costs. Many of these use numbers based in the U.K. (but they work anywhere in Europe with consistent rates) and post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card), so no concerns about having to top-up when minutes are depleted. One other benefit of these is that you'll have a working phone as soon as you step off the plane.

I've been using one of the above firms for several years, and it's worked very well. The costs for basic voice and text are very reasonable, but if data is added the costs increase sharply. One has an office in Toronto with a toll free number, so it may be worth a few minutes to get some information.

Judy, I only have one comment about getting a European SIM card. How are your language skills? I got an Italian SIM card one time, and found it to be way too much trouble dealing with messages and instructions for adding minutes in Italian… a language I don't understand very well. After that one experience, I just use the Verizon international plan because it's so much easier.

Each company has their own stores (like Verizon or T-Mobile here), but a general electronics store (like Best Buy but smaller) will have several brands so you can compare.

Just came back from 15 days in Italy in March. We bought WIND SIM chips for both my wife and my iPhones. It cost 35 euro each and came with 300 minutes talk to anywhere (never used one minute), and 4 GB of data. The WIND employee installed them and setup our phones. They started working 1-2 hours later.

Data was more important to me because of using Skype for calls and texts. Didn't have to worry about Italian phone numbers or anything. Just make sure those you want to communicate with back home have Skype on their smartphones or laptops and you are good to go.

We used Skype to send text messages which was one of the reasons for getting 4 GB of data. I was also able to use Google Maps online instead of offline. Offline Google Maps was limited in search capability, but Google Maps online saved our butts over and over again and I was so glad to know that I had the data on my phone to support the need. Everyday we would upload our photos taken that day to our Google Drive cloud account and sometimes that used our phone data because the hotel's WiFi was sooo slow. 4,452 photos used surprisingly little data to upload. At the end of our 15 days in Italy, my wife had used 2.9 GB and I used 3.6 GB...I was the navigator and had Google Maps running all the time to know where we were and where we were going.

WIND, TIM, Vodafone and others have "tourist" plans and they change all the time. Just shop around and find what meets your needs. WIND met our needs and the store in Venice was close to our hotel.

Knowing what I know now, I would only by a Data plan of at least 4 GB because Skype did it all for us.

Safe travels.

There is no phone store inside the Florence airport.

There is one electronic store nearby, called Euronics (which is an authorized dealer for any Cell provider). There is also a Vodafone store not far from it, but if you don't know Florence and don't have a car, it's best to wait till you are settled in your downtown hotel and look for one.

There is a Vodafone store on Via Martelli (the street going north from the Baptistery in front of the Cathedral) and I'm sure the staff there speaks English. But generally stores are ubiquitous. If you tell me the name of your hotel in Florence, I'll tell you which one is closest.

The international option with your home provider might work for you if you don't call much, but for me it doesn't work (I have AT&T in the US) because when I used it I always ended up paying way too much money, even without using internet. With the Int'l option AT&T used to charge me (I don't know if now is less) US$0.99 minute for international roaming. That was ok for calling a number in the US, but every time you call a local number in Italy (for example a hotel), you also have to pay international long distance charges on top of that, because it's like calling a number in Italy from the US. So in the end each time I used my US phone there it was about $3.00 + per minute when I called the local numbers. As you can imagine, it doesn't take much to rack up huge phone bills that way.
The things got worse with the smart phones. The international data roaming charges are huge. The first time we traveled to Italy with a smart phone, my wife didn't know, and when we came back AT&T charged us over $600, mostly because of international data roaming. No more. I now use exclusively my Italian SIM card on my Iphone. It gives me the exact same convenience as having my Iphone at home, I can search online anytime anywhere without having to wait for a hotel wifi, and the cost is always under 30 euro (for 2 GB of data, plus hundreds of minutes and SMS).
Regarding the language barrier (of course I don't have that), it's really simple. With Vodafone when you dial 404 vodafone sends you back a text message letting you know your balance on your SIM card.
For voicemail it will look the same as with your current home plan. But in any case all you have to do is ask the sales clerk when you buy the SIM. You don't need to speak Italian, numbers in Italian are the same as in English.

Sherry, not sure what you are talking about, "getting an Italian SIM card" I never mentioned anything like that and I don't really see anyone who did.

I would buy the Virgin plan for one phone and get an Italian sim for the other phone.

For the following situation, is it better to get an Italian/European SIM card than the T Mobile Simple Choice Plan?

I probably need 2-3GB data (to use Yelp and Google maps), max 15-20min of phone calls (just to check up on reservations and call for business hours). Will be in Italy for 10 days in May and London/Paris/Barcelona for 10 days in June.

My original plan was to just get T Mobile for May-June and then cancel, but are data plans on European SIM cards cheaper (and easy to buy/set up)?