My husband and I recently returned from a 5 week trip to Europe, which included 2+ weeks in France, a week in Barcelona and 10 days in Venice. Upon arrival at CDG we purchased a Lebara Sim card, at a kiosk near the Air France bus departure area for our (not very smart) cell phone. The cost was €7.5, which included the activation charge (€5?) + ( €2.50?) to use for calls, which could be recharged within France, but not Spain. My husband immediately called the activation number and was connected with a very helpful English-speaking person who answered all the questions he had. We had no problems whatsoever using this Sim card with our local cell phone whether from France or Spain or Italy. I do understand that this card would be somewhere between difficult and impossible to recharge in Spain and don't know about Italy. That said, having an inexpensive phone to use in an emergency or when necessary was a great convenience. It goes without saying that the price was excellent. This is the 1st time we have used Lebara but we certainly will again.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Sounds like a good option for those travelers who aren't T-Mobile customers.
Posted by
Los Angeles
4853 posts
in other forum posts there are links to databases, articles, wikis about all the telecom options in Europe. There are an awful lot of carriers, all with a dizzying array of plans and prices.