Cell Phones in UK

In the UK you can buy a Pay As You Go mobile fairly cheaply (£10-15ish). You can either buy top up cards or put money on using your credit card.

In the UK you can go to Carphone Warehouse in most larger cities and select a mobile phone with SIM for as stated 15 pounds.

if you want to continue to use that plan on the continent make sure you select a plan that is supported on the continent. We use Orange for that. Of course your calls will be much more expensive as that will be seen as roaming.

I do not know about the AT&T. You would have to ask them.

I have an AT&T phone with international calling and it worked fine in UK. I was just there during the election, so of course there were a few phone call from US, and it was on roaming with Orange, and probably expensive... I didn't look at that bill. But, they will tell you the rates and mine has always worked perfectly from the countryside of Romania, to the mountains of Guatemala and all through Europe. There just aren't as many phones for the phone cards anymore and I only use mine when really important. Most Europe calls about $1 per minute

Paula,

You shouldn't have any problem buying a prepaid Cell Phone in any of the countries you mentioned, especially the UK. There are shops just about on every street corner!

However, keep in mind that if you were to buy a phone in (for example) the UK and then use it in France or Italy, you'd be paying roaming rates which would deplete your prepaid balance at a higher rate. Buying a SIM for each country would be a cumbersome solution, as the phone number would change each time you changed the SIM, so your contacts may not always know which number to use to reach you.

You could only use your AT&T SIM card if the phone handset was "unlocked". In that case, you would be paying AT&T roaming rates which would be billed to your home account (assuming that you're on a contract plan?).

The easiest solution would be to simply use roaming with your AT&T phone (provided it's a quad-band model). I believe that AT&T offers an "international roaming option" (at slightly extra cost). You'd have to contact them for the details. If you minimize voice calls and use SMS most of the time, this can be a very cost effective way to travel. Calls "in country" are usually the least expensive. If there's any possibility that a lot of people may phone you while you're in Europe, this may not be the best option (getting calls at 04:00 because some inconsiderate moron "forgot" that you were travelling is really annoying and expensive!).

Good luck and happy travels!

I use my AT&T cellphone in Europe .You just have to call and tell them .It' $1.25 a minute.They also charge you even if you don"t connect.People from the U.S. can call you for free but it cost you to recieve. It's great for emergencies and reservations,but expensive for long conversations.

I have a question then related to the comments I'm reading here. What is the best way (least expensive) to be able to call the U.S. while on a trip? We bought the pre-paid phone card last year and then could not find a phone booth to use it in. We were told that so many people had cell phones that phone booths are disappearing.