IPad use in France

The need to be unlocked and using a data plan is min. I would not even buy that feature on an ipad. Free wifi is everywhere and works just as well. We have used our ipad everywhere without a data plan.

All AT&T data iPads are unlocked. I don't know about Verizon. France has expensive prepaid data. When we were there two years ago the cost was €9 for 24 hours access. Needless to say, we didn't use that much. Instead, we drove from the house we rented into a nearby town and spent a long time over coffee at a friendly cafe with wifi.
I've read on Trip Advisor that free wifi is getting harder to find around Paris. I don't know if that's true, but I would research your question on TA's Paris forum for the latest info on wifi and data costs. Phonehouse has stores all around Paris and will have microsims from all the carriers.

I believe that you can do it with an AT&T iPad, but not with a Verizon one. But I haven't tried, myself.

I have traveled with my Ipad2 for the last 3 years to Caribbean, Spain and Morocco and have never had a problem using wifi overseas. All IPads are unlocked. I just recently added my IPad to my AT & T shared data plan but that is used strictly in US when we are doing road trips. I am writing this post from the beach in Aruba using wifi. I plan on traveling to Switzerland and France in September and will sue my IPad there.

We traveled to Germany in December with IPad & IPhone. We use AT&T and bought international data plan to use in addition to local wifi. Worked fine. It was nice to check a map or look up a restaurant whenever we wanted. I also bought international messaging for my phone which I liked to stay in touch with family here in states.

I used my iPad 2 in Spain, France and Italy in 2012. It has AT&T wireless, but I never used it. As others have stated, I used the free wifi at my hotel and a few cafes. You can also use your iPhone this way. When you board the plane in the US, turn the phone/ipad into airplane mode. When you arrive at your destination, turn the wifi on (still in airplane mode). You can use imessages instead of text messages to reach people. You should also consider downloading the Rick Steves app. There are some pretty good walking tours on there.

I use both iMessage on my iPad using wifi for texting and just use cellular text on my iphone.....it's much cheaper than calling ....I think maybe .50 cents per text ...a little more for a picture text....it doesn't run up my bill too much.....I think maybe $50 for spending 3 wks in Morocco and Spain. I priced local sims and It would have been similar if not more and the hassle of changing sims wasn't worth it to me.

TEP (www.tepwireless.com) rents small mobile hotspot devices that I have used in the past to connect to the internet. Sure you can find free wifi in some places in town but when you're traveling you don't want to waste time dinking around searching for free wifi. Besides, being able to access Google Maps on the road is a godsend!

I had my iPAD2 in Spain and Italy. Used it only in Wi-Fi situations. I did not have the cellular feature as I do now on my iPAD3. I had access to Wi-Fi (or Wee-Fee as its known in France) wherever we went. If you turn on the cellular feature you will be roaming unless you have a special data plan. These data plans can be expensive. Never needed cellular while we were there and I do own a business. My business goes with me on my laptop when I travel. I'm able to conduct all of my necessary business using Wi-Fi.

I just dropped my Supreme Leader off at the airport a couple of hours ago. She's off to some odd-ball, non-european, places where wifi won't be available (probably not much cellular either, so she took the familiy Iridium). Her pad is temporarily on the international data plan from AT&T which costs thirty bucks a month and you don't have to keep it activated all year. Overage is billed at the same rate per kb. Her phone is not on such a plan, but both of our phones are on international voice ($10/month/each) all the time since we're always traveling. I'm betting that she won't use much data other than when wifi happens to be available, but here's the usage caluclator: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/datacalculatorPopup.jsp I lug my pad all over the place and have never put it or the phone on an international data plan. Wifi works fine. GPS does not require data if you have maps preloaded. In the couple of times I've had to use data, I just switched it on, used it, and switched it off - - the cost was inconsequential. I wouldn't dork around with changing sim cards (you can loose the little sucker, screw up the access port, and waste too much time trying to track a foreign one down. Don't mess with something that works the way it is. I wouldn't mess with a mobile hotspot, just another something to worry about.

We use citymaps2go app to pre download interactive maps of where we are oing....worked perfectly in both Spain and Morocco