Prepaid SIM/SIMs for Italy, France and Switzerland

[Wanderer]

Hello,

I'm travelling to Italy, France and Switzerland in about three weeks. While I'll have international roaming on my Australian 3G/GSM service, I want to get a SIM for local calls and SMS - incoming and outgoing. I have no need for data services.

My first port of call will be Rome Fiumicino Airport, and thereafter Firenze for a few days - I'll be bypassing central Rome.

Should I aim to get a single SIM to cover my entire trip, or get a new SIM when I get to France (initially in Nice)? (I'm only in Switzerland for a few days, so won't bother there).

Any suggestions on the most appropriate SIM provider(s) would be appreciated. English instructions for recharging would be an advantage as I know virtually no Italian, but I do have a moderate understanding of French.

Thanks,

Daniel

[akraus88]

I would suggest you to go with the global roaming sims (e.g. UM or travelsim, they make the most sense for your situation.

[Effendi]

If you understand some French, Italian could be even easier, so don't worry!
BTW here local sim cars don't have instructions in other languages than Italian (AFAIK), but you can have English prompts when you call the service number for refilling, so it's not that bad.

A global roaming sim such as Travelsim or United Mobile can be a good solution, expecially an ICQ Sim which is very cheap to buy. At the same time it's also very straightforward to get a simcard here in Italy and I suppose in France too, and surely it's cheaper for local calls and SMS, at least in Italy, while in France prepaids are quite expensive.