Phone for use on the trail

[sperial]

Living in a small country I take 1-3 vacations in Europe every year.

As roaming charges are extremely expensive I take a multiband phone with at least 3G, preferably LTE, compatible with the European bands, and buy a local prepaid SIM card with 1-3 GB data which usually are far more than I need for a 1 week vacation. The data package is very useful for two reasons:

1. It allows me to be in contact with my family from almost everywhere for free, using Skype, Whatsapp or any other VoIP and IM service.

2. I surf the web to plan the trip, check weather, check the news etc., even if there is no WiFi service at the hotel.

I usually buy the SIM card at the airport immediately after I arrive and inform my sons of the phone number, so they can find me even if VoIP does not work for any reason.

[bylo]

Originally Posted by sperial

As roaming charges are extremely expensive I take a multiband phone with at least 3G, preferably LTE, compatible with the European bands, and buy a local prepaid SIM card with 1-3 GB data which usually are far more than I need for a 1 week vacation. The data package is very useful for two reasons:

1. It allows me to be in contact with my family from almost everywhere for free, using Skype, Whatsapp or any other VoIP and IM service.

2. I surf the web to plan the trip, check weather, check the news etc., even if there is no WiFi service at the hotel.

I fully agree. I use Skype (and the Canadian version Fongo) almost exclusively to make calls in Europe because it's much cheaper than roaming, but most importantly because everyone can reach me on my Canadian phone number on Fongo. That way there's no need to advise anyone of my local EU numbers, or indeed even advise them that I'm out of the country. To them it's completely transparent.

As for 2. I can't imagine not having data while travelling in a foreign land for no other reason than the free use of Google Maps. Paper maps cost as much or more than a disposable SIM in every country I visit. Everything else I get is just a huge bonus.