cell phones in EUROPE ?

[cinist]

what's the best way to do it? ive heard conflicting accounts of the best way to go. get a GSM phone here or buy one in europe? what works best, what's cheapest? any ideas

[cubed]

I'm not sure really.

Last time I was in europe I had my phone that I use here and one that I already had there.

I just chose to use my existing european one and bought a prepaid card for it.

[mojo]

Thorn Tree Forum - Lonely Planet

super helpful travel forums, perhaps check here?

[Courtney]

buy one in europe
buy a crappy used when when u get there and then just get pay as u go...thats what i did for a yr in the uk
not worth it to buy anything jazzy

[decypher]

How much you are going to pay for the phone depends on where you land and from who you buy. So do a search or try and buy someones old phone then when you get there you can goto anywhere and get a SIM card. If you land at Heathrow in london you can just goto the hotel reservation desk and buy a Virgin sim card and plop that in your phone and preload it with however much you need. TXT'ing is key for this. If you land in somewhere like Italy you can get SIM cards and cheap nokia cell phones in almost every corner store.

You won't have a problem getting anything but getting the phone before you go will just make things easier for you. In the UK you can load your SIM at any internet cafe, atm machine, corner store etc..

[cubed]

Originally Posted by decypher

In the UK you can load your SIM at any internet cafe, atm machine, corner store etc..

same in portugal.

[Courtney]

Originally Posted by cubed

same in portugal.

man oh man i love portugal