Best cell phone service Sicily?

Book lady

Off to Sicily later this month. Totally confused by all the cell phone options. My first question is is a cell phone necessary ? In the past I've never carried one when on a group tour. Now, it seems, my friends always carry one out of habit but don't seem to use. Second question, what is the best affordable cell phone service have you used? My research so far recommends having a GSM phone and getting a SIM card locally in Italy. I would have to get a new phone to do this.

British

If you are carrying an iPad with you, you can text or FaceTime or skype for free as long as you take advantage of the free Wifi that Tauck now offers. Remember too that the 6 hour time difference (assuming you live East coast and not West) makes it difficult to make calls at convenient times for both parties.

Virginian19

I am heading to Italy in two weeks and just switched my phone service to T-Mobile. They offer free unlimited international text and data, and also offer free calls over the WiFi. So if you have WiFi available at your hotel, you set your phone to make WiFi calls, and can call for free from overseas. You would need a GSM phone compatable with the T-Mobile system, and they can show you how to set the WiFi feature.

But British is correct -- there are a number of free ways to communicate with your iPad, such as the Viber app or Skype, that do not require purchasing a new phone.

marycrisp

You can refer various services. I am using Small business phone service Springfield, VA which is quite good.

rxgale

Without a doubt, AT&T has the best coverage in Europe including Sicily. I recommend, however, that if you decide to take an AT&T phone with you, that you arrange for an international calling plan package for both text and voice. On one occasion, without such a package, I ran up $250 in overseas charges, in Palermo, due to a family emergency. WiFi is still the cheapest way of accessing the internet but be sure to set your settings such that you download data only when connected to WiFi and remember that without this function disabled, you could get a significant charge if some of your software is set to auto update.