skype in italy?
Aug 27th, 2008, 08:10 PM
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skype in italy?
My husband and I are going to Italy for the month of October. We have decided not to deal with the hassle of an international cell phone. However, we have three college age kids at home and would like to talk to them periodically. We currently use Skype and have heard that it's free in Italy via a computer. How available are internet cafes and do they have Skype on their computers? I don't want to take my laptop either.
Aug 27th, 2008, 09:11 PM
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I used Skype in Italy last fall both from an internet cafe and from my laptop (laptop wasn't working first few days in Venice). The cafe I used in Venice had its own headsets but I think I had one with me as well; take a cheap one with you.
Tip: you can bring a little USB flash card ($10 for 2G nowadays) with what are called "portable apps" on it. You can put Skype and Firefox on the flash card and plug your drive into any computer at an Internet Point (as they are called) so you can use them instead of what may be installed on the cafe's computer (although most internet cafe computers will have Skype installed). It's generally more secure than using the apps on a public computer. You can also save bookmarks for travel arrangements, etc. on the USB flash card.
You can download your own portable apps onto a thumb drive or just buy a "U3" drive like this
http://www.u3.com/default.aspx
If your kids are computer savy, they can install portable apps (including Skype) on a USB flash drive for you, if you already have one.
And by the way, for a whopping $18 for three months, you can get your own 10-digit phone number in your own area code and attach it to your Skype account. Then people can call you locally on it, using their phones but you use Skype! Forward your cell phones to it before you leave for Italy. Then you can check your cell phone voice mail from your Skype account and even receive calls (while you are at the internet cafe) or make them to local phones in the US, not just other computers. I did this in Italy. I also used "regular" Skype free person to person to make free video calls to friends with computers back in the states.
Tip: you can bring a little USB flash card ($10 for 2G nowadays) with what are called "portable apps" on it. You can put Skype and Firefox on the flash card and plug your drive into any computer at an Internet Point (as they are called) so you can use them instead of what may be installed on the cafe's computer (although most internet cafe computers will have Skype installed). It's generally more secure than using the apps on a public computer. You can also save bookmarks for travel arrangements, etc. on the USB flash card.
You can download your own portable apps onto a thumb drive or just buy a "U3" drive like this
http://www.u3.com/default.aspx
If your kids are computer savy, they can install portable apps (including Skype) on a USB flash drive for you, if you already have one.
And by the way, for a whopping $18 for three months, you can get your own 10-digit phone number in your own area code and attach it to your Skype account. Then people can call you locally on it, using their phones but you use Skype! Forward your cell phones to it before you leave for Italy. Then you can check your cell phone voice mail from your Skype account and even receive calls (while you are at the internet cafe) or make them to local phones in the US, not just other computers. I did this in Italy. I also used "regular" Skype free person to person to make free video calls to friends with computers back in the states.
Aug 28th, 2008, 04:33 PM
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Venice, Cinque Terre, Fiesole, Siena, Umbria, Rome. Andrew, thanks for the great advice! Will definitely use a flash drive -- a great way to save my bookmarks. Also interested in the call forward idea...who is this through? Skype or my own cell phone carrier?
Aug 28th, 2008, 04:46 PM
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Umbria is a big place, and le Cinque Terre has poor infrastructure for wi-fi, so my recommendation would be that if you are leaving an area where you are well connected, chat up a storm against the possibility of some dry spells here and there. I would expect to find easy connectivity in Firenze, but not necessarily in Fiesole. I could be surprised, but I wouldn't count on connectivity everywhere in the places in your itinerary.
Aug 28th, 2008, 05:15 PM
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Good point, zeppole. I don't expect connection everywhere, so this info is helpful. While in Fiesole, will be visiting Florence. In Umbria, we're staying in Bevagna and probably will not have access to computer there. We simply are looking for a way to connect to our family for emergencies....do you think getting an Italian cell phone is best, or just leave familly with hotel/inn contact info? This is our first trip to Italy and we've struggled with the decision not to take our laptop.
Aug 28th, 2008, 05:23 PM
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I would make sure that your family has the fax number and telephone number of every accommodation you have. That is for emergencies at home you need to hear about. Italian hoteliers tend to look at their faxes more than they do their e-mails, and your relatives can't always count on a phone being picked up by an English speaker if they rely on phoning your hotel.
For emergencies you have (and let's hope you have none!), just keep your contact numbers on your person.
Beyond that, it depends on how much you like to stay in touch. Since I live in Italy, it's hard for me to advise what visitors need. I have a cell phone and Skype (and a landline) but -- ???
People like Andrew and others know it better from the visitor angle.
For emergencies you have (and let's hope you have none!), just keep your contact numbers on your person.
Beyond that, it depends on how much you like to stay in touch. Since I live in Italy, it's hard for me to advise what visitors need. I have a cell phone and Skype (and a landline) but -- ???
People like Andrew and others know it better from the visitor angle.
Aug 28th, 2008, 05:31 PM
#8
Give your family your itinerary and hotel phone and FAX numbers. (There was a time not so long ago when this was the only way to contact travelers.) You can always buy a telephone card and check in from areas where there's no connection.
Aug 28th, 2008, 05:59 PM
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suegj14: <i>Will definitely use a flash drive -- a great way to save my bookmarks. Also interested in the call forward idea...who is this through? Skype or my own cell phone carrier? </i>
You first need to get the phone number to forward <i>to</i> - you get that through Skype.com. You already have a Skype account if you use Skype now; just login to it and you can buy a number (SkypeIn). As I said, it costs $18/3 months (I think). You can get it in the same area code you currently live in. Calling out (SkypeOut) to phones is different than people being able to call you, something you pay for separately.
Then, yes, forwarding is done via your cell phone company. I have T-Mobile, and they have nice forwarding feature: they give you a separate "bucket" of forwarding minutes separate from your regular minutes; I think it's like 400/month. I can set my phone to forward to any phone number - it's something I do myself right on my phone. I'll bet you can too. Check with your cell phone company to see what their options for forwarding are.
Anyway, even living in the states I have a Skype phone number (no landline) and set my cell to forward to it when not available. So if I answer my cell, I answer it; if not (or it's turned off), it forwards to Skype. I get all my voicemail there. I listen to it on my laptop, not my cell phone.
When you are in Italy, you can tell people to call you on the Skype phone number and avoid the forwarding issue, but for people who don't know, they can call your cell and it will automatically forward.
Oh, and when I was in Cinque Terre I stayed in Levanto, the next town north of Monterosso, and I had WiFi at my hotel there. Not sure what your options would be if you are staying in one of the five villages...but I did see people with laptops camped out on the streets in Vernazza, presumably picking up someone's WiFi...
You first need to get the phone number to forward <i>to</i> - you get that through Skype.com. You already have a Skype account if you use Skype now; just login to it and you can buy a number (SkypeIn). As I said, it costs $18/3 months (I think). You can get it in the same area code you currently live in. Calling out (SkypeOut) to phones is different than people being able to call you, something you pay for separately.
Then, yes, forwarding is done via your cell phone company. I have T-Mobile, and they have nice forwarding feature: they give you a separate "bucket" of forwarding minutes separate from your regular minutes; I think it's like 400/month. I can set my phone to forward to any phone number - it's something I do myself right on my phone. I'll bet you can too. Check with your cell phone company to see what their options for forwarding are.
Anyway, even living in the states I have a Skype phone number (no landline) and set my cell to forward to it when not available. So if I answer my cell, I answer it; if not (or it's turned off), it forwards to Skype. I get all my voicemail there. I listen to it on my laptop, not my cell phone.
When you are in Italy, you can tell people to call you on the Skype phone number and avoid the forwarding issue, but for people who don't know, they can call your cell and it will automatically forward.
Oh, and when I was in Cinque Terre I stayed in Levanto, the next town north of Monterosso, and I had WiFi at my hotel there. Not sure what your options would be if you are staying in one of the five villages...but I did see people with laptops camped out on the streets in Vernazza, presumably picking up someone's WiFi...
Aug 28th, 2008, 07:30 PM
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>>in Cinque Terre I stayed in Levanto<<
just for the archives, le Cinque Terre is a topographical designation that specifically describes five separate settlements in the region of Liguria. If you're in Levanto you're not in le Cinque Terre.
just for the archives, le Cinque Terre is a topographical designation that specifically describes five separate settlements in the region of Liguria. If you're in Levanto you're not in le Cinque Terre.
Aug 28th, 2008, 07:36 PM
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zeppole: <i>just for the archives, le Cinque Terre is a topographical designation that specifically describes five separate settlements in the region of Liguria. If you're in Levanto you're not in le Cinque Terre.</i>
Actually what I said was:
<i>when I was in Cinque Terre I stayed in Levanto,</i>
although it's a point of technically, really; the "five villages" area is often considered to also include adjacent regions, as pointed out here:
http://www.cinqueterreonline.com/levanto.htm
<i>Levanto, of pre-roman origins, lies at the northern end of the enticing little ports of the Cinque Terre, and literally means "the land situated at the east of Genova".</i>
If I stay at a hotel in a town next to Yellowstone National Park, are you going to nit pick me and say I didn't really stay <i>at</i> the park? Who cares?
Actually what I said was:
<i>when I was in Cinque Terre I stayed in Levanto,</i>
although it's a point of technically, really; the "five villages" area is often considered to also include adjacent regions, as pointed out here:
http://www.cinqueterreonline.com/levanto.htm
<i>Levanto, of pre-roman origins, lies at the northern end of the enticing little ports of the Cinque Terre, and literally means "the land situated at the east of Genova".</i>
If I stay at a hotel in a town next to Yellowstone National Park, are you going to nit pick me and say I didn't really stay <i>at</i> the park? Who cares?
Aug 28th, 2008, 08:06 PM
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Sorry!!! Didn't mean to so ruffle your feathers!
I thought beginning with "just for the archives" would take it out of the realm of looking like a correction directed at what you personally posted.
More than once on Fodor's I've seen "Cinque Terre" used to describe the Ligurian coast in general, apparently without any understanding of the actual Italian -- which I think has charm. Who cares? I care, for the same reasons I care that Levanto is named Levanto, and maybe others care as well.
Bureaucratically, a part of Levanto is within the officially designated parklines, now that le Cinque Terre is a park and a world heritage site, etc. But locals would still make the distinction -- that le Cinque Terre refers to the particular, five-fingered geographical formation, and not describe Levanto as part of that hand or in it.
Just for the archives...
I thought beginning with "just for the archives" would take it out of the realm of looking like a correction directed at what you personally posted.
More than once on Fodor's I've seen "Cinque Terre" used to describe the Ligurian coast in general, apparently without any understanding of the actual Italian -- which I think has charm. Who cares? I care, for the same reasons I care that Levanto is named Levanto, and maybe others care as well.
Bureaucratically, a part of Levanto is within the officially designated parklines, now that le Cinque Terre is a park and a world heritage site, etc. But locals would still make the distinction -- that le Cinque Terre refers to the particular, five-fingered geographical formation, and not describe Levanto as part of that hand or in it.
Just for the archives...
Aug 28th, 2008, 09:03 PM
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An internet cafe in Perugia had Skype when we were there two years ago. It was in a side street near the Palazzo Duomo, on the Assisi side. [Sorry I would give you the address if I had our guidebook, but we've lent it to our son.] Being a university city I imagine there would be plenty of other internet cafes, but this one is near the main attractions.
Aug 29th, 2008, 06:23 AM
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One more thought for the archives...
I recall reading on another thread some time ago the post of an experienced traveler who said that on his first visit to Italy, he made a huge effort to get to Como and when he saw it, he couldn't figure out why on earth people raved about the view or the place.
Later, he learned that the town of Como on Lago di Como is not the town with the great lake views, so on a subsequent trip to Italy he went to Bellagio and he was of course stunned by the beauty of Lago di Como.
Many people who plan a trip to Italy have heard of fantastic places they would love to see, but they are slightly mixed up about where they are and they speak no Italian.
It is a constant feature of the Fodor's Europe board that people who are dying to see the Amalfi coast believe that Sorrento is on the Amalfi Coast and simply book themselves there. Laugh at their ignorance if you will, but it's a pretty easy mistake to make.
I don't want people thinking that if they take a train or drive into Levanto, they can see le Cinque Terre because they'll be le Cinque Terre. Levanto is often called the "doorway to le Cinque Terre" and it is a convenient base for making a visit to le Cinque Terre. But it is a different place, with its own history, its own pretty seascape and landscape but one that isn't the spectacular le Cinque Terre that people rave about. If you want to see that, you can't be in Levanto.
I recall reading on another thread some time ago the post of an experienced traveler who said that on his first visit to Italy, he made a huge effort to get to Como and when he saw it, he couldn't figure out why on earth people raved about the view or the place.
Later, he learned that the town of Como on Lago di Como is not the town with the great lake views, so on a subsequent trip to Italy he went to Bellagio and he was of course stunned by the beauty of Lago di Como.
Many people who plan a trip to Italy have heard of fantastic places they would love to see, but they are slightly mixed up about where they are and they speak no Italian.
It is a constant feature of the Fodor's Europe board that people who are dying to see the Amalfi coast believe that Sorrento is on the Amalfi Coast and simply book themselves there. Laugh at their ignorance if you will, but it's a pretty easy mistake to make.
I don't want people thinking that if they take a train or drive into Levanto, they can see le Cinque Terre because they'll be le Cinque Terre. Levanto is often called the "doorway to le Cinque Terre" and it is a convenient base for making a visit to le Cinque Terre. But it is a different place, with its own history, its own pretty seascape and landscape but one that isn't the spectacular le Cinque Terre that people rave about. If you want to see that, you can't be in Levanto.
Aug 29th, 2008, 06:33 AM
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If you want see nice video of Le Cinque Terre, and Levanto and Portovenre, both of which book end the Le Cinque Terre, the five ancient hamlets, then click here:
http://www.webvisionitaly.com/catego...p;ref_item=379
http://www.webvisionitaly.com/catego...p;ref_item=379
Aug 29th, 2008, 06:37 AM
#18
There are many internet cafes in Siena - all that I've used have Skype installed, but Andrew's advice about portable apps is excellent, providing the cafe's will let you use a pendrive (In my experience most will, but some do not).
Aug 29th, 2008, 02:18 PM
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Thanks to everyone for the advice, it helped me to make my decision. Think I'll go the simple route and leave itineraries w/ my family and use a calling card occasionally as well as internet cafes (and my handy flash drive). Also, thanks for the geography lesson. While we're speaking of Le Cinque Terre, please share simple advice for driving from Parma to le Cinque Terre and where to leave the car during our stay in Vernazza. I understand that after the car is parked, we will travel to Vernazza by train or ferry. When we depart the area, we'll be heading to Lucca. Sorry, haven't done any research on the parking situation, I only know that you leave your car somewhere. OH! and grazie for the video of lovely le Cinque Terre!
Aug 29th, 2008, 02:54 PM
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I would still keep Skype as an option. Last summer (year ago), I took my first trip to Europe. I researched and researched and decided to unlock my new phone and buy a local SIM for calls in and out, got a cheap international phone plan at home so my husband could call my local SIM and went from there. I also, unfortunately, trusted what a customer service rep told me at TMobile regarding my blackberry service...that it would work just like at home. I wasn't told about any fine print and there wasn't an agreement online to tell me about the fine print. I didn't make many phone calls on my phone, but I sent daily email reports of the trip, sometimes with pictures. My bill when I got home....close to $800. Yikes.
This year, I took my laptop with Skype on it, my still unlocked cell phone and a text plan. My husband and I texted back and forth occasionally, including the texts asking him to log on to Skype so we could talk. We had LONG phone conversations with video home so that my two younger children who were home with dad could see me and my oldest child in Europe daily and at whatever length we wanted. My total phone bill for the text messages and a couple of short cell phone calls home/back? About $80, and that could have been reduced if I had gone the local SIM route again. I didn't. I won't travel without my laptop again....and with research so that I have internet capability wherever I go. I was marvelous and well worth the hassle of carrying the laptop.
Just my .02.
This year, I took my laptop with Skype on it, my still unlocked cell phone and a text plan. My husband and I texted back and forth occasionally, including the texts asking him to log on to Skype so we could talk. We had LONG phone conversations with video home so that my two younger children who were home with dad could see me and my oldest child in Europe daily and at whatever length we wanted. My total phone bill for the text messages and a couple of short cell phone calls home/back? About $80, and that could have been reduced if I had gone the local SIM route again. I didn't. I won't travel without my laptop again....and with research so that I have internet capability wherever I go. I was marvelous and well worth the hassle of carrying the laptop.
Just my .02.
