Please excuse me if this has been asked in the past. Should I buy a cell phone when I get to Italy (we'll be there for a few weeks) or should I buy one in the US with Sim card to take along? I've heard that you can buy them at the airport in Rome at a reasonable price. Don't want to rent one because I plan to get back in the future.

Best to buy one there, to avoid confusion.<BR>TIM is a good service provider. There are lots and lots of places to buy and service them, (in Rome) it's easy to do.

Here's the deal and it is right...don't listen to anybody else since they don't know what they're talking about.<BR><BR>You can get exceptionally good buys on GSM phones in the US through the internet. The big advantage is the phones sold here are unlocked...if you buy a phone in Italy you will probably pay much more and the phone will probably be locked into one service provider.<BR><BR>I have seen some good buys of dual band phones (the ones that work in Europe but not in the US for $60 to $80. If you want to spend a little more you can buy the Nokia 3310 for $100. There are some motorola tri bands out there for about $98 which will work with GSM providers (Voicestream, Cingular) both in the US and Europe.<BR><BR>With the phone in hand, you simply buy the SIM card service pack in Italy. You can buy them here again through the internet but they mark them up pretty heavily on the web sites. <BR><BR>The advantage of buying the cell phone is that it is yours to keep so if next year you spend a week in Germany, you can use the same phone and simply buy the German SIM card service pack.<BR><BR>Trust me...anybody who tells you anything different doesn't have a clue or is just guessing.

I am not guessing, and I am not anonymous. I had a terrific experience buying a phone upon arrival in Italy (September 2001), and &quot;selling it forward&quot;.<BR><BR>Some details here:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=1323048<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

for Dali<BR>

My husband has a phone (I think it's a nokia) and voicestream service. He uses it all over the US and Europe. I will be going for a week to Italy, and will also need a phone. We thought I could rent one with the appropriate card here in the US before I leave. But now I'm confused by this post. Then I'd have to purchase service there? What's the advantage of that hassle? Is it only a week's worth or something?