We would like to rent 2 cell phones to use in London. This would be to call each other back and forth for meeting up, etc. Has anyone done this before. Better to rent in US and take with us?

Renting a mobile phone when you're going to be in one city for at least 5 days is an idiotic idea as has been described many times.

You are far better off buying 2 inexpensive GSM mobile phones with European frequencies and uppon arrival buying a Virgin Mobile SIM card pack for £10 each which includes £5 worth of calls. Calls are very cheap this way; renting is money thrown away and calls are obscenely expensive.

Incidentally you can text message each other on Virgin mobile for 3p each message.

Don't rent phones.

You can research the threads here if you want to know why, the the short version is that people have found $2000 charges on their credit cards when they got home.

Why not pick up a set of those 2 way walkie talkie devices at Radio Shack?

Don't know if this is a good idea or not but just putting it out there..my neice was in London for 6 months a couple of years ago and needed a cell phone. She got a used cell phone at one of the phone stores and then would purchase her minutes..how ever many she could afford and when they were running low she would buy more. Not sure what she did with the phone when she came home...but anyway...like i say..just throwin' it out there.

Because those walkie talkies might as well be illegal to use in the EU... different frequencies open to the public different rules.
Buy a real worldphone whenever you enter Europe and use prepaid SIMS or roam with a good provider from the US.

Cobos