We are planning on spending 3 weeks in France. One week in Paris & two driving from the Loire to Normandy to the Belgium border area. We thought that we should keep a cell phone with us in case of emergency, but my DH is hinting that a GPS would also come in handy while traveling. I was looking at buying a new cell here, but the charges are ridiculus when used in Europe. Can we rent something in France or buy a cell here & use it there w/o such high charges? Any suggestions where to rent? Thanks

First of all, you might want to review some of the horror stories on this forum about people who rented from one company and wound up with $2,000 charged to their credit cards.

There is considerable agreement hereabouts that the best way to have cell service in Europe is to:

o Buy an unlocked four-band GSM phone on eBay
o Buy a SIM with airtime on it when you get to Europe
- OR -
Set up European roaming with Cingular or T-Mobile. These are the only US carriers offering anything like economical service. Cingular charges $1.29 per minute unless you pay them $5.99 per (calendar) month, in which case the rate drops to 99¢. T-Mobile is 99¢ without the monthly charge.

When I go to Germany, I will buy 2 SIMs from smobil.com, who charge 1€¢ per minute to another smobil subscriber, and plug them into my T-Mobile phones.

We drove all over France 2yrs ago and rented a car from AutoEurope that had a GPS. I would never drive in Europe again without one.

Opinion on GPS is widely divided. One camp insists that since maps have been used by navigators since the invention of paper, no technological improvement is necessary or desirable, and that getting lost possesses a certain adventurous charm.

Another point of view holds that it is extremely useful to be able to see on a map display exactly where you are, whether you think you know your position or not (especially if not, some say).

I will never travel without one.

<i>When you're lost in the rain in Juarez...</i>

Can't say anything about a cell phone as we used a calling card which be purchase before we left for about $30. It worked find in France, Germany, Belgum and Austria. I can't say enough about a GPS. We spent 7 weeks driving through Europe last spring and brought our GPS with us. It was a life saver and saved lots of time. It worked well just about everywhere except in large cities in and around tall buildings. My only suggestion is if you bring one with you, also bring an external antenna. There is something in the glass of some European cars that can affect your reception.

Hi Sparks,

Where is &quot;here&quot; - Britain? If so, there is an economical solution, especially if you already have a British cellphone:

http://www.sim4travel.com/

&gt;&gt;There is something in the glass of some European cars that can affect your reception.&lt;&lt;

Many European cars have a metal layer in the glass of the windscreen to deflect heat. There is always an area without this though, usually either side of the rear-view mirror.
Make sure you take your gps with you, and don't leave any signs that you are using one in the car - they are very popular with car thieves. If you can hire a car with it already in.