Phone service in Italy
 

We will be in Italy, mostly in Positano for 2 weeks in September. I want to be able to use my iPhone, in case of an emergency to call out on, both to the USA and Italy. Suggestions on cheapest way to use iPhone or cheapest plan to buy for just a short period.

Thanks,
Barb

You left out the crucial info. Who is your current carrier? From where you need to make these calls - on the streets, back at the hotel when you have access to Wifi?
You seem to have been traveling to Italy for over 10 years. How did you handle your phone calls before?

TIM card

Your phone should work for emergencies without a SIM card (dial 112 instead of 911 in Europe).

If you have WiFi, you can make cheap calls with Google Hangouts or Skype for a few cents per minute. Hangouts, in addition, allows free calls to US phone numbers, even to landlines. Just install it before you leave the US in case Google asks you to verify that you have existing phone service the first time you make a call with Hangouts.

If you want phone service without WiFi, buy a TIM or Vodafone SIM.

Wind is the cheapest at the moment.

But the new TIM package is the most interesting. Especially for people traveling also outside of Italy. It includes a lot more data and roaming

OTOH I'd see which shop was closest to the hotel and buy that.

WiFi calling definitely

You didn't ask about data... but I'll offer my tip on using Google Maps in Italy.

You can download offline maps of the places you are going BEFORE you leave the US, then you'll be able to use your iphone to navigate even if you have no cell service.

Yes - for DRIVING only, though. Google Maps "offline" works fine but not for walking /public transit directions - you need data for that. Other apps may offer walking directions offline but I haven't used them. SIM data is so cheap nowadays that it's hardly worth worrying about, though, in my opinion.

Not sure I agree Andrew. I frequently use Google maps offline for walking (albeit hiking in the woods) and it works just fine to tell me where I am, with location clear on the map even when no data is available. I've used the same feature overseas for walking in cities - GPS location still shows clearly, overlaid onto the map.

You do still need to know how to read a map, so I agree, it is not necessarily useful if you need turn by turn directions or public transportation.

Right, Google Maps "offline" can show you where you ARE but can't give you directions. And that to me is the huge benefit of Google Maps on my phone. I used to fumble for hours over maps and bus schedules. Now I just ask Google to show me the way, and it guides me to the nearest bus stop at the right time or just gives me walking directions - whichever is fastest. Looking at a map on my phone showing my location helps, but I find looking at a map on my phone to try to find my own directions even more frustrating than trying to use a good paper map.

For example, when I was out late in Venice taking pictures last year out by San Macro, I needed to get back to my hotel near the train station. My feet were tired, it was probably a 20-30 minute walk, but I had a vaporetto pass. What was the fastest way to get back? In the old days I might have tried to look at various vaporetto schedules...or not waste the time guessing and just walk But Google Maps (not offline) was able to tell me how to walk only 10 minutes to Rialto to catch a vaporetto leaving at the right time. (And in some cities, Google even knows real-time delays on buses, trams, and boats.)

As I said, data is so cheap that it seems silly not to have this incredible benefit that has saved me hours of time and frustration. On my last trip to Portugal, it cost me all of 10 euros for eight days (2GB) of data on my Dutch Vodafone SIM. A great investment that allowed me to get the maximum benefit out of my phone.

It'll give you driving directions which for most people is good enough to walk. I admit Google's walking directions in some cities are great and much better than the driving directions but most people aren't walking more than a few kms one way.

So how would the driving directions have worked out in my example above of walking back to my hotel in Venice? Or walking through any of the numerous pedestrian-only areas of many European cities?

Again - SIM cards and data are so cheap, it's just not worth trying to skimp and save a few bucks vs. the huge benefit.

They'll point you in the general direction. But if you can see yourself on the screen and you can see your destination on the screen it's not that hard to just travel in the right direction.

It won't give you the optimal route. But does that matter? Most of the people here can afford the odd wrong turn. It can also mean finding something interesting.

If you have an unlocked phone just buy a Tim card as St Cirq suggests. It’s only about 30 Euros and it is useful to be able to call in Italy and use data

In Venice? There are no cars, so driving directions would be completely useless there.

Yes, it matters if I'm tired and want to get back to the hotel without wasting an extra half hour waiting for a vaporetto boat or taking a wrong turn in the dark. Again, it costs so little - and the benefit so great. Why wouldn't I want mobile data for my phone?