Hello Fodorites. It's been a long time since I've been on this forum. This community has been an invaluable resource to me. My son will be backpacking through Europe this May for 1 month. He'll be travellling in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. He will be taking along an unlocked GSM phone. Can he purchase a SIM card at CDG or is it better to buy in town? He will only be using the phone for "necessary" calls, not for chit chat. Also, would a calling card be a good idea to limit costs for calling home? Finally, can you plug in your devices on the trains, as we can do here in Canada? Thanks for all your help.

Since his phone use will be minimal (are you certain of that???) then if he has a quad band phone that already works in Europe no need for local SIM cards or anything else.

Well... a local SIM can save a fortune if he needs to make calls in Europe. In France Lebara is about the cheapest these days. They operate elsewhere as well: http://www.lebara.com

Does he really need a phone? My kids have done trip blogs downloading pictures and updating along the way. It was a great way to see their progress and share in their adventure while giving them a greater since of freedom. For the occasional call home they used a phone.

Seven countries in 30 days.... Ah, youth!

The phone is really just for emergency use. He will be doing a one week self-guided bike tour in Austria, so I would feel better if he had a phone handy. Otherwise, he's not much of a talker, and would prefer to update us through regular emails. Thanks for the lebara link; I'll check it out.

No need for a phone at all. He can leave it at home. We had lovely trips in the old days with no phones. And it is so nice for people to receive post cards with beautiful stamps on them.

Remember back in the day, before cell phones? Children managed fine. If they had an emergency they or a friend found a way to contact the parents. IMHO, it is the "helicopter parent" (i.e hovering) who has a problem with a young person (a child no longer) being out on his own, maybe not reachable. How about if he just gets a phone card, which enables him to use any existing phone to call USA, if absolutely needed?

Don't mean to single you out, ggrace, you have plenty of company! My daughters a dean of students and she says the parental constant check=up thing is endemic these days. I note that the son "would prefer to update us thru regular e-mails." Is that a clue?

I kind of encouraged him to put this trip together. He's well organized and has a decent head on his shoulders. But, I still want him to keep a phone in case he needs it. I really don't expect him to call home.
However, I do understand what you are all saying. When we travel, I do not call or email anyone while we are on holiday either---much to my mom's dismay.

Re: the Lebara recco - lots of UK complaints ranging from SIM will not activate to no service to to customer service as well as company setting up auto debit on bank accts when topping up online. Don't know if any of it is true, but just reporting what I am reading.

Yes, we all made it before cellphones but I don't want to go back to those times. I like the security of having a mobile at all times.

Thanks, crepes a go go. I'll read further. Does anyone know if European trains have outlets to plug in a laptop or charge a phone?

Depends on the train.. The ICEs have an outlet between two seats, so if there are many business travellers there are only socket available for 50% of the passengers. Local/regional trains don't have outlets.

Thanks logos999. That information is quite helpful.