My wife is an online teacher and must constantly be connected to the internet and have cell phone service. We are interested in traveling around W. Europe, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Italy, and Spain. We have made three trips in the past visiting these countries and more each time by train and car without a problem. My questions are as follows:
1. What cellphone providers have the best international plans?

2. What companies offer the best international wireless internet access?

3. Which cities will have the best wi-fi hot spots, any city parks or the like come to mind?

I would likely be thinking of just a week or two at a time in one or two of the above mentioned countries whenever we can get a great deal on airfare. Like fly into Amsterdam, stay a few days on a houseboat, travel to the Rhine River valley for a short river cruise, back to Amsterdam to fly home. Just some similar type short getaways, but my dear wife must be able to work throughout our travels.

Thanks to all who may have time and information/thoughts/suggestions to share.
David

AFAIK, thre is no pan-European deal on mobile internet service that is reasonably priced and reliable. Sometimes you get a good deal by a national operator, like in UK (where you can sign up to mobile internet for around £1 a day) and in Spain (with yoigo.com). In other countries, the best deals are with national network operators with their PAYG Sim card, but you are normally charged per kb/mb download and costs can mount up. Never try to roam with a Sim card in another country, as data use can cost up to 10 euro per MB. You can invest in one of many international Sims with companies like TravelSim or Global Sim. While they are convenient for calls (not having to change Sim card and phone number every time you cross border) and reasonably priced, for data use can be very expensive, with per kb/mb download charge.
Your own cellphone company will probably offer roaming in Europe, but again the cost of data use will be extremely high.

One strategy is to use the cell network for voice access, but WiFi for internet, using either paid or unpaid access points. In most of the UK, I can usually find an open network with ease, while in France, McDonald's offer free access with no purchase necessary. Germany is somewhat more restrictive, and the other countries I have no direct experience with.

Paging logos.....

What about skype?

Most hotels where I've stayed (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Amsterdam mostly) you pay as you go with internet. In Switzerland, I usually pay for a 1-week log-on anytime plan, using my credit card to make the purchase. The provider is Swisscom.

Staying connected in Europe is not so easy, and it is not cheap IME.

I use my AT&T Blackberry for cell phone, paying them the upfront extra fee for service in Europe (and other continents); then I use hotel wifi or free wifi cafés for the most part for email, as data transfer on AT&T is stupdly expensive. If I'm really stuck somewhere and can't access wifi (as I have been in Africa and India), I use the Blackberry for that and suck up the charges (which are a business expense, so at least I get the deduction).

Skype is a good alternative, too, though unfortunately only a few of my clients are on Skype (don't know why, as it would save all their organizations a boatload of money).

I need to stay connected as well. For trips to Greece and France the last 2 years a cell phone from callineurope.com and Skype on my laptop have worked well.

I have always been able to find a WiFi connection one way or another. Jwire.com has many access points listed.

Rob

Does anyone use a third party VPN service to reduce Wifi eavesdropping in Europe?

When I travel with my work laptop, I can connect to the corporate server using VPN, but they don't allow non company configured systems to access the network. So when I take my own laptop, unless I am connected to a "https://" site, my Wifi transaction is not secure.

One site claims PPTP is blocked by Telecom Italia, so I am interested in what works in Europe.