Next year I'll be vacationing in Venice and Amsterdam. I'd like to get two cell phones that can be used in the cities and surrounding areas. My plan was to find two cheap GSM tri-band phones on ebay and buy pre-paid sim cards in each city. Is this the best way to go about it? If I buy a sim card in Amsterdam will I get coverage in Belgium, for example? Are pre-paid sims a reasonable price or will I be getting ripped off? Is this something I should set up before I travel?

Thanks!

Hm, I am sure I replied to this last night!

Anyway:

The plan seems reasonable.

Prepaid 'minutes' are a bit more expensive than those under a subscription plan, but not prohibitively so (say, $0.10-ish a minute within a given country and network, perhaps 20%-50% more between networks). However, the SIM card itself is not always free (and some operators charge up to $30 or so for it).

Virtually all subscription plans and most prepaid schemes come with international roaming, but you don't want to use it more than necessary: for example, roaming between Croatia and Austria (almost neighbors) cost me more than $1.50 a minute, on a subscription plan! So, if you only plan to send a bunch of SMS messages, say 'Hello' once or twice and have a phone for emergency, don't bother with more than original pre-paid SIM. Otherwise, buy a new one in each country you visit.

Another point: it is not always possible to 'fill up' your SIM from country A while in country B. Obviously, choosing an operator active in both countries might help. See, for example. T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange...

That's very helpful. Thanks.

I sent the rest of my family off to sweeden with two unlocked cell phones last summer, and told them to look for a cell phone store and ask for a prepaid sim. They managed to get them working just fine. If they can do it, it can't be too dificult.

Matthew