Title: The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe | USA Today
Headings: The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe
The Best Ways to Get a Cell Phone While Traveling in Europe
Travel Tips
Buy a Phone In-Store
Buy Prepaid Mobile Online
Auction Sites and Secondhand Stores
Travel Tips Video
Rent a Phone
Alternatives
SIM Card for International Travel
Travel Tips
GSM Technology
Locked vs. Unlocked Devices
Country-Specific Cards
International SIM Card

Content: Alternatively, you can purchase an unlocked phone on a third-party site, such as eBay or Craigslist. Country-Specific Cards
The first option you have when traveling is to purchase SIM cards in each country you visit. The primary advantage to exercising this option is that you'll have a local number you can give to hotels, tour guides and anyone you meet while traveling. In some regions, such as Southeast Asia and South America, purchasing a SIM card is extremely cheap -- and you can refill your minutes by purchasing "top-up" cards at convenience stores. Although similar cards and service cost more in Western Europe and Australia, they lack the contractual commitments to which you're accustomed as an American, offering you flexibility and freedom while on the road. International SIM Card
If you're not keen on purchasing a new SIM card everywhere you visit, you can purchase an international SIM card in advance of your travels. Each company manages its international SIM card products slightly differently, but your card allows you make and receive calls in foreign countries at local rates. The potential downside is that these cards don't always work in every country -- and incoming calls route to a static phone number that may or may not be based in your destination country. OneSimCard phones, for example, link primarily to Estonian phone numbers. References
OneSimCard: