Dialling home from abroad can be brutally expensive, so how do you keep costs down? Buying a pay-as-you-go Sim card in the country you're visiting is one idea. It's usually cheaper to buy locally, but you can find them online at www.uk2abroad.com or www.0044.co.uk. Or, if you want to keep the same phone number every time you go abroad, you can buy a 'global Sim', but these usually have higher call rates.
The rates networks charge for international calls vary widely and change often, but www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/mobile-phone-charges.html keeps track. At the moment, 3 has the lowest rates: calls to the UK from Europe cost 20p a minute, but only to other 3 users. Receiving calls from the UK is the same. According to the website, O2 charges 85p a minute to make a call from most of Europe to the UK, but 90p to receive one.
Cheapest texts are with 3, at 10p each, but again only to other 3 users; otherwise My Europe charges from 16p. The most expensive are with T-Mobile and Orange, at 40p.
