Skype: Call for free

Using Skype to make free (or nearly free) phone calls in Italy

Use Skype to call Italy for just 7¢ per minute

I suggest using a service like Skype to call Italy (or anywhere in the world) from your computer for just 7¢ per minute(8¢ to an Italian cellphone).

That's the cost to dial a land line anywhere. They call it Pay As You Go, or PAYG (used to be "Skype Out.") Add to that a 4.9¢ connection fee per call (8.9¢ connection fee to an Italian mobile number).

Even better, all calls to other Skype users are free. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Niente. It costs exactly $0.00 to make a Skype-to-Skype call.

Skype calling plans
If you plan to be a heavy user—perhaps the Italy trip is a semester abroad and will involve much more calling than a short vacation—and don't want to pay 2.1¢ per minute to "Skype out" to land line phones, you can also sign up for a unlimited monthly plan.

The $2.99/month plan for U.S. and Canada obviously won't work for travel abroad, but you could get one of the following:

• $4.99/month unlimited plan to Italy
$8.99/month unlimited plan to call 20 European countries
$13.99/month unlimited plan to up to 60 countries
Incremental plans: cheapskates can also buy monthly minutes: $1.19/month for 120 min., $3.99 for 400 min.

It also couldn't be simpler to use. You just download the software, install it, open an account, and put a little bit of money into it via PayPal or a credit card.

(I find I have to top it off with $10 only every 6–8 months or so—and I call abroad a lot for my work.)

Another idea: get an Italian cellphone and have your friends and family back home use Skype to call you (though that will bump you up to the cellphone fee of 8¢ per minute).

Use Skype to call home from Italy for free (if "home" has a computer; otherwise, again: only 7¢ per minute to call a land line)

I used to spend hundreds of dollars a year on international calling plans and phone cards, which, for a monthly fee (usually $35), would allow me to call home for 5¢ per minute—plus a $5 connection fee on each call.

Now I make video calls home as often as I want—and it doesn't cost me a single penny.

I use Skype on my laptop and smartphone and WiFi (either free-ranging hotspots, or at my hotels) to make free video calls back home.

Catching a stray WiFi signal by a canal in Venice Your intrepid reporter Skypes home using his laptop and a stray WiFi signal by a canal in Venice .This has been a lifesaver, especially now that I have young children (we can see and talk to each other almost every day, even when Daddy is over in Italy working; I can even read them bedtime stories.)

Again, it's free to Skype someone else using Skype (it's how my kids video chat with their grandparents regularly).

So if you are using Skype—either on your laptop or handheld, or from an Internet cafe, many of which have stations with earphone/mic headsets set aside for just this purpose—and your loved ones at home also have Skype installed on their computers, all "calls" are free.

If you use Skype to call back to the United States or Canada, the cost is even lower—2.3¢ per minute.

I love Skype.