Shoutbox

Note that the phone must be at least dual-band. Most network operators in Europe don't support single band anymore.

Dunno what the cheapest phones costs. I guess it would still be around €50 or something. Unless you buy one like those very very cheap things (which might still be like €30), but then again, you wouldn't be able to properly use them; from what I've heared some only support text messaging, or very limited calls, etc, and you would have a hard time finding them (I've never seen one, yet I know they exist).

Another alternative is asking somebody to lend or give you a second hand phone? I know we had some old phones lying around here, but I'm not sure if we still have them (dunno if they are dual-band either). But I can ask. Maybe Sunshine/Menthix, or whoever you gonna see first can look around too...

As for sim cards. You can get prepaid sim cards almost everywhere in Europe, in most convenient stores, small supermarkets, etc. Of course, roaming will cost a bit more, but if you indeed stick to text messaging mostly, it wont be that much more. The number would of course be a number from the country where you buy the sim card though.

I never heared of renting a phone though.