How to avoid high roaming charges?

Turn on Airplane Mode, then turn on Wi-Fi.

That'll mean that the only thing left on is Wi-Fi.

 

Yep... enable airplane mode FIRST, then go in and manually turn WiFi back on.

 

You can have all cellular data off, but that will not prevent the calls in.

So do the Airplane Mode, and then turn on Wi-Fi.

 

+1 to all of the above posts.
If you like, you can also remove the SIM card to be safe.

 

Good to know, I never tried enabling WiFi after putting it in Airplane Mode. Makes sense that it would work as most planes have WiFi these days. Only problem is I use the GPS (Navigon) when I travel, which wouldn't work in Airplane mode.

Also, if you have Data Roaming set to Off, you shouldn't get charged anything unless you answer a call or send an SMS.

 

I don't think so, but you should check with your carrier to see. But you can't really control an incoming call or text and being charged international rates would suck.

 

Just turn Data off in settings and make sure roaming is off also. You will not get charged for anything unless you send/receive a call, or if you send a text message. Enjoy the trip.

 

Yeah, it's free to receive text messages internationally if you have a plan. Just turn off international data and you should be good to go!

 

The OP's profile states that they are from the UK.

If they are a customer with one of the UK networks, text messages would always be free to receive - it's illegal to charge someone to receive a text message (including MMS) under EU law.

As for phone calls, those can be avoided simply by not answering the phone (turn off voicemail first though to ensure that there aren't any forwarding charges from that).