I am leaving to Italy on the 29th of March to take my daughter there for a foreign study program.
I have an unlocked GSM 850/1800/1900 band phone and a 900/1800/1900 band one. I know the second one will work there, will the first one? I used the first one in UK and it worked perfectly. I did not have to switch any bands. Are they usually automatically switched or would I need to do it manually?
Who uses 850 band?
Thanks for the help.

You should be able to find your answers here:

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/quadbandphones.htm