Are you planning a trip to Europe and looking for an eSIM data package?
This means you will be visiting multiple European countries and you are going to want an eSIM card that can keep up. Have you considered a European eSim instead of buying multiple physical SIM cards?
At A Glance: Our Top eSIMs For Europe
ESIM technology is relatively new, so you might not have heard of it. It basically means you have a built-in sim card in your phone which you can activate when you get to Europe. But, which is the best eSIM for Europe? That is what we are here to look at.
Join me as I run through all the best eSIMs for use in Europe so you can find the best eSIM plan for your travels.
There are a number of different eSIM providers that offer a Europe eSIM and the best of them are below.
We will run through each of them and their eSIM data plans so that you can find the best eSIM for Europe for your travel needs.
Best Unlimited Data eSIM for Europe
| SEE ON HOLAFLY → | |
Cheapest European eSIMs
| SEE ON MAYA → | |
Most eSIM Options
| SEE PRICES ON AIRALO → | |
Best For Short Trips
| SEE ON SIMOPTIONS → | |
| SEE ON Nomad → | |
Data, Calls & SMS
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| SEE ON ESIM.NET → | |
| SEE ON SIMOPTIONS → | |
| SEE ON SMART COMFORT → | |
| SEE ON BNE → |
Holafly offers some of the best prepaid unlimited data eSIM plans you can find when looking for an eSIM for Europe.
Every eSIM data plan comes with unlimited data; you can opt for a number of days between 1 and 90 to match your travel plans.
This means you can use a single affordable data plan for everything and not worry about how much data you use.
Their data plans include unlimited data for almost any number of days you can imagine. Here are some examples:
NOTE: Use our link here for 5% discount
This year, I love how Holafly has added a free phone number to all its unlimited data plans for Europe.
Holafly Europe eSIMs also give you 5G and 4G LTE throughout the continent. The biggest downside is (like almost all eSIMs in this list) you can’t create a hotspot.
Over 30 countries are in the European eSIM, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
Maya Mobile have burst onto the eSIM scene with some great offers for Europe eSIMs. They are one of my favorite options for small-medium data packages or unlimited data eSIMs where you can share your data.
They always offer more flexible packages that include a length and GB choice – so choose 3 days, and 10 GB if that is exactly what you want! Here are some examples:
Just keep in mind that their unlimited data packages have three levels that get throttled after a certain number of GB. And the lowest level does not allow a hotspot for sharing.
They also provide eSIM data packages with both 4G and 5G when they can. So some of you will have lightning speeds in the bigger cities if you have a newer phone.
Their coverage is not as wide as only 30 countries. And this is where most eSIMs fail in my experience – south-east Europe – below Croatia (except for Greece of course). So, if you are sticking to Western Europe and even the more mainstream Eastern countries (Czech, Poland, Hungary etc) as well as Switzerland and the UK – you should be good to go!
Airalo is one of the most popular eSIM providers in the world and their eSIM plans for Europe are excellent. One of the highlights of their eSIMs is that work in 39 countries in Europe, so you can use it all over the continent without changing eSIMs.
You can choose from:
They only offer eSIM data plans, so you can’t call or text from their eSIM but it does make data roaming very easy. Their eSim data plans do not offer unlimited data though which is a shame.
Airalo is also one of the more affordable prepaid data options, working out at $1.85 – $5 per GB with cheaper prices per GB for larger packages.
The countries they include cover both Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the UK:
Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Orange is one of the largest mobile providers in Europe and therefore has great coverage and reliable speeds. The Orange Holiday Zen eSIM is an epic deal for anyone spending 14 days in Europe.
With this eSIM plan, you get
All this costs just $29.90 but it only lasts for 14 days, so will suit short trips but not longer ones.
Use 8GB high-speed 4G internet data in 30 European countries for 14 days.
This SIM Card is ideal for travelers from outside Europe as you have 30 minutes of calls and 200 SMS from Europe to anywhere in the world and unlimited calls and SMS within Europe.
This might just be the best time for Europe if you are going for 14 days or less!
Nomad is a very reliable eSIM provider and they offer a number of eSIM plans for Europe but they are quite limited.
With Nomad you can buy 1, 3, 5 or 10 GB plans for 30 days. There is nothing larger, however, you can always renew the plan when it expires.
They added two plan types in Europe.
The prices are actually similar, so I am not sure what the difference is. The provider is Truphone for the 25 countries but is not given for the larger package.
With this eSim provider, you will have good coverage, and reliable speeds, and the system to activate your eSim is very simple.
The Orange Holiday Europe eSIM is pretty much the same as the Orange Holiday Zen eSIM but it comes with more of everything; data, calls, and SMS.
For $49.90 you get
But, again, it only lasts for 14 days so it is great for heavy data users on short trips but not good for longer visits.
eSIM.net offers the best eSIM for Europe in my eyes. It is a part of O2 and therefore has a reliable and fast network all over Europe.
You can get unlimited data for 30 days for just $25 which is as affordable and useful as it gets. You won’t find a better price per GB than this and their customer service, set up, and activation process is all excellent.
This is by far one of the best eSIMs for Europe and might just beat the best data sim card you can find in Europe too.
You can also opt for 3GB for 7 days for $10 or 5GB for 14 days for $14 so it suits those on short trips, tight budgets, long trips, and heavy data users too.
O2 is the biggest network provider in the UK and therefore you will get reliable coverage and connection speeds all across Europe.
The O2 Go Card eSIM is only available on SIM options and it is a solid deal. You get 10GB of data for 30 days for $24.90 which is one of the most affordable eSIM plans out there for that amount of data.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t include any free SMS or calls like the Orange eSIMs. Well, it does, but $2 of global calls and $2 of global SMS don’t really count.
The Smart Comfort X eSIM is also only available on SimOptions and it is one of the better eSIM plans for anyone who doesn’t use much data and is on a tight budget.
With the Smart Comfort X eSIM plans you get 5GB of data valid for 30 days for $17.90. This is a great rate for anyone who is careful with their mobile data usage.
But, it does not come with any calls or SMS, nor can you increase the number of days it is valid for.
BNESIM does something not all eSIM providers do, it offers Europe eSIM travel on a monthly rolling contract you can start and stop whenever you like.
Your options include:
every month and the rates are very affordable. The unlimited data plan costs 65 Euros per month and the 1GB plan costs just 2.41 Euros.
Their service is very reliable and it is very easy to activate your eSim. But, you do not get any calls or texts included with this service.
This depends on how much you use your phone as if you are watching Netflix on data every night, you will need a lot while traveling.
Generally speaking, heavy data users consume around 15GB per week, while the average is around 5GB per week. If you are smart, you can get this down to 2GB per week by using WiFi for things like Netflix and social media.
But, considering you can get such affordable unlimited data plans with an eSIM for Europe, this isn’t something to worry about.
Whatsapp is what all Europeans use to communicate. It is a data-only text and calling app which is free and very easy to use. You will find that a lot of your bookings can be done through Whatsapp plus you can call and message home with ease. So, by using Whatsapp, you can avoid the lack of SMS and calling that many eSIM providers have.
Did you know you can download areas of Google Maps that you can then use offline? It is incredibly easy, just follow these steps and you will have a map area of your choice downloaded to your phone.
This means you don’t have to use any of your mobile data plans to navigate around new European countries.
Any App that downloads pictures or movies for you to see, uses more data than most others. The number one culprits are Instagram, Netflix, and Facebook.
Avoid using these on mobile data as they will eat up your data allowance quickly, only use them on WiFi if you can.
Some Apps use data even while they are not open as they are searching for updates or new information to show you. Turn access to data to all the Apps you don’t need off, this will reduce your data usage a lot.
I live in Airplane Mode which means my phone only distracts me when I let it. But, it is also great for reducing data consumption and saving your battery life too. You can still use GPS and take pictures too.
If you have bought your phone in conjunction with a contact through a carrier chances are your phone is locked to that one carrier. Be sure to call and have them unlock it as eSIMs will not work on a locked phone.
eSIMs make life a lot simpler when traveling across Europe, especially with regard to staying connected.
Once you buy the best eSIM for Europe and activate it, you can travel to every country in Europe without having to buy another local prepaid SIM card for each new country.
This means no queueing, switching physical sim cards, losing your sim card from home, etc. As soon as you cross a border, you will still be connected to a network and be able to use your phone as normal.
This means you can navigate using Google Maps, book train tickets, see bus schedules, and more while you are on the road, in any country in Europe. It adds a ton of convenience and safety to your trip.
You can also run your eSIM in conjunction with your physical SIM card from home. This means you can still make and receive calls on your normal number, as well as texts, and receive codes to log in to your bank for example.
Topping up eSIMs is also incredibly easy, as it is done from your phone, or the company’s website, and just takes a second or two, which is much better than buying scratch cards or setting up a new online account.
Not every device supports eSIM as only new devices have an embedded sim (eSIM) built into them. This means that older smartphones and tablets will not be able to use eSIMs but newer ones will.
Check if your device has an eSIM by seeing if it is in the list below.
iPhone: 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, 13, 13 Pro, 13 Pro Max, 13 Mini, 12, 12 Mini, 12 Pro, 12 Pro Max, 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, XS, XS Max, XR, SE (2020), SE (2022).
iPad Air: (3rd generation), (4th generation)
iPad Pro 11‑inch: 1st, 2nd, & 3rd generation)
iPad Pro 12.9‑inch: 3rd, 4th, & 5th generation)
iPad: 7th, 8th, & 9th generation
iPad Mini: 5th & 6th generation
Samsung Galaxy: S22 Ultra 5G, S22+ 5G, S22 5G, S21 Ultra 5G, S21 5G, S21+ 5G, S20, S20+, Z Flip, Z Flip3 5G, Z Fold3, Z Fold2, Fold, Note 20 Ultra, Note 20+, Note 20
Google Pixel: 3, 3 XL, 3a, 3a XL, 4, 4a, 4 XL, 5, 6, 6 Pro, 6a, 7, 7 Pro
HAMMER: Explorer PRO, Blade 3, Blade 5G, myPhone NOW eSIM
Motorola: Razr 2019, Razr 5G
Huawei: P40, P40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro
OPPO: Find X3 Pro, Find X5 Pro, Find X5
Sony Xperia: 10 III Lite, 10 IV, 1 IV
ACER: Swift 3, Swift 7
ASUS: Mini Transformer T103HAF, NovaGo TP370QL, Vivobook Flip 14 TP401NA
Dell Latitude: 9510, 7410, 7310, 9410, 7210 2-in-1
HP: Elitebook G5, Probook G5, Zbook G5, Spectre Folio 13
Lenovo: Yoga C630, Miix 630, Yoga 520, Yoga 720 convertible laptops
Surface: Go 3, Pro X, Duo 2, Duo
Others: Nuu Mobile X5, Gemini PDA 4G+Wi-Fi, Xiaomi 12T Pro, Windows 10*/ Windows 11