E-sim (+ calls) for 30-days in England?

Check Giffgaff, I have used them for 9 years they have just rolled out esims.
Giffgaff offer 30 day non reoccurring contracts ,many different bands but the £10 or £12 option will easily see you through
I also use Lebara on occasion ,not sure if they offer eSim

My plan is to try Lyca mobile UK for my next UK trip. They operate off the EE network. Their pay as you go plans support E SIM.

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/bundles/sim-only-deals/#best-value

I second the recommendation of giffgaff - excellent, and I use it whenever I'm in the UK. It's very good value.

I've had really good success with Nomad eSIMS in Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. Their plans don't typically include voice, but I've solved that by using Google Voice with the data plan or using wifi.

Don't have any experience with E-Sims, but Vodafone has worked for me with their regular SIMs. Cheap as borsch - they always give me way more data than advertised. Last time (2023) it was 15 GBP for 60 GB, plus unlimited phone and texts (no pics), for 30 days.

Giffgaff has the advantage of operating off the O2 network

Thanks so much for the solid suggestions here. I’ll look into these! Hopefully I can figure out how to load the e-sims and make any necessary adjustments on my iPhone 🙃

I appreciate the physical sim options as well. This time going to try to save a trip to the mobile store/not have to swap out our (Mint) sims or keep track of them.

Thanks again!

I understand others will differ, but the last thing I plan to do on vacation is manage a drawerful of physical SIMs. It's eSIM only for me. And they're readily available pretty much everywhere I want to travel.

If you are flying into Heathrow Terminal 2 there are SIM vending machines located in the baggage claim area. Also there is a Sim Local shop by carousel 4 that will install and setup your SIM. Outside customs there is another Sim Local shop to the right. Other terminals should have SIM Local shops. I have used Three (3) and Lycra SIMs on my travels to the U.K.

Thanks for the additional tips. We’ll arrive in T5 around noon on a Monday and make our way to Hammersmith area. …. Re-thinking: If I get a data only e-sim, I think I can still make a call when I’m connected to wi-fi (and toggle my cellular setting to allow “wi-fi calling”). I tried this from home and it seems to work.
I don’t want to accidentally activate the expensive mint mobile international plan (which must be pre-paid anyway). So as long as I hop onto Wi-Fi somewhere, I can make a phone call (to places who may not be on what’s app).