eSIM cards

I bought an eSIM through Saily (recommended by Conde Nast Traveller) for a recent vacation in Paris and Naples. I bought it at home in the US through their web site, and then I activated it upon landing in Paris. It worked fine. I had service everywhere I went, which was mainly built up metropolitan areas.

Has anyone bought an eSIM in the US for later use in Italy?

Yes, this is very easy to do. You can easily buy esim "cards" at the vendor's websites, or even on Ebay, from the US. They aren't really "cards", just a QR code emailed to you, so there is no shipping involved. Most are data-only, but some will provide a local phone number. Some will have an app you can install, that makes it easy to "top-up" if you run out of data, or want to visit another country, and your current esim doesn't include that country. Many vendors will have multi-country esims such as Europe, or Great Britain. I use one for the US, because I needed to be able to access AT&T towers when "up north", and my current cellphone contract is with Tmobile

Opinions vary on this forum, but some of the recommended data only vendors are:

Airalo, Holafly, Nomad, Roamless, Ubigi, and Zippy (ebay only)

These vendors will provide data AND a local phone number:

Airhub, aloSIM,

I've used Roamless, Airalo, and Zippy, no problems at all. Some of them even have a free introductory esim (300 mb. for 3 days or so), so you can try it out beforehand.

Generally, the esim will activate automatically when you land in Europe, but it's best to read the website to be sure. In some case there is an activation required using a web address. I sure like not having to waste 1/2 hour at the airport shopping for a physical sim card. And these esims are quite cheap, although some are cheaper than others.

Here's a thread you might not have found here because the name of the esim company I use for Italy, Airalo, is misspelled: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/airlo

I'm about to get a Mamma Mia Airalo esim for the fourth time. For use in a few weeks in Italy --- it won't activate until I get there.

Last year I had a problem activating it (100% my own fault) and the company was very helpful in figuring out the issue (I had been trying to activate the esim from the year before that was still on my phone --- it's a good idea to label the esim with an obvious name for the current trip!)