For those of you who have used eSims in Italy/Europe, could you please share which plan & company you chose and why? We are going to be gone for several weeks and want to narrow down our options to those that performed well for forum members.
For reference, we have Android phones and will use the plan for navigation, searches, WhatsApp connection to lodgings and family, and for hot spot tethering to other devices when WiFi is not available.
Hi there. I used an esim for my trip in Jan 23. I flew into Zurich and travelled over to Tirano and onto Varenna. I wanted a sim to work and not have to queue to get a physical sim in Italy. I used Airalo.
I found it excellent.
Check my post from a couple of days ago on this forum
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/sim-card-for-italy-and-greece
An Italy only option is $14.50 for 5GB. This is a premium over a physical sim, but to me worth the convenience.
Coverage was excellent, and download speeds good. I used it in
Zurich
Bernina Express
Tirano
Varenna and lake
Lake Garda
Verona
Venice
Florence
Pisa
All over Tuscany
Rome
Salerno
Amalfi
Paestum and Pompeii.
No issues with any of these. I think I did hotspotting, as we had 5 devices, and cant remember any issues
I ended up with a couple of esims on my phone, and set up wifi calling on my NZ number, with no issues. Whatsapp was perfect, as was internet.
So, a strong recommendation for Airalo.
A number of forum members (including me) have used Airola in Europe and found it more than satisfactory. It was very reasonably priced and worked well. Holafly is another good company that some here have tried. You might want to check on the Technology Tips forum as there are quite a few posts about eSIMs there and what has and hasn't worked. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips
A number of forum members (including me) have used Airola
It's actually Airalo. And I've used it in four different countries and will use it again.
Thanks to all, especially the suggestion to check the Tech Forum. Don't know why I didn't think of that first!
I plan to go with Nomad's Europe plan
It's 5 GB for 30 days, and it's $14, but there are discount codes out there that will get you cheaper. But, if you will be there for several weeks, I am sure you may want to go with a higher plan, which they do have.
It is not Airalo, but they were my second choice. Airalo comes highly recommended so I am sure you will be in good hands with them. As for me, I've read that Nomad is perfectly adequate.
I do like the idea that when I touch down in Copenhagen for my layover before arriving to Italy, I will have that access. I do have a longer layover, so I do plan to go into town, so having the Europe coverage and not just Italy was of importance to me.
You may also look at Holafly. I was looking at them for quite a while, but since it goes by time period, it didn't quite match up to how long I would be there.
