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Looking for advice on Italian sim cards

Posted by on

I need some tech advice!

My husband and I live in Canada and we're planning a trip to Italy in April. We'll be visiting Rome, the Cinque Terre and Florence.

We'll be leaving our usual Samsung smartphones at home and bringing a pair of older model iphones with us. We'd like to buy Italian sim cards when we arrive in Rome so we can use local data rather than buying a more expensive roaming data package that we'd set up at home.

My questions:

  1. Can anyone suggest a vendor in the Termini station neighbourhood where we can buy our Italian sim cards? I'm looking for a place where locals would shop, not tourists. The last sim card I bought in Rome was at the airport and I was royally ripped off.

  2. Does anyone know if one brand of sim card will work in all three of the locations we plan to visit?

Thanks in advance!
Greer

Posted by
1327 posts

I bought a TIM card many years ago. I would Google map the closest dealer to your hotel and buy it there. Activation of a SIM can always be fussy and it is nice to go back to the dealer for assistance, if necessary. I wouldn't want to be standing around fiddling with my phone near Termini.

More recently, I have been using an Orange Travel eSim (e.g. in UK, Germany, Portugal, Spain). It is supposed to be good throughout Europe, including Italy, but I have not tried the latter. I like that I am able to purchase and download it while I am still in North America and it only activates upon landing in Europe. €19.99, 2 weeks, 12 GB data, unlimited calls and texts in Europe, 30 minutes calls and 200 texts internationally. Good luck.

Posted by
3515 posts

TIM cards have worked perfectly for me in mainland Italy on 4 or 5 different trips.
There is also Vodafone.

Open a Google map with the area you are staying in, and look for mobile phone shops, TIM and VodaFone shops.

If I remember rightly from my 2019 Rome trip, there are all of those on Via Merulana near S. M. Maggiore Basilica, not far from Termini.
I’ve just looked at the map…they are all still there.
Do not buy a card at an airport, go into a shop and get them to set it up for you.
Much easier.

Posted by
51 posts

If your older iPhones are model 5 or later and unlocked they can the nano SIM cards. There is a TIM store inside the Termini station. If you are arriving at FCO at terminal 3 just turn right after exiting the baggage claim (before exiting to the outside) and you will find a TIM kiosk on your right. I think there is also a Vodafone kiosk there also. Both should work fine in your 3 locations.
RDJ

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