SIM Card in Italy

Members of our family travel to Italy regularly and purchase SIM cards for their phones without issue. Most often they will purchase in person so that the sales associate can assist with the proper installation and connection with the SIM card. Two recommendations learned from experience. Place the original SIM card in a safe place once it is removed. We placed it in a small clear bag often used for a day's worth of medication or jewlerly storage and labeled it. Placing it in a wallet or in the case of our phone can lead to damage once home. Second remember the phone number of the SIM card that is inserted and communicate that number to important people back home. If you call or text with the new SIM card they may not recognize the number and delete or ignore call/text. We had an issue while away that verification codes for certian websites or other business transactions were being sent to our original home phone number. We could not access those codes without removing the Italian SIM card and replacing our home SIM. Just a reminder. Enjoy your trip to such a beautiful place. Others may have had different experiences, this one is just the several family members and I have encounterd.

Hi Thomas,

The two companies that most visitors seem to use in Italy for simcards are Vodafone and TIM.
I've used both, and found TIM to be preferable.
Go to an actual TIM store, you can find them on Google Maps in the first town you are staying in.
The clerks will set it all up for you, and it will work within the hour.
Don't buy any old card at the arrival airport, as you'll have no way of getting help with it afterward if you need to.
You will find lots of discussions here about simcards if you use the search bar above.

One thing: you must have an unlocked phone to insert and use a new simcard.
Check with Boost.

thank you both for your responses. yes, i have checked with boost and they claim the phone in unlocked and it should work.
my first stop is Venice so i will check for a TIM store when i arrive versus the airport kiosks. again, thank you both for your quick responses.

Hello tkoltoniak,

I used TIM last time I was in Italy and it worked fine but I chose it over Vodaphone only because the line in the Vodaphone store was longer. Older reports say there are no phone shops in Venice airport but there is a TIM store a few minutes from Rialto bridge so that should be easy enough to find.

You will have WiFi access before you get a SIM card if you have any immediate needs so apps that use WiFi should work.

If you didn't buy your phone outright make sure it is unlocked before you travel so you know you are free to put another SIM card in it. Locked phones are less common these days but it is worth checking on if you bought your phone through the cellular company.
Also keep your original SIM safe and secure if they remove it because it is your American number.

Venice is great, enjoy,
=Tod

My family bought eSIM card on Orange Travel when we were still in the States. It works in entire Europe. They will issue a number from France. We added the eSIM card on our iPhones and got connected right away when our plane landed at London and we switched to this line. No need to seek for kiosks or store. Very convenient. The service uses TIM.

Thomas, what kind of phone is it exactly? Even if it is unlocked, it may not have all the right LTE frequencies to work in Italy, even if it works great in the US. Many modern smart phones would work fine.

my phone is a samsung a13 5g phone from boost mobile

Good - Italian mobile companies use LTE bands 3, 7, and 20, and your Samsung seems to support all of those.

Thomas:
I’ve just looked at a Google map of Venice, and there are three TIM stores shown.
One is not far from the rail station, going toward San Marco.

The last time I checked italy requires SIM cards to be registered. So bring your passport to the shop.

thank you all. my airbnb is 2 min from rialto bridge so i'll probably hit that store. i appreciate all the advice.