SIM Cards in Italy

TIM or Vodafone - both have good coverage and "tourist" SIM options. Search the forum for all the recent Italian SIM discussions. There's a TIM store at the FCO airport in Rome, if you really want to get one as soon as you land. Not sure about the other airports, but there are TIM and Vodafone stores (and dealers) all over the place, just like in the US there are T-Mobile and Verizon stores everywhere.

More info here:

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/Italy

Just make sure your phone is unlocked! And understand that with an Italian SIM, you lose the use of your US phone number (you'll have an Italian number) until you put your US SIM card back in.

Sprint and T-Mobile both have free international roaming data (2G speed) and free texting - and 25 cents/min calls. Verizon and AT&T have more expensive roaming plans.

Thank you so much. I appreciate your reply! I will check out the link you sent as well as the other SIM topics. We will be landing in Venice first, so I have to find out if there is something around there. Thanks again.

The two “biggies” are TIM and Vodafone. Both offer cards specifically for tourists and they charge €30 for a 30 day period. There are differences between them. TIM offers 12 gigs of data, Vodafone 2 gigs. Vodafone includes texts, TIM does not. Check on both and see which one better fills your needs. Both companies are reliable with excellent service.

Edit: Just saw your reply and that you’re landing in Venice. Neither company has a store at the airport but both have multiple locations in Venice. Just google it and it’ll pop up on a map.

I bought a SIM card from a TIM store in Puglia. and used it there Sicily and Rome. There was a Vodaphone store too but no one would wait on me.
It worked perfectly and I gave my Italian phone number to our landlord and restaurants where we made reservations. The data worked great. I only paid 30€ and used it for three weeks.

We used the TIM Tourist SIMs in September/October of 2018. We picked them up in Milan before heading to the Czech Republic for a week, then returned to Italy for three more weeks. They worked well in throughout Europe but as was mentioned texting is not included. This wasn't a problem for us because we used WhatsApp for texting and calling back to the states. That's where the big data package made a difference. Also helped with uploading pics and downloading our trip details and reservations stored on Google Drive.

If you go with TIM, it's best to use a TIM store rather than a third party vendor. The staff is more knowledgable and will make sure you're set up before you leave the store.

Thank you all. All of your tips are extremely helpful. Whatsapp and access to certain things online are important. I will keep that in mind as well.

I did well with the TIM Tourist SIM, good for 30 days, bought it at a TIM store just north of the Rialto Bridge. But it works only in Italy.

Dick, the TIM SIM cards now work within the EU (and maybe outside of it but with extra roaming charges).

We landed in Rome and had planned to buy TIM card but the first store we saw was Vodafone so we got that one. Both are good cards. Ours also works all over Europe. We're currently using it in Malta. Either of these companies would be a good choice.

Thank you everyone. This is all great information. This is going to make life easier as we are staying at Airbnbs and they have all asked that I let them know when we are on our way to the apartments. Not to mention just the general need for the use of our phones in Italy.