Sim Card for iPhone in Italy

[okiedrifters]

Spending extra days in Rome pre cruise and am hoping to hear from others who have purchased a sim card for their phone. I will be using an iPhone. My questions are…

 

Where did you purchase it? Online before your trip or when in Rome?  I have Orange in my cart on Amazon, but hope to hear if there are better options (from experience).  Are there better ones, etc? I do know I can use my Verizon Travel Pass also. 
 

For those who have used a SIM card for traveling …I have a spare phone I plan to use. If my phone is turned OFF, can I install the SIM card at home (US) if I do not  turn on my phone until I land in Italy (without accidentally activating it in the US?) Reason is the one I am thinking of purchasing is only a 14 day use. We will also be spending a few days post cruise in Athens so I plan to use it there also. 
 

Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks so much!!

Edited May 19, 2022 by okiedrifters

[Zana711]

I'm not affiliated with the company but you can easily install an eSIM - https://www.airalo.com/italy-esim. It's data only and not designed for voice calls but presumably you can connect with family using FaceTime, so data is all you need. 

 

With an eSim, you can install it before hand and it activates when it connects with the local network (when you land in Italy and turn on your phone).

[okiedrifters]

2 hours ago, Zana711 said:

I'm not affiliated with the company but you can easily install an eSIM - https://www.airalo.com/italy-esim. It's data only and not designed for voice calls but presumably you can connect with family using FaceTime, so data is all you need. 

 

With an eSim, you can install it before hand and it activates when it connects with the local network (when you land in Italy and turn on your phone).

Thanks so much! 

[kayjaypea42]

I saw Vodafone offering tourist plans in shops here.  And when you use the Verizon pass, it connects using Vodafone.

[okiedrifters]

3 hours ago, kayjaypea42 said:

I saw Vodafone offering tourist plans in shops here.  And when you use the Verizon pass, it connects using Vodafone.

Thanks! 

[Hlitner]

We simply have T-Mobile (our regular cell phone carrier) that works just about everywhere (over 200 countries).   The big advantage is that folks can easily reach us with our regular US phone number. Unlike most other cell carriers, T-Mobile does not charge extra for 2G data or test messages.  Phone calls outside of North America only cost 25 cents/minute.  They also have an option to get LTE (just about anywhere outside of North America for $5/day or $50 per month.

 

Hank

[slidergirl]

Before I had my smartphone, I traveled with my iPad mini.  I'd pop into a TIM store in Rome and get a SIM for it.  Easy.  Worked great for what I needed around Italy.  Not that expensive, either.

[okiedrifters]

7 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We simply have T-Mobile (our regular cell phone carrier) that works just about everywhere (over 200 countries).   The big advantage is that folks can easily reach us with our regular US phone number. Unlike most other cell carriers, T-Mobile does not charge extra for 2G data or test messages.  Phone calls outside of North America only cost 25 cents/minute.  They also have an option to get LTE (just about anywhere outside of North America for $5/day or $50 per month.

 

Hank

Thanks

[Carnevale]

We got back from a trip to Italy two days ago.  While we were there we had a local SIM.  We couldn't find an e-SIM that would give us voice and data that we could order in advance of our trip so, on day one we found a Vodafone store and easily got one there.  To our surprise, it doesn't include SMS texts but it had a lot of data and international calling.  It worked very well in Italy but while we were told it was good in other nations, it didn't work in Switzerland - I'm not sure why.  But even without working in Switzerland it was a good deal.  We've used Vodafone many times in Italy and have found them to be a little less expensive than TIM.

 

[okiedrifters]

13 minutes ago, Carnevale said:

We got back from a trip to Italy two days ago.  While we were there we had a local SIM.  We couldn't find an e-SIM that would give us voice and data that we could order in advance of our trip so, on day one we found a Vodafone store and easily got one there.  To our surprise, it doesn't include SMS texts but it had a lot of data and international calling.  It worked very well in Italy but while we were told it was good in other nations, it didn't work in Switzerland - I'm not sure why.  But even without working in Switzerland it was a good deal.  We've used Vodafone many times in Italy and have found them to be a little less expensive than TIM.

 

Thank you! Did you by chance use it as a hotspot for an iPad or other phones? 

[Carnevale]

5 hours ago, okiedrifters said:

Thank you! Did you by chance use it as a hotspot for an iPad or other phones? 

Yes and it worked well.  I had the SIM in iPhone and used my iPad from it when I didn’t have wifi for my iPad. 

[CPT Trips]

We just used our regular T-Mobile service (unlimited text and data) paired with WhatsApp for voice during three weeks in France and Italy. Our tour manager recommended WhatsApp - “everybody in tourism in Italy has it.” I was unable to prove him wrong as I was able to connect with the folks I needed to without incurring any additional charges. 

[okiedrifters]

9 hours ago, Carnevale said:

Yes and it worked well.  I had the SIM in iPhone and used my iPad from it when I didn’t have wifi for my iPad. 

Thank you, that is what I was hoping to hear! 

[okiedrifters]

9 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

We just used our regular T-Mobile service (unlimited text and data) paired with WhatsApp for voice during three weeks in France and Italy. Our tour manager recommended WhatsApp - “everybody in tourism in Italy has it.” I was unable to prove him wrong as I was able to connect with the folks I needed to without incurring any additional charges. 

Thank you! 

[MochaChip23]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:45 AM, okiedrifters said:

Thank you! 

This is helpful to me as well since we have TMobile.  Thank you!

[MochaChip23]

On 5/25/2022 at 9:45 AM, okiedrifters said:

Thank you! 

 

On 5/25/2022 at 12:13 AM, CPT Trips said:

We just used our regular T-Mobile service (unlimited text and data) paired with WhatsApp for voice during three weeks in France and Italy. Our tour manager recommended WhatsApp - “everybody in tourism in Italy has it.” I was unable to prove him wrong as I was able to connect with the folks I needed to without incurring any additional charges. 

This is helpful since we have T-Mobile.  Thank you for posting!

[Hlitner]

35 minutes ago, MochaChip23 said:

This is helpful to me as well since we have TMobile.  Thank you!

We love T-Mobile and we like to say "it just works" just about everywhere in the world (including Italy).  But the system is programmed to slow you down to a 2G data connection.  You can go into your T-Mobile account and pay an extra $5 a day, or $50 a month to boost that to LTE.  The speed upgrade happens immediately.  We were recently driving around eastern Europe and I did upgrade for a month so my phone would have a faster connection (I used it for my GPS device while driving).  In our case the upgrade was a good investment.  However, you might just try it with the normal 2G (no extra cost) and see if it is good enough.  If not you just open the T-Mobile app and buy the faster speed.    Phone and Text work normally at 2G and you are probably aware you will be charged 25 cents/min for phone calls.  No extra charge for texts.

 

Hank

[CPT Trips]

@MochaChip23 We did use gps for walking directions, texts through TMobile to the states, voice and messaging on WhatsApp, as well as limited web surfing for tourist information. All worked quite satisfactorily, I didn’t pay any extra and assume I was operating at 2G. 
Using WhatsApp for voice locally as well as for calls back to the states was seamless and free. 

[Brian V]

On 5/24/2022 at 10:13 PM, CPT Trips said:

We just used our regular T-Mobile service (unlimited text and data) paired with WhatsApp for voice during three weeks in France and Italy. Our tour manager recommended WhatsApp - “everybody in tourism in Italy has it.” I was unable to prove him wrong as I was able to connect with the folks I needed to without incurring any additional charges. 

 

Shame our Canadian providers can't (wont?) do the same - we get dinged $15.00 CDN PER DAY, believe it caps at $150.00 per month🤯

 

With that in mind, my first stop on arrival is a Vodafone store, their tourist plan is the bomb 🙂 and it does work throughout the EU - just remember that Switzerland (and now the UK) are NOT in the EU.

I recall paying 5 Euro / day for roaming in Switzerland on our last trip. No idea if the same applies to the UK now or not.

 

And yes, you will want to download and use WhatsApp, almost no one in Europe seems to use SMS.

Many of the places you will stay use WhatsApp to confirm arrival times, etc.

[MochaChip23]

10 hours ago, Brian V said:

 

Shame our Canadian providers can't (wont?) do the same - we get dinged $15.00 CDN PER DAY, believe it caps at $150.00 per month🤯

 

With that in mind, my first stop on arrival is a Vodafone store, their tourist plan is the bomb 🙂 and it does work throughout the EU - just remember that Switzerland (and now the UK) are NOT in the EU.

I recall paying 5 Euro / day for roaming in Switzerland on our last trip. No idea if the same applies to the UK now or not.

 

And yes, you will want to download and use WhatsApp, almost no one in Europe seems to use SMS.

Many of the places you will stay use WhatsApp to confirm arrival times, etc.

I just downloaded WhatsApp and have used it to secure two activities so far for our trip.  It sounds like this will be very useful on our cruise!

[slidergirl]

On 6/14/2022 at 7:25 AM, Hlitner said:

We love T-Mobile and we like to say "it just works" just about everywhere in the world (including Italy).  But the system is programmed to slow you down to a 2G data connection.  You can go into your T-Mobile account and pay an extra $5 a day, or $50 a month to boost that to LTE.  The speed upgrade happens immediately.  We were recently driving around eastern Europe and I did upgrade for a month so my phone would have a faster connection (I used it for my GPS device while driving).  In our case the upgrade was a good investment.  However, you might just try it with the normal 2G (no extra cost) and see if it is good enough.  If not you just open the T-Mobile app and buy the faster speed.    Phone and Text work normally at 2G and you are probably aware you will be charged 25 cents/min for phone calls.  No extra charge for texts.

 

Hank

hank - have you used the hotspot tether feature on you T-Mo phone in Europe??  if I can tether my ipod to my iPhone, i won't have to deal with buying a SIM for it (what I've always done since I bought it with cellular but stopped paying for that on ATT).  Leaving Wednesday and I might want to buy the boots plan if i can tether.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

hank - have you used the hotspot tether feature on you T-Mo phone in Europe??  if I can tether my ipod to my iPhone, i won't have to deal with buying a SIM for it (what I've always done since I bought it with cellular but stopped paying for that on ATT).  Leaving Wednesday and I might want to buy the boots plan if i can tether.

Yes, we have used our phone as a Hotspot.  But for some reason (I know not why) it does not always work.  Give it a try and if it works that is good...if not than you would need another option.  You mention tethering an "iPod"  and I have not honestly used one of those in several years and have no idea if they will tether.  When we have used the hotspots it has been to tether our iPad which does not have its own cell capability.

 

Hank

[slidergirl]

13 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Yes, we have used our phone as a Hotspot.  But for some reason (I know not why) it does not always work.  Give it a try and if it works that is good...if not than you would need another option.  You mention tethering an "iPod"  and I have not honestly used one of those in several years and have no idea if they will tether.  When we have used the hotspots it has been to tether our iPad which does not have its own cell capability.

 

Hank

typo.  i meant 'iPad"...  Thanks for the reply.  My iPhone is a little too small to do some things, so i like my iPad for that.

Edited July 1, 2022 by slidergirl

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

typo.  i meant 'iPad"...  Thanks for the reply.  My iPhone is a little too small to do some things, so i like my iPad for that.

LOL that does make more sense.  We also like our Ipad because of the bigger screen.  In the past few years just about everywhere we go has decent WiFi so we only use the Hotspot option when WiFi is not working or too darn slow.

 

Hank

[slidergirl]

Just now, Hlitner said:

LOL that does make more sense.  We also like our Ipad because of the bigger screen.  In the past few years just about everywhere we go has decent WiFi so we only use the Hotspot option when WiFi is not working or too darn slow.

 

Hank

I also have a portable bluetooth keyboard to make it easier to type!!