Using Your Phone in Italy

When visiting Italy, how do you get your phone to work? You can survive on Wi-Fi. We did on a few trips to Italy. One of my favorite things about traveling is not being able to use your phone all the time. But it is nice to have cell data if you need directions or want to use google translate. My top suggestion is using an eSIM, but here are all your options:

  • Just pay the very expensive roaming fees
    • This is CRAZY expensive
  • Put your phone on airplane mode and only use Wi-Fi
    • Make SURE it is on airplane mode if not it will be roaming and CRAZY expensive
  • Daily international plan with your current cell provider
    • Usually about $10 a day but it depends on your provider
    • Make sure you set this up with your provider before you go on your travels
  • eSIM
    • Information on this below
  • Mobil hotspot
    • Information on this below

eSIM

Check out this Apple article on eSIMs. We used eSIMs for the first few weeks of living in Italy when we moved in June of 2022. We had to unlock our phones before starting our trip. Then when we got to the airport we bought our eSIM online using airport Wi-Fi. It was 10 euros for about 2 weeks worth of phone calls and data. There are different plans you can choose from depending on how much data you will use. If you are using google maps to get around you might go through more data than you expect. Remember to use Wi-Fi when you can to save data.

eSIM Steps

  1. Unlock your phone. Do this at home before you travel. Google your phone company to see how to unlock your phone. For us we had to call a short number and we were given a code we then used on our cell providers website. Your experience will depend on your carrier.
  2. Fly to another country
  3. Use airport Wi-Fi to buy an eSIM. Alternatively you can buy and set it up at home before leaving and then activate it upon arrival.
  4. Check your settings to make sure you are calling, texting, and using data on your eSIM and not your regular cell plan.
  5. Read this Apple article for more details

Mobile Hotspot

We used a mobile hotspot on our January trip. We bought a mobile hotspot and a SIM card with data in Italy. We were able to connect both of our phones to the mobile hotspot’s Wi-Fi network. We used the hotspot for directions when we were driving or if we stayed somewhere without Wi-Fi. It was nice to both be able to connect to it, but we had to watch how much data we were using. A mobile hotspot is a physical device you have to buy and then you buy a SIM card and that is how the mobile hotspot will get cell service. Our hotspot device was about 80 euros and our SIM was about 25 euros for 200 GB of data plus 10-20 euros of activation fees. The cost will depend on what hotspot you buy and what data plan you buy for your SIM card.

Mobile Hotspot Steps

  1. Purchase a mobile hotspot device. We bought one at a cell store when we were in Italy, but there are a lot of options.
  2. Purchase a SIM card with data plan. We also bought this at the same cell store we got the mobile hotspot.
  3. Connect your phone to the hotspot’s Wi-Fi.
  4. Keep an eye on data usage!

Notes

I hope this was somewhat helpful. I’m happy to answer any questions you have, just send me a message!

Note that we used iPhones for all of our Italy trips. I’m sure there are similar solutions for other types of phones, I just don’t have any experience with them. Everything should work for other phone types as well, except maybe the eSIM part.

Good luck and I hope you have a great trip with exactly as much connectivity as you like.