Best eSIM for Italy: TIM, Vodafone, WindTre or Iliad, Italy vs Europe plans and prices compared

Which Italy eSIM fits your trip?

Most trips to Italy combine a few cities with the coast, the lakes or the mountains, and many continue to other European countries. The choice depends on your route and how you use your phone:

• A week in Rome, Florence or Venice: 5 to 10 GB covers maps, train apps, messaging, social media and photo uploads for typical use. A plan with 1 GB a day at full speed works too.
• Two weeks with the Amalfi Coast, Tuscany or the Dolomites: 10 to 20 GB, and a plan that lists two or more networks, because coverage outside the cities differs more between them.
• Italy plus Switzerland, France or other countries: a Europe plan usually beats separate country plans (see below).
• You live in the EU: check your home tariff first. Under the EU roaming rules you can use your normal allowance in Italy; a travel eSIM is worth it if that allowance is small.

How much data typical activities use is explained in our guide to how much data you need for travel.

TIM, Vodafone, WindTre or Iliad: which network is best in Italy?

Italy has four mobile networks. Travel eSIMs connect to one or more of them, and providers write the names in different ways:

In the cities and along the main motorways and railway lines, all four networks generally give you fast 4G. Differences appear in the mountains, in remote valleys and in the interior of the islands. Most Italy country plans in our database list two or more networks, so the phone can switch when one is weak; that is a good reason to prefer such a plan over a single-network one.

5G: all four operators run 5G, mainly in cities and larger towns. Many travel eSIMs for Italy are labelled 5G, which means they can use it where the provider's roaming agreement allows it. On 4G you can still do everything a traveller usually needs.

Coverage from the Dolomites to Sicily: where the signal gets thin

Coverage in Italy is good overall, but several places that are popular with travellers have gaps:

• Dolomites and the Alps: towns and ski areas are covered, but side valleys and high hiking trails have stretches without signal.
• Cinque Terre: the villages have coverage, but the train between them runs largely through tunnels, where the signal often drops.
• Amalfi Coast: the towns are covered; on the coast road and the cliff paths the signal can come and go.
• High-speed trains: on lines with long tunnels, such as between Florence and Bologna, expect short breaks in the connection.
• Sicily, Sardinia and the south: cities and coasts are covered; the mountainous interior and some rural roads are patchier.
• Ferries to the islands: coverage near the ports, little or none in the middle of longer crossings.

Before hikes and drives in the mountains, download offline maps in Google Maps or another map app, and save train tickets and booking confirmations on your phone. A plan with two or more networks reduces dead spots, but no plan covers every valley.

Italy plan or Europe plan?

More than half of the plans in our database that cover Italy are Europe plans, and they are often the better buy:

• More than one country: if your trip includes France, Austria, Switzerland or a flight connection elsewhere in Europe, one Europe plan saves you from buying and installing several eSIMs.
• Switzerland: it is not in the EU, but about four in five Europe plans in our database that include Italy also include Switzerland, which matters for trips to Lake Como, Lake Maggiore or the Alps.
• San Marino: it has its own network and is listed in fewer than half of those Europe plans. If you plan a day trip there, check the country list.
• Price: for larger data amounts, the cheapest price per GB is sometimes found in a Europe plan rather than in an Italy plan; for a short stay in Italy alone, a country plan is usually cheaper.

Europe plans are compared on our Europe eSIM page and in our guide to the best eSIM for Europe; the differences between regional and global plans are explained in regional vs global eSIM.

Italy eSIM prices: the cheapest plan for every data amount

Each row shows the cheapest plan we track for that amount of data with at least a week of validity. A few points help you compare:

• Compare the price per GB, not just the price of the package; a larger package often costs only a little more.
• Check the validity: some packages run for 10, 15 or 20 days. Match the validity to your trip, because two small packages usually cost more than one larger plan.
• Check the networks: prefer plans that list two or more Italian networks, especially if you leave the cities.
• Regional plans can appear in the table when they are the cheapest option for Italy. They also work in the other countries they list.

Some providers offer discount codes for a first purchase; current ones are on our promo codes page.

Unlimited data in Italy: what happens after the daily allowance

Unlimited plans for Italy almost always have a daily allowance at full speed, after which the speed drops until the next day. In our database the most common rules are 1 GB or 2 GB a day followed by 384 kbps, and 2 GB a day followed by 2 Mbps; a notable group drops to 128 kbps after 1 to 3 GB.

At 2 Mbps after the allowance, maps, messaging and social media keep working well. At 384 kbps, maps and messages still work but pages and photos load slowly, and at 128 kbps only text messages are practical. If you use a lot of data on some days, check the speed after the allowance before you buy. The right-hand column of the table only counts plans with at least 2 GB a day at full speed.

Hotspot: most Italy plans in our database allow you to share the connection; a few exclude it, and for some the provider does not say. Our Italy comparison page shows what each provider states. More on fair-use rules is in our guide to unlimited eSIM plans, and on sharing data in our eSIM hotspot guide.

Travel eSIM or local SIM card in Italy?

Italian operators sell prepaid SIM cards and tourist bundles in their shops and at some airports. Both options get you online; the differences are in the setup and in what you get besides data:

For most visitors the home number matters more than a local one, because bank codes arrive by SMS on the home SIM. How to run both lines side by side is explained in our dual SIM guide, and the comparison with roaming in eSIM vs roaming vs local SIM.

Set up before you travel to Italy

1. Check that your phone supports eSIM and is not locked to your home carrier; our compatibility guide shows how.
2. Install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi a day or two before departure. Our guide on when to activate an eSIM explains when the validity starts.
3. Install the apps you will need before you leave: the train apps you plan to use, your map app with offline areas for the mountains or islands, and your messaging apps.
4. After arrival, switch the travel line on, choose it for mobile data and turn on data roaming for that line. Keep your home SIM for calls and SMS, with its data roaming off unless your tariff includes Italy.
5. If nothing connects, our troubleshooting guide lists the usual fixes in order.

Step-by-step installation instructions are in our guides for iPhone and Android.