Planning a holiday in Turkey and want to surf the web with your smartphone like at home? If your smartphone supports eSIM, you can stock up on a suitable eSIM plan before you travel and simply continue surfing as normal after landing. For Turkey, the plans are also really affordable. Already, for less than €10, you can get several GB of data for one week.
What is an eSIM and is my smartphone compatible?
An eSIM is a digital SIM card that can be loaded directly onto a compatible device without the need for a physical SIM card. This type of SIM card is particularly convenient for travellers because it is easy and quick to buy and activate online without having to worry about a physical SIM card.
You will find numerous providers of eSIM plans on the Internet. With most of them, you buy a one-off prepaid plan for a certain number of days and data volume. After expiry, there are no further costs and you do not need a subscription.
Unfortunately, not all smartphones support an eSIM. You have good odds with an iPhone 11 / 12 / 13, but also with an Android smartphone, e.g. Google Pixel 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 or Samsung Galaxy S20, S21, or Note 20. You can find a list of smartphones that support eSIM here: Which devices support an eSIM?
If your Android smartphone does not support eSIM profiles, eSIM.me is a physical SIM card that you can use with eSIM profiles.
Most eSIM providers only offer data volume and no free minutes. Since these are also prepaid plans, outgoing calls are generally not supported. With some smartphones, e.g. iPhones, you can still be reached via your normal SIM card and make calls.
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Plans for Turkey Compared
It is much cheaper to get an eSIM with a suitable fare in advance, tailored to the duration of the trip and the required data volume. In our plan comparison, you can quickly and easily find the cheapest plan for you:
Provider Comparison
Here is a comparison of the plans for selected combinations of data volume and duration:
Cheapest Providers
Anyone who can get by with just 1 GB of data volume will find an eSIM plan with 1 GB of data volume for 30 days at RedreaGO for US$2.90 (~€2.70). 3 or 5 GB are significantly more expensive there than with other providers. Airalo has 3 GB for 30 days for US$8 (~€7) and the other options are good value too.
Without an Expiration Date
At BNESIM you can buy data for the whole of Europe including Turkey, which does not expire. It is also very affordable at €3.70 for 1 GB, €10.77 for 3 GB and €17.39 for 5 GB.
Unlimited Data
Holafly and Airhub offer plans with unlimited data volume for Turkey. There are only small differences in price.
For all of Europe
There are several providers with plans for all of Europe, where Turkey is also covered. These are priced (e.g. at RedteaGO) hardly more expensive than the plans for only Turkey. With BNESIM, the data volume never expires.
The Best Network in Turkey
There are basically three mobile phone providers in Turkey: Turkcell, Turk Telekom and Vodafone. Turkcell offers the best network, especially in rural areas and small towns. In the big cities like Istanbul and in holiday regions like Antalya, Alanya, Side and Bodrum you will not have any major restrictions with all three providers.