Türkçe

Turkish SIM abroad: roaming pack or eSIM?

If you travel from Türkiye, you can buy your operator's roaming pack or a travel eSIM for your destination. Short answer: for data only, an eSIM is usually much cheaper; if you need to make lots of calls on your own number, a roaming pack is simpler.

Turkish operators' roaming packs

Examples of common packs as of October 2026 (VAT included). Most also include minutes and SMS. Prices change often, so check your operator's site before buying.

  • Turkcell Avrupa Gezgin: 1 GB for 1 week, 300 TL; 3 GB for 2 weeks, 600 TL; 10 GB for 2 weeks, 1,200 TL (36 countries).
  • Turkcell Global: 1 GB for 1 week, 600 TL; 3 GB for 2 weeks, 1,200 TL (174 countries).
  • Vodafone Yurt Dışı: 1 GB 299 TL, 3 GB 699 TL, 5 GB 999 TL, each for 30 days (200 countries).
  • Türk Telekom Konforlu Yurt Dışı 1 GB: 1 week, 550 TL (172 countries); Avrupa Avantaj 10 GB: 2 weeks, 1,100 TL (33 countries).

What if you don't buy a pack?

Using mobile data abroad without a pack gets expensive fast. For example, Turkcell's 'Tarifen Yurt Dışında Geçerli' service costs 500 TL a day, Vodafone's 'Her Şey Dahil Pasaport' 599 TL a day, and Türk Telekom's 'Tarifen Yurt Dışında' 349–399 TL a day depending on the zone. These can start automatically on first use if they're active on your line.

Before you travel, ask your operator which roaming service is active on your line. If you use a pack or an eSIM, turn off data roaming on your Turkish SIM.

Compared with an eSIM

Travel eSIMs are data only, but their price per GB is usually far lower and they last longer. For example, in October 2026 Ubigi's 3 GB / 30-day plan for Greece was US$6 on our site, and a 3 GB / 30-day plan covering 38 European countries was US$7. Turkcell's 3 GB / 2-week pack for Europe is 600 TL.

With an eSIM, your Turkish SIM stays on in the phone, so calls and bank SMS codes still reach you (incoming calls abroad may be charged). Your phone needs to support eSIM and must not be locked to an operator.

Which should you choose?

  • Data only, a trip longer than a week or heavy data use: a travel eSIM.
  • Lots of calls on your own number, a short business trip or a phone without eSIM: your operator's roaming pack.
  • You can combine them: an eSIM for data and a small minutes pack on your Turkish SIM for calls.

Buying an eSIM from Türkiye

Türkiye's regulator BTK blocks access to many international eSIM providers' sites from inside the country. On our country pages, visitors from Türkiye only see plans from providers they can buy from Türkiye. Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi before you leave, and switch it on when you land.