eSIM for Turkey and UK roaming: what to check before you fly
In short
Turkey: buy and install your eSIM before you travel. eSIM shops, including ours, may not open on Turkish networks. Turkey is outside the standard Europe roaming zone of all 15 UK networks we checked on 24 October 2026. Some pay monthly plans include it, each within its own fair use terms: Vodafone Global Roam, Three Complete and O2 Ultimate. On other plans your network charges for Turkey, from £2 per 24 hours on Sky to £5 a MB on Tesco (links in the table below), so check your own Turkey charge before you buy an eSIM. Our Turkey plan with 1 GB over 7 days costs £2.99, data only.
Information verified on 24 October 2026 at the official sources listed below. This is not immigration or legal advice; check GOV.UK and the official website of your destination before you travel. How we check information.
On this page
eSIM for Turkey from £2.99 — see plans At a glance
- Purchase QR code by email · after payment
- Installation profile on your phone · up to 365 days
- Activation first network on the trip · the clock starts
Get an eSIM for Turkey — from £2.99
This site is not affiliated with any of the networks mentioned here; we sell eSIMs. How we compare
There are four ways to get online in Turkey: your UK network, a travel eSIM, a local SIM or pocket Wi-Fi. The best eSIM for Turkey is one installed before you fly and sized to your trip. We name no “best” brand; the tables give the figures and the date.
You may not need an eSIM. On a Vodafone Global Roam plan, Turkey is included up to the 25GB fair use limit (checked on 24 October 2026). On Sky, Turkey costs the same £2 per 24 hours as Spain, on your own number. For a short trip, either can be simpler than a second line.
Why must you buy and install your eSIM before you fly to Turkey?
Since 10 July 2025, according to press reports, Turkey’s regulator BTK has blocked access from Turkey to the websites and apps of foreign eSIM sellers (reported by Teknoblog, 11 July 2025, in Turkish). So buy and install before you travel.
| Option | Price | What you need | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roaming on your UK network | £2.00 to £84.00 a day or pass from about £1.25 per GB | Data roaming on; on some networks a pass bought before you fly | Paid passes cost more per GB than the eSIM |
| Pocket Wi-Fi router | Not verified | Collect it, keep it charged and return it | One connection for the group, only while you stay together |
| Local SIM bought on arrival | Not verified | A free SIM slot and a shop after landing | On a one-slot phone it replaces your UK SIM |
| Travel eSIM from this site | from £2.99 by card; from £0.50 per GB | An eSIM phone that is not locked to one operator | Data only: no calls or texts on your UK number |
Roaming prices as published by the 15 UK networks, checked on 24 October 2026; price per GB is our derivation (price ÷ GB). eSIM prices are in pounds at the day’s rate: your card is charged exactly that amount. This site is not affiliated with these networks; we sell eSIMs.
That is a block of shops’ sites and apps, not of eSIM technology. The first wave, as reported, covered eight sellers, large ones among them, and later decisions added more. A profile installed on your phone at home is a different thing from a purchase made in Turkey, which is why the best eSIM for Turkey is one bought at home.
Three points are not confirmed. We found no sign on 24 October 2026 that the block has been lifted. Most reports say an eSIM installed at home keeps working, yet the same Teknoblog report says some users had trouble reaching eSIM profiles bought before travel. And any seller’s site, ours included, could be blocked in a later wave; we have not tested ours from a Turkish connection.
So do three things at home:
- Buy enough data for the whole trip. We offer no top-ups, so you cannot add data from Turkey.
- Install the eSIM on home Wi-Fi, using the steps in how to install an eSIM.
- Check that the new line shows on the phone before you leave.
Installing early costs you no days. Our plan’s validity starts on its first connection to a network in Turkey, and it runs on Türk Telekom.
eSIM for Turkey: selected plans
The entry plan, our pick and a bigger one. “Our pick” is a mid-size plan chosen by us, not a sales ranking.
Prices are in pounds; you are charged in GBP, exactly the amount shown. The seller is registered in the United States, so your bank may apply its own rules to a payment to a seller abroad — how card payment works. It appears on your statement as JET SHARING. You pay on the secure Stripe checkout page, by card, or Apple Pay or Google Pay if Stripe shows them on your device.
What it costs per day
Plan price in pounds ÷ days, at the rate of 1 Nov. A longer plan usually costs less per day: pick by your trip length, not by the lowest daily price.
What do UK networks charge in Turkey?
Turkey is in no UK network’s standard Europe zone. Unless your plan includes it, charges run from £2 per 24 hours on Sky to £5 a MB on Tesco, each with its own condition (checked on 24 October 2026, each network’s page linked under the table).
| Network | Turkey charge | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| EE | £5.50 for 24 hours or £26.50 for 7 days (Rest of World Zone 1) | pass uses your UK allowance; runs from the moment you buy it |
| Vodafone | £8 a day (Zone C, with North Cyprus) | pay monthly plans from 11 August 2021, £6 on earlier ones; Global Roam plans include Zone C up to 25GB fair use |
| Three | £8 a day, or £42 for a 7-day Around the World Extra pass | Lite and Lite+ customers who joined or upgraded on or after 18 December 2025; Complete plans include all bands; passes use your UK allowance up to 12GB |
| O2 | O2 Travel £7 per 24 hours of use (Zone 2) | Pay Monthly; Ultimate plans include Zone 2; data up to 2Mbps; the 24 hours start at your first call, text or data use |
| Sky Mobile | £2 per 24-hour Roaming Passport Plus pass (Turkey with North Cyprus) | uses your UK plan; 24 hours, not midnight to midnight |
| Lebara | add-on 4GB for 8 days £5, or 7GB for 15 days £10 (Zone 4) | bought on your Lebara account before you use data |
| Lyca Mobile | Turkey pass 1GB for 7 days £5 or 2.5GB for 14 days £10; EU Roaming Pass XS 2GB for 7 days £5 | pay as you go, bought with top-up credit; 31p a MB without a pass |
| Tesco Mobile | £5 a MB (Region 2, with North Cyprus) | pay monthly and pay as you go |
| giffgaff | 20p a MB (Zone A) | without an add-on; travel add-on from £4, price by country in the app |
| iD Mobile | Roam Beyond add-on from £5 for 2GB over 1 day, or £1.50 a MB | Turkey is Roam Beyond, not Roam Free |
| SMARTY | 10p a MB (Roaming 1) | SMARTY counts 1GB as 1024MB |
| VOXI | Global Roaming Extra £16 for 8 days with 2GB, 100 minutes, 100 texts | counts down from the date you buy it |
| Talkmobile | World Holiday Booster 500MB for 1 day £5, or 5GB for 8 days £20 (Zone B, with North Cyprus) | data only through a Booster; calls and texts charged on top |
Sources: EE price guide (checked on 24 October 2026), Vodafone roaming guide (24 October 2026), Three price guide (24 October 2026), O2 Travel (24 October 2026), Sky roaming (24 October 2026), Lebara rate finder (24 October 2026), Lyca roaming (24 October 2026), Tesco roaming (24 October 2026), giffgaff roaming (24 October 2026), iD roaming (24 October 2026), SMARTY price guide (24 October 2026), VOXI Global Roaming Extras (24 October 2026) and Talkmobile Boosters (24 October 2026). BT Mobile and Asda Mobile also charge extra for Turkey; check their own roaming pages.
Two rows mislead if read alone. A per-MB rate looks small: at Tesco’s £5 a MB, 100MB costs £500 and 1GB (1,000MB) £5,000 (our arithmetic). A daily charge or a pass, on the other hand, uses your plan: calls and texts come with it, on your own number. Our plan is data only.
Networks differ more than any eSIM does: Sky charges £2 for 24 hours in Turkey, Tesco £5 for one MB. For each network’s full rules, open its row above or see roaming. Roaming or eSIM walks through the general choice.
Which eSIM for Turkey? How we compared, checked on 24 October 2026
Sellers’ standard prices for Turkey sat between £2.99 and £3.50 for 1GB over 7 days on 24 October 2026, against £2.99 for ours. This is a dated comparison: prices move, and the table is that day’s snapshot. The best eSIM for Turkey from the UK comes down to GB, days and price.
We compared standard baskets (data only, exact GB and days) across sellers whose pages we opened from a UK connection. The table gives the range of their own standard prices per basket. We leave out promotional prices, prices shown in US dollars and converted, and sellers with two prices on one card, and we name no seller. Our disclosure of interest: we sell the plans in the right-hand column.
| Basket | Sellers’ range (data only) | Our Turkey plan |
|---|---|---|
| 1GB for 7 days | £2.99 to £3.50 (4 sellers) | £2.99 |
| 3GB for 30 days | £4.49 to £6.99 (4 sellers) | £3.99 |
| 5GB for 30 days | £6.73 to £8.00 (4 sellers) | £5.99 |
| 10GB for 30 days | £11.99 to £12.50 (3 sellers) | £7.99 |
| 20GB for 30 days | £14.95 to £17.50 (4 sellers) | £11.99 |
Price per GB in £ helps across sizes. Our 10 GB plan works out at about £0.80 a GB and our 20 GB plan at about £0.60 (our sum).
Compare four things, not only the price: GB, days, whether speed drops after a daily amount, and the network. Ours runs on Türk Telekom, data only, with no UK number. Validity starts on first connection, and there is no ID check.
Two network-owned travel eSIMs sit on the same shelf, each sold on its own site. Vodafone Travel lists Turkey at 3GB for 7 days for £9. Lebara Travel eSIM sells Turkey at 8 days for £10, with 12GB under a promotion label (checked 24 and 25 October 2026). The sizes differ from ours, so we set no ratio.
Plans sold with no GB total need their small print. Published limits include 1 Mbps after 3 to 5GB a day, 5GB a day then 5 Mbps, and a hotspot cap; some cards state no limit at all. Read the limit before you pay. Our own Turkey plans without a GB total give 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps, and the plan name says so.
Turkish SIM card or eSIM for a holiday?
A Turkish SIM bought on arrival gives you a local number and a price set in Turkey. A travel eSIM installed at home gives you data from the moment you land. We hold no prices for Turkish tourist SIMs or pocket Wi-Fi, so we give none: check the price and terms before you buy.
The practical split is timing. With an eSIM you do the work at home, on your own Wi-Fi. With a local SIM you do it at the airport, after the flight. For two weeks in Antalya with maps, messages and photos, 1 GB may not last; the 5 GB and 10 GB plans are there for that.
On a dual SIM phone, your UK line can stay on for calls and texts with data roaming off (data roaming settings). Pocket Wi-Fi shares one connection among several phones. That helps a group, but it is one more device to charge and carry.
This page covers trips. For a stay of several months, check Turkey’s rules for phones brought from abroad before you go.
Does our Turkey plan include Northern Cyprus coverage?
No. Our Turkey plan does not cover Northern Cyprus. For the north of the island, see eSIM for Cyprus.
UK networks treat the north differently. Sky counts North Cyprus with Turkey at £2 per 24 hours. Vodafone and Talkmobile list it with Turkey, and Tesco puts Turkey and North Cyprus in Region 2 at £5 a MB. SMARTY lists “Cyprus, North (Turkey)” in Roaming 1, outside its EU band. If your trip crosses the island, read your own network’s page first: the same line can cost nothing extra or £5 a MB.
What does the FCDO say about Turkey?
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) “advises against all travel to within 10km of the border with Syria due to fighting and a heightened risk of terrorism” (FCDO travel advice for Turkey, updated 19 October 2026, checked on 25 October 2026).
The same page carries a “Regional tensions” block. It says “the situation in the Middle East remains unpredictable”, and that British nationals in the region “should be prepared for possible flight cancellations, periodic airspace closures, and potential travel disruptions”. Read the full advice before you book. We do not advise on safety; that is the FCDO’s job.
How do you keep your UK number and WhatsApp in Turkey?
Keep your UK SIM or eSIM in the phone for calls and texts, and put the travel eSIM on data. WhatsApp runs over data, so it works on the travel line without the UK line roaming.
Set the travel eSIM as your data line and turn data roaming off on the UK line, so it does not roam by accident. Keep your UK number has the steps, and before you travel lists what to do at home.
Calls and texts to your UK number still reach the UK line. Data roaming off does not make them free: on EE without a pass, a call in Turkey costs £2.46 a minute and a text 98p (checked on 24 October 2026).
Check before you fly
What if the eSIM doesn’t work when you land in Turkey?
Check four settings, in this order, before you write to us.
The first is the line for mobile data. In the phone’s SIM settings, pick the travel line for mobile data; your UK line stays on for calls and texts, with its mobile data off.
The second is data roaming, for the eSIM line only. The eSIM is a foreign profile, so the phone treats Turkey as roaming for it.
The third is the APN. The plan does not set it by itself here: add globaldata on Android under the eSIM line’s mobile network settings.
The fourth is a restart. Restart the phone or switch aeroplane mode on and off, and let it find Türk Telekom; this can take a few minutes after you leave the plane.
Still no data? Write to us on WhatsApp or at support@esimworld.co.uk with your order number, or go through the no-signal checklist. Do not delete the eSIM to “try again”: a deleted profile usually cannot be installed twice from the same code. If the eSIM doesn't work and it isn't your phone's fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.
What I’d choose (and when NOT to buy the eSIM)
For a week of maps, rides and messaging I’d take 1 GB for 7 days, £2.99. For two weeks or more, with photos and social media, I’d go for 5 GB for 30 days, £5.99. If you video-call and stream every day, take the unlimited plan for 7 days, £11.99, with 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.
I would not recommend the eSIM in three cases. If your UK plan already includes Turkey and its fair use limit is enough for you, roaming costs you nothing extra and keeps your number (compare the networks). If your phone has no eSIM or is locked to one operator, it cannot take the plan: check your model first. And if your group travels together all day and shares one connection, a pocket Wi-Fi can cover everyone.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth getting an eSIM for Turkey?
Yes, if your plan charges for Turkey. Turkey is outside the standard Europe roaming zone on all 15 UK networks we checked on 24 October 2026. Some pay monthly plans include it: Vodafone Global Roam, Three Complete and O2 Ultimate. On other plans the charge runs from £2 per 24 hours on Sky to £5 a MB on Tesco. If you need an eSIM, buy and install it before you travel.
Which SIM is best for tourists in Turkey?
It depends on what you need. Your own UK SIM keeps your number, and Turkey is either included in your plan or charged by your network. A travel eSIM is data only and must be installed before you fly. A Turkish SIM gives a local number; we hold no prices for those, so we give none.
Can I buy an eSIM after arriving in Turkey?
Not reliably. Since July 2025, according to press reports, the websites and apps of foreign eSIM sellers have been blocked from Turkey. Buy and install your eSIM before you travel.
Is Turkey included in EU roaming?
No. Turkey is outside the standard Europe roaming zone on all 15 UK networks we checked on 24 October 2026. Some pay monthly plans include it anyway: Vodafone Global Roam, Three Complete and O2 Ultimate. On other plans each network sets its own Turkey charge, from a daily fee to a price per MB, so check yours before you buy an eSIM.
Sources checked: FCDO: Turkey travel advice · Teknoblog, 11 July 2025: BTK blocks unauthorised eSIM services (in Turkish) · EE price guide, 31 March 2026 (PDF) · Vodafone: roaming guide · Vodafone: global roaming · Three: price guide (PDF) · O2: O2 Travel · Sky Mobile: roaming · Lebara: roaming rate finder · Lyca Mobile: roaming · Tesco Mobile: roaming · giffgaff: roaming · iD Mobile: roaming · SMARTY: price guide (PDF) · VOXI: Global Roaming Extras · Talkmobile: Booster details.
Sources are linked in the text; reviewed by Nadezhda Semenova. For individualised advice, consult a licensed professional.
Unfamiliar term? See the eSIM glossary.
Get an eSIM for Turkey, from £2.99 Pay by card in pounds. The seller is registered in the United States, so your bank may apply its own rules to a payment to a seller abroad. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by email after payment. See plans