Best eSIM for Italy: 10 Providers Tested and 700+ Traveler Reports

eSIM Plans in Italy at a Glance

First, what these numbers mean. Each percentage is the share of travelers who used that eSIM in Italy and came away happy enough to recommend it. The rest is not a pile of dead SIMs. A report falls outside the happy group for all sorts of reasons: a fiddly install, slower speeds than expected, a support reply that never came, or data that ran out early. Read a score of 70% as a satisfaction rating, not a pass or fail test.

Second, read the counts, not just the percentage. The matrix sorts on the percentage, so a provider with a single happy buyer sits at 100% and lands on top. eSIM4Travel is in exactly that position, with one Italy report. Holafly's 91% comes from 76 reports, which is a far stronger claim.

Our order below leads with what travelers reported in Italy, then weighs our own six-category test score, then the published network list. We put that third on purpose. Airalo publishes access to all four Italian networks and still has the lowest satisfaction score in this country, so a good network list on its own proves very little.

Global YO eSIM in Italy - Best Overall for Most Trips

8.0 /10

Vefru score Excellent Score details

• Purchase process8/10
• Mobile app8/10
• eSIM installation9/10
• Customer support5/10
• Speed test8/10
• Prices10/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

Global YO offers eSIM plans with coverage in more than 200 countries. It stands out with very low prices and a modern app aimed at younger users, but customer support is weaker.

Key facts

• 200+ countries
• iPhone app 4.5
• Android app 3.8
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• Local network speed

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 3

Very low prices for data packages.

Smooth and quick eSIM installation.

Modern and stylish app.

Option to add calling for an extra fee.

Purchase only possible through the app.

Slower customer support.

App stops working when data runs out.

Global YO eSIM in our hands

Go to Global YO website View full review

Global YO is our pick for Italy. It pairs the best satisfaction record in the country with the lowest prices we track. Of 33 travelers who used it in Italy, 31 rated the experience well. We scored its prices 10 out of 10 and its installation 9 out of 10, and it holds an 8.0 overall in our testing, third-highest of every provider we have put through the full process.

Our speed test started at 74 Mbps down and later passed 150 Mbps. Data also ran slightly past the package limit, about 520 MB on a 500 MB plan, which is a small bonus. One traveler in Italy wrote that they were the only person online on day one while everyone else queued for SIM cards. Plans start well under a dollar for a short top-up, so this is also the easy answer for a two-day city break.

Three caveats. Its own FAQ lists a 1 GB per day full-speed limit, after which some partner networks slow you down, though data keeps flowing. It does not publish which Italian networks it uses. And customer support scored only 5 out of 10: the first reply came in under 10 minutes, the follow-up took over 30, and the advice was generic. You also buy inside the app, and the app stops working once your data hits zero, so top up early. Full test in our Global YO review.

Yesim eSIM in Italy - Best Record in the Big Four Cities

6.2 /10

Vefru score Good Score details

• Purchase process6/10
• Mobile app7/10
• eSIM installation8/10
• Customer support2/10
• Speed test8/10
• Prices6/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

Yesim is a Swiss eSIM provider with coverage in 135 countries. It offers fixed and unlimited data packages at good prices. It suits experienced users who do not need much support.

Key facts

• 135 countries
• iPhone app 4.6
• Android app 4.7
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• Possible slowdown

Pros and cons

Pros 3 Cons 3

Great prices per GB of data.

Offers fixed and unlimited data packages.

Fast activation and good connection speeds.

Very slow and ineffective customer support.

Purchase is more complicated, with occasional problems.

Remaining data shown in the app is not accurate.

Yesim eSIM in our hands

Go to Yesim website View full review

Yesim is the quiet performer in our Italy data. Fourteen of 15 travelers rated it well, and the city breakdown is the cleanest of any provider: every report from Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice is positive. Samples that size are small, so treat it as a strong signal rather than a guarantee, but it is the opposite pattern to Airalo, which draws almost no positive reports from those same four cities.

App store ratings back it up. Yesim holds 4.7 on Google Play from 25,400 reviews and 4.6 on the App Store from 2,100, which are better numbers than most of this list. Prices are low, with entry plans starting well under a dollar and unlimited options running from one day to 80. One tester watched a Yesim eSIM switch live between Vodafone and Wind in Italy, which is the behaviour you want when a signal thins out. Tethering is allowed on unlimited plans, and iPhone users get a free VPN.

Two real warnings. Customer support scored 2 out of 10 in our testing, so this is a provider for people who can solve their own problems. And Yesim starts the data plan the moment you buy it, not when you install or land, so buy it a day or two before you fly, not a month. Our verdict in the Yesim review is that when the price is good, it is a good buy, and in Italy the price is good.

Holafly eSIM in Italy - Best Unlimited, Slower Speeds

6.2 /10

Vefru score Good Score details

• Purchase process7/10
• Mobile app7/10
• eSIM installation9/10
• Customer support6/10
• Speed test4/10
• Prices4/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

Holafly is a leading Irish eSIM provider with truly unlimited data in more than 160 countries. However, if you only need a small amount of data, it can cost more than other options.

Key facts

• 160 countries
• iPhone app 4.8
• Android app 4.7
• Top-ups
• Hotspot 500 MB
• 4.5 GB/day cap

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 4

Truly unlimited data in 160+ countries.

Very easy eSIM installation through the app.

Works right after installation, no restart needed.

Fast and helpful customer support.

Complicated purchase with a confusing Google Pay step.

Little transparency about fair use limits.

Hotspot is not available in all countries.

Higher prices if you only need a small amount of data.

Holafly eSIM in our hands

Go to Holafly website View full review

Holafly has the biggest Italy sample of anyone: 98 Italy reviews averaging 4.44 stars, and 69 of 76 travelers rating it well. Its Italy page names Vodafone and WindTre. On the Opensignal measurements that is the strongest pairing available, because Vodafone wins on speed and reliability while WindTre wins on 5G reach. The city results follow, with positive reports in Milan 3 of 3, Venice 3 of 3, Lake Como 2 of 2 and Rome 6 of 8.

The trade-offs are real and we will not soften them. Our speed test showed roughly 30 Mbps down and 30 Mbps up where a local 5G SIM reached about 700 Mbps. Prices scored 4 out of 10, because a 30-day unlimited plan costs several times a 10 GB metered plan. Several Italy buyers only found out after arrival that hotspot is capped at 1 GB a day, so do not buy this to run a laptop.

Two points in its favour beyond coverage. Installation scored 9 out of 10 and needs no QR scan, and the Italy plan keeps a small monthly data reserve alive after the plan ends. Read our Holafly review and the Airalo vs Holafly comparison before you pay for unlimited.

GoMoWorld eSIM in Italy - Fastest Speeds We Measured

8.2 /10

Vefru score Excellent Score details

• Purchase process8/10
• Mobile app8/10
• eSIM installation8/10
• Customer support6/10
• Speed test10/10
• Prices9/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

GoMoWorld is a travel eSIM provider covering more than 200 destinations, with true 5G speeds, zero throttling and some of the best prices on the market. However, human support is not available on weekends.

Key facts

• 200+ destinations
• iPhone app 4.8
• Android app 4.6
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• No throttling

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 4

No speed throttling, true 5G speeds where available.

Excellent prices, among the best on the market.

Clean, well-organized native app with easy data top-ups.

Install eSIM in advance, activate later.

No QR code via email, app required to access eSIM.

App stops working when data runs out (no zero-rating).

Human support not available on weekends.

Payment method auto-saved after first purchase.

GoMoWorld eSIM in our hands

Go to GoMoWorld website View full review

GoMoWorld posted the best speed result we have ever recorded: 1,350 Mbps down and 106 Mbps up on 5G. More useful than the peak is what happened after it. We used more than 10 GB in a single day and the speed never dropped. Most travel eSIMs slow you down long before that, and GoMoWorld is one of very few with no daily throttle to disclose.

Italy is one of the countries where its buyers report strong performance, and our Italy sample is 7 of 8 positive. That sample is small, so treat it as a good sign rather than proof. Plans stay valid until you activate them, which suits trips booked months ahead. Tethering is allowed, so this is the pick if you work off a laptop.

Three things to plan around. It does not publish its Italian networks. There is no QR code by email, so you need the app to install. And human customer support runs weekdays only, 8:00 to 17:00, so a Saturday arrival problem waits until Monday. Our full GoMoWorld review has the test screenshots.

GigSky eSIM in Italy - The Best Safety Net

7.2 /10

Vefru score Very good Score details

• Purchase process7/10
• Mobile app6/10
• eSIM installation8/10
• Customer support9/10
• Speed test6/10
• Prices7/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

GigSky offers eSIM plans with coverage in more than 200 countries. It stands out with connectivity on cruise ships and airplanes, but the app interface is a weak point.

Key facts

• 200+ countries
• iPhone app 4.5
• Android app 3.9
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• Fair use cap

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 4

Unique coverage on cruise ships and airplanes.

Works as a virtual operator with its own network.

App stays partly usable after data runs out.

Excellent customer support with quick responses.

You need the app to buy and manage the eSIM.

Less intuitive app interface.

Slower connection speeds in some locations.

Technical details like the ICCID are harder to find.

GigSky eSIM in our hands

Go to GigSky website View full review

GigSky does one thing no other provider we tested does. Its app keeps working after your data runs out, so you can buy more without hunting for Wi-Fi. Anyone who has stood in a Rome station at midnight with a dead plan will see the value. It is a full mobile operator with 400-plus carrier agreements, about two and a half carriers per country, and it picks the local network for you rather than naming a fixed partner.

The Italy record is solid: 38 of 42 travelers rated it well, and 49 of 63 Italy reviews describe a good connection. Sicily, Sardinia, Tuscany, Veneto and the Dolomites all look good. Rome is the soft spot, where only 6 of 11 reports are positive, and several travelers described the phone dropping to "Emergency Calls Only" for an hour or two before recovering on its own.

Check your bank card before you pay. Some Visa cards include a free GigSky plan, and Italy travelers in our data confirmed a free 10 GB, 15-day plan working there. There is also a free trial plan covering 42 European countries. Against that: customer support scored 9 out of 10 but speeds only 6, some Italy plans are listed as 4G with no 5G, and unlimited plans throttle at 3.5 GB a day. See our GigSky review.

eSIM4Travel in Italy - Our Highest Score, Unproven Here

8.8 /10

Vefru score Excellent Score details

• Purchase process8/10
• eSIM installation8/10
• Customer support10/10
• Speed test8/10
• Prices10/10

Average of five categories from our own paid test. eSIM4Travel has no app, so we do not score one.

eSIM4Travel is an American eSIM provider with coverage in 170 countries. It offers very competitive prices and a reliable connection, even without an app.

Key facts

• 170 countries
• No app
• Web only
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• No throttling

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 2

Simple installation and activation.

Very competitive prices.

Excellent customer support.

Works right away, no restart needed.

No mobile app.

No unlimited data plans.

eSIM4Travel eSIM in our hands

Go to eSIM4Travel website View full review

eSIM4Travel holds our highest overall score of any provider, 8.8 out of 10. Prices scored 10 and customer support scored 10, the fastest and most human help desk we have tested. Our speed test returned 116 Mbps down and an unusual 89.5 Mbps up. It is also the only provider naming all four Italian networks on its Italy page, TIM, Vodafone, Wind and Iliad, plus DIGI.

So why is it not our Italy pick? Because almost nobody has told us how it went in Italy. Our traveler data holds two Italy reviews in total, neither of them positive, and the one detailed report describes bad signal on Iliad and Wind with the connection dropping every few minutes and manual settings needed. That review predates the current network list, so it may no longer hold. It is still the only on-the-ground evidence we have, and one negative report against Global YO's 31 positives is not a close call.

Buy it if price is your first filter and you are willing to ask support to move you to another network, which their agents told us they can do. Note there is no app at all, so you cannot buy more data without Wi-Fi, unlimited plans give 3 GB a day before dropping to about 1 Mbps, and you must activate within 90 days. Full test in our eSIM4Travel review and our customer support ranking.

Nomad eSIM in Italy - Big Bundles, Narrow Network

6.8 /10

Vefru score Good Score details

• Purchase process8/10
• Mobile app7/10
• eSIM installation8/10
• Customer support2/10
• Speed test8/10
• Prices8/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

Nomad offers eSIM plans with coverage in more than 200 countries, a quality app with a data tracking widget and a fast, stable connection. Customer support is the weakest part of the service.

Key facts

• 200+ countries
• iPhone app 4.8
• Android app 4.5
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• 2 GB/day cap

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 3

Great app with a widget for data tracking.

Fast and stable connection (144 Mbps download).

Simple purchase process with Google Pay and PayPal.

Clean interface without unnecessary offers.

Problematic AI support with no way to reach a human agent.

App stops working when data runs out (no zero-rating).

Data usage display in the app and widget lags behind.

Nomad eSIM in our hands

Go to Nomad website View full review

Nomad has the second-largest Italy sample we hold: 143 reviews and 120 coverage reports, 98 of them positive. It is cheap on larger bundles, the app is genuinely good, and there is a home screen widget for tracking data on Android. We measured 144 Mbps down and 56 Mbps up.

Its Italy leg runs on Iliad and WindTre only. No TIM, no Vodafone. On the Opensignal figures Iliad is last for 5G download speed and last for 5G coverage, and that shows in the traveler data. Only 3 of 8 Florence reports are positive, with reviewers describing hours without service and drops on trains. Southern Italy has no positive report in 3, and Sicily manages 1 of 3. Rome, Milan, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre and the Italian Alps all look fine.

Customer support is the other problem, and we scored it 2 out of 10. An AI chatbot handles first contact with no clear route to a human. Know too that a Nomad "unlimited" plan means a daily allowance, then 512 kbps, and you must install within 60 days of buying. Details in our Nomad review.

Airalo eSIM in Italy - Good on Paper, Weakest Record in Our Data

7.3 /10

Vefru score Very good Score details

• Purchase process9/10
• Mobile app8/10
• eSIM installation9/10
• Customer support7/10
• Speed test7/10
• Prices4/10

Average of six categories from our own paid test.

Airalo is a popular eSIM marketplace with coverage in 211 countries, fast activation and affordable prices. However, it is not always the best choice for unlimited data.

Key facts

• 211 countries
• iPhone app 4.6
• Android app 4.3
• Top-ups
• Hotspot
• No speed limits

Pros and cons

Pros 4 Cons 3

Wide coverage (211 countries) and easy activation.

User-friendly app and website.

Works right after installation, no restart needed.

No artificial speed limits.

Prices are much higher than some competitors.

Setup is harder for beginners.

You cannot buy extra data after the package runs out without Wi-Fi.

Airalo eSIM in our hands

Go to Airalo website View full review

Airalo is the best-known travel eSIM brand, and its Italy plan lists all four networks with WindTre as the primary. On paper that is second only to eSIM4Travel. In practice it has the lowest satisfaction score of any provider we track in Italy: 28 of 57 travelers rated it well. Of 74 Italy reviews, 38 describe a problem and 22 are one-star.

The city numbers are worse than the country average. Not one positive report from Rome in six, Florence in two, or Venice, Naples, Bologna and Monterosso in one each. Milan is 1 of 3 and Sicily 1 of 3. Some of those describe slow speeds or a bad install rather than no signal, so read them as unhappy travelers rather than dead SIMs. Even so, no other provider has this pattern in the cities most visitors see. One traveler in Sicily described colleagues connecting fine on WindTre while two Airalo phones could not register at all. Price is the second issue: we paid $4.50 for 1 GB, around three times what eSIM4Travel charges for the same thing.

Airalo does the basics well. Purchase and installation both scored 9 out of 10, data works right away with no restart, and the app is polished. But the app stops working when your data runs out. If you were set on Airalo, read our Airalo alternatives or the Airalo vs Saily comparison first, then the full Airalo review.

Other Providers Worth Knowing for Italy

Jetpac is the other quiet value pick. Italy sits at 15 of 18 positive, with 3 of 3 in Rome, 2 of 2 in Florence, and clean records in Venice, Naples, Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is cheap per GB, adds a free VPN trial and airport lounge access when a flight is delayed, and gives unlimited WhatsApp and Google Maps on plans above 3 GB. The website and app are clumsy and support scored 5 out of 10. Our Jetpac review has the rest.

Saily scores 8.5 in our tests, the best app we have used and our only 10 out of 10 for customer support. Its Italy record is too thin to rank: 5 coverage reports, 3 positive, one bad one from Umbria. Saily does not publish its Italian networks, though its own support chat has named TIM, WindTre and Iliad. Its unlimited plans are the most generous in this set, with 5 GB a day at full speed and no hotspot limit, and you get 180 days to activate. See the Saily review.

Four providers have strong Italy numbers but no hands-on Vefru review yet. Maya Mobile holds the single best satisfaction record we have for Italy: 143 of 151 reports positive across 164 reviews, averaging 4.51 stars. It names no Italian carrier publicly, although travelers describe switching between Vodafone and WindTre on it. Ubigi is close behind with 104 Italy reviews and the best Amalfi Coast record of anyone, but it runs on Iliad and WindTre only, which is why one traveler had a clean signal outdoors in Rome and Florence and nothing indoors. Simify sits at 26 of 29 but cannot do top-ups yet, so you buy a new eSIM when data runs out. Roamless is at 17 of 18 and uses a pay-as-you-go wallet, which suits multi-country trips.

Best eSIM Plans for Italy by Data Size

Prices move week to week, so these tables pull live data from our plan database rather than listing fixed numbers. Pick your data size, then compare across providers. If you are also visiting France, Switzerland or Greece on the same trip, use the multi-country search instead of buying two separate eSIMs.

A warning on the word unlimited. Every unlimited Italy plan we checked has a daily ceiling, and the number varies a lot: Saily gives 5 GB a day before slowing to about 1 Mbps, GigSky 3.5 GB, eSIM4Travel 3 GB, Jetpac 3 GB, and Nomad drops to 512 kbps after its daily allowance. Global YO applies a 1 GB daily full-speed limit even on metered plans. If you want full speed on every gigabyte you paid for, buy a metered plan and size it properly.

Best eSIM for Rome, Florence, Venice and the Rest of Italy

Country averages hide a lot. Italy is 1,200 km of latitude with the Alps and the Apennines running through it, plus two large islands, so a national coverage percentage tells you very little about a cliff road or a valley floor. The table below sorts our traveler reports by place. Each figure is positive reports out of total reports, so the right-hand column means fewer people came away happy, not that the eSIM was dead. Read the counts too, because many of these samples are small.

The weak spots line up with a pattern that holds across all four Italian networks, not just one brand: the Cinque Terre trails between villages, the SS163 Amalfi cliff road, the Blue Grotto area and boat routes, the high Dolomite routes, inland Sicily and the Sardinian interior. That is why a provider can be clean in Amalfi and drop out in Positano a few kilometres along the same coast.

Three things to act on. Yesim is the only provider whose reports are all positive across Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice, so a four-city classic tour is where it earns its place. Airalo is the mirror image, with no positive report at all from Rome in six. And if your trip mixes cities with mountains, islands or hill villages, buy a plan that lists more than one Italian network. One traveler in Tuscany described switching between Vodafone and WindTre on the same eSIM whenever the signal thinned. We wrote about why that matters in our guide to an eSIM with multiple networks.

Italian Networks and Which eSIM Uses Them

Italy has four mobile networks: Fastweb and Vodafone (now one company), TIM, WindTre and Iliad. Your travel eSIM does not build towers, it rents space on these. So the network behind your plan shapes what you get in a stone stairwell in Siena or on a train through the Apennines.

In the December 2025 Opensignal Italy report, Vodafone won 9 of 16 awards, with the fastest download (63.8 Mbps), the fastest 5G download (216.3 Mbps) and the top reliability score (914 out of 1000). TIM took consistent quality at 79.2% and publishes the widest geographic footprint, present in 7,839 of Italy's roughly 7,900 comuni. WindTre won 5G reach, with 85.6% 5G availability and users spending 28% of their time on 5G. Iliad came second on reliability but last on 5G download at 66.2 Mbps.

In plain terms: Vodafone for quality, TIM for geographic breadth off the main roads, WindTre for 5G reach, Iliad for staying connected to something. Here is what each provider publishes for Italy.

Treat this table as a tiebreaker, not a ranking. Airalo publishes the second-widest network list in the set and still has the lowest Italy satisfaction score we hold, while Global YO publishes nothing and has one of the highest. Use it to spot the narrow ones, mainly Ubigi and Nomad on Iliad and WindTre only, which is a genuine risk if your trip leaves the cities.

Two practical moves. If your phone shows full bars but nothing loads, turn off automatic network selection in your mobile settings and pick a different Italian network by hand. And if you want to check a specific address before you book, all four operators publish coverage checkers: TIM, WindTre, Vodafone and Iliad. All four publish outdoor figures only, and Iliad says so openly, so treat indoor signal as a step worse than the map suggests.

One more thing worth knowing. 3G is switched off on Vodafone and TIM, and WindTre is retiring the last of it. There is no slow fallback layer any more, so in a rail tunnel or a deep valley you go from 4G or 5G straight to nothing. Download tickets and maps before you board. For the background on connection types, see our guides to 4G vs 5G and 4G vs LTE.

eSIM or a Local Italian SIM Card?

A local tourist SIM is far cheaper per gigabyte, and any honest comparison has to say so. Prices below are as published in August 2026, so check before you buy.

• TIM Tourist: about €15 for 30 days with 200 GB, plus a €10 SIM. Around €0.13 per GB, and TIM is the only one with no tax-code rule, so a passport is enough.
• WindTre Tourist Pass: about €15 for one month with 100 GB, plus €10 for the SIM. WindTre is the only Italian network selling a tourist eSIM online before you arrive, and the longer packs stay valid for months before first use. It is reserved for foreign nationals without an Italian tax code.
• Vodafone Dolce Vita: from about €15 a month with 100 GB, but it needs a foreign Italian tax code and is sold in stores only.
• Iliad and Fastweb have no tourist product and want an Italian tax code on every plan.

Buy a travel eSIM if your trip is under roughly 10 days, you need less than about 10 GB, you would rather not queue at a counter with your passport, or you are visiting more than one country. Italian tourist packs cap EU roaming at 15 to 41 GB, so they are a poor fit for a Rome plus Paris trip.

Buy a local SIM if you are staying two weeks or more with heavy data use, you need an Italian number for Trenitalia or booking texts, or you want to share more than 1 GB a day over hotspot. Bring your passport, budget 10 to 15 minutes at the counter, and remember the SIM fee is separate from the plan price.

Two small traps. WindTre adds a €0.30 charge to every Tourist Pass on iMessage-capable phones. And the widely repeated claim that airport counters charge far more for the same packages does not hold up: no Italian operator publishes an airport-specific price. For the wider argument, see our eSIM vs SIM comparison.

How Much Data You Need in Italy

For scale: the average Italian phone line uses about 1.1 GB a day, and that is someone living there, streaming at home on mobile data. As a visitor with hotel, cafe and train Wi-Fi around you, your eSIM mainly covers maps, messages, tickets and photos while you walk.

• 2 GB: a long weekend in one city, maps and messaging only. See what 2 GB of data actually covers.
• 5 GB: one week, normal use with photos and social media. Our 5 GB guide breaks it down by app.
• 10 GB: two weeks, or one week with daily video calls. Here is what 10 GB gets you.
• 20 GB or unlimited: streaming on trains, working remotely, or sharing a hotspot with a laptop or a second phone.

Pick the validity to match the whole trip, not each stop. Foreign visitors average about three nights per place but string several together, so a 15 or 30-day plan usually beats buying two short ones. Our travel data calculator and our guide on how much data you need work it out from your own habits, and our data saving tips stretch a small plan a long way.

How to Set Up Your Italy eSIM

Do this at home on Wi-Fi, the day before you fly. Installing at Fiumicino with no connection is how people end up paying over the odds at an airport counter.

1. Check your phone takes an eSIM. Our list of phones with eSIM support covers every current model, and a few regional versions are excluded by the providers themselves.
2. Buy and install over Wi-Fi, but watch when the clock starts. Yesim begins your plan at purchase, so buy it a day or two out. eSIM4Travel gives 90 days to activate, Nomad 60, Saily 180, Jetpac a year, and GoMoWorld plans wait until you start them.
3. If you only got a long activation code, our activation code to QR guide turns it into a scannable code.
4. Rename the new line "Italy" in your phone settings so you do not mix it up with your home SIM.
5. When you land, set the Italy eSIM as your data line and turn data roaming on for it. Yes, roaming has to be on even inside Italy. This is the most common reason an eSIM looks broken.
6. Turn data roaming off on your home SIM so your normal carrier cannot bill you.
7. If nothing connects after a few minutes, restart the phone, then pick the network by hand in settings.

Device walkthroughs live in our guides for adding an eSIM on iPhone and adding an eSIM on Samsung. If it still refuses to connect, work through our eSIM troubleshooting guide, which fixes the five most common faults in a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions About eSIMs in Italy

Summary: Which eSIM to Buy for Italy

For most trips, buy Global YO. It has the best satisfaction record in Italy of any provider with a real sample, 31 of 33 travelers rating it well, at the lowest prices we track and over 150 Mbps in our test. Size the plan sensibly, because a 1 GB daily full-speed limit applies, and top up while you still have Wi-Fi.

If you are doing the classic Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan route, Yesim is the one provider whose reports are all positive in those four, and it is cheap, so long as you can live without much customer support. Choose Holafly for unlimited data with a 1 GB daily hotspot cap, GoMoWorld for raw speed and laptop work, and GigSky if you want an app that still works when your data is gone.

Whichever eSIM for Italy you pick, install it at home, turn data roaming on for the eSIM only, and match the plan to where you are going rather than to the country average. If you are staying two weeks or more and burning a lot of data, price a local tourist SIM before you commit. Compare every current Italy plan side by side in our Italy eSIM comparison, and read our complete eSIM guide if this is your first one.