Having quick and dependable cell knowledge in your cellphone whereas touring round Greece (particularly whereas island hopping) is a should as of late as a result of a lot of Greek life requires cell knowledge—you’ll want a cellphone to entry cell prepare tickets, Google Maps, restaurant menus, museum/occasion tickets, UBER/taxi, and rather more.
On this information, I’ll cowl every little thing it’s worthwhile to find out about shopping for a SIM Card in Greece and easy methods to purchase one of the best high-speed cell knowledge plan that gained’t value you some huge cash.
How To Purchase An SIM Card With A Excessive-Velocity Knowledge For Greece
You’ve two foremost choices for getting a SIM Card for Greece:
- The Straightforward Manner – Purchase a SIM Card Earlier than Your Journey: Shopping for a SIM card earlier than you journey is a bit more costly however it’s far more handy (and you’ve got cell knowledge as quickly as you arrive in Italy).
- The Cheaper Manner – Purchase a SIM Card In Greece: Shopping for a SIM Card after arriving in Greece may be cheaper however it’s extra of a problem as a result of it’s important to observe down a SIM retailer after arrival.
- Normally, it’s simpler to pre-buy a pay as you go knowledge plan when you’re visiting for lower than two weeks. However shopping for an area SIM card will probably be less expensive for longer journeys.
UPDATE: Most new telephones are eSIM suitable—which is MUCH extra handy than bodily SIM playing cards as a result of it doesn’t require you to put in a brand new bodily SIM card. You merely purchase the pay as you go knowledge plan, scan a QR code that’s despatched to your e mail to put in the digital “card”, and also you’re able to go. Learn The Savvy Backpacker’s Information To The Greatest eSIM Knowledge Plans for Europe to study extra.
How To Purchase A Pay as you go Greek SIM Card Earlier than You Journey (i.e. The Straightforward Manner)
The best option to get cell knowledge to your cellphone in Greece is to purchase a pay as you go European SIM card earlier than departing.
There are just a few knowledge plans aimed toward guests—they’re a bit dearer than shopping for a SIM card in Greece however there may be zero problem (no monitoring down a cell phone store, no registering your SIM card, no coping with individuals who don’t converse English, and so on).
When you get the SIM card, you merely set up it when you’re in Greece and it routinely connects to an area cell knowledge supplier.
There are a selection of various cell knowledge plans out there at SimOptions.com (I’ve used them prior to now) they usually’ll ship the SIM card to you earlier than your journey.
You’ll most likely spend an additional $15-$20 over the course of a two-week journey when you purchase forward vs ready to buy in Greece. Personally, I believe the extra value is definitely worth the comfort.
The Greatest Vacationer Pleasant Pre-Paid SIM Playing cards For Greece
Listed below are my high SIM playing cards when you’re wanting a pre-purchase your SIM earlier than arriving in Greece:
Orange Vacation Europe Pay as you go SIM Card
The Orange Vacation Europe Pay as you go SIM Card is one of the best all-around SIM card choice for Greece (and the remainder of Europe) as a result of it gives a whole lot of knowledge for worth—and it contains worldwide calling and texts. The principle disadvantage is the 14-day validity interval—which doesn’t matter in case your journey is lower than two weeks. That mentioned, you should buy an additional 10GB of credit score for a further two weeks for round $25.
This plan additionally permits knowledge tethering so you should use your cellphone as a cell hotspot. Moreover, Orange is likely one of the largest cell corporations in Europe so that they have nice protection all through most of Europe (which isn’t all the time the case with smaller European carriers).
Plan Specs:
- PRICE: $50
- DATA: 20GB
- CALLS: Unlimted in Europe and 1200 minutes worldwide
- TEXT: Unlimted in Europe and 1000 worldwide
- USED AS A MOBILE HOTSPOT?: Sure
- COVERAGE AREA: All of Europe (together with Switzerland)
- CREDIT VALID FOR: 14 Days
If you wish to save a little bit cash, try the $30 Orange Vacation Zen SIM plan that provides you 8GB of information for 14 days.
Take a look at the Orange Vacation Europe eSIM when you’d relatively have the eSIM model of the Orange Vacation Europe knowledge plan.
Orange Vacation Zen Pay as you go SIM Card
For lighter knowledge customers, I like to recommend the $30 Orange Vacation Zen SIM Card—it provides you 8GB of information for 14 days however in any other case, it’s basically the identical plan because the Orange Vacation Europe SIM.
Orange Vacation Zen SIM Card Specs:
- PRICE: $30
- DATA: 8GB
- CALLS: Unlimted in Europe and 600 minutes worldwide
- TEXT: Unlimted in Europe and 500 worldwide
- USED AS A MOBILE HOTSPOT?: Sure
- CREDIT VALID FOR: 14 Days
- COVERAGE AREA: All of Europe (together with Switzerland)
Take a look at the Orange Vacation Zen eSIM when you’d relatively have the eSIM model of the Orange Vacation Zen plan.
Three UK PAYG AIO15
Three UK is one other giant European cell provider and their PAYG AIO15 plan is an efficient worth for individuals who don’t want the 20GB provided by the Orange Vacation Europe plan. I like how the plan has a validity interval of 30 days so it’s good for longer journeys.
Plan Specs:
- PRICE: $25
- DATA: 10GB
- CALLS: Unlimted in Europe
- TEXT: Unlimted in Europe
- USED AS A MOBILE HOTSPOT?: No
- COVERAGE AREA: All of Europe (together with Switzerland)
- CREDIT VALID FOR: 30 Days
Notice: SimOptions.com has different playing cards on the market however these are my most popular offers.
The place To Purchase a Native SIM Card in Greece
Shopping for an area pay as you go SIM Card in Greece is a reasonably easy course of however figuring out the place to purchase a SIM card may be complicated since they’re offered at a number of locations—together with particular person avenue distributors, airport kiosks, and retail storefronts.
In the event you don’t need to take care of the effort, it’s best to easily purchase an Orange Vacation Europe SIM Card or an Orange Vacation eSIM or Holafly Greece eSIM earlier than you arrive in Greece—plus the service works in any European nation.
Shopping for SIM Playing cards From Main Cellular Carriers in Greece
The three main cell carriers in Greece are Wind, Cosmote, and Vodafone.
Every firm has bodily storefronts in main cities that promote pay as you go SIM playing cards. Their workers will seemingly converse some English however it’s not assured. That mentioned, they take care of telephones all day so that you shouldn’t have an excessive amount of bother.
Every provider has numerous completely different SIM card plans at a number of worth factors. Plan choices change usually so it’s laborious to actually know what’s out there till you go to in particular person.
- Wind and Wind’s finances subsidiary provider referred to as Free2Go: In keeping with their web site the most affordable plans begin round $13/GB so it’s a little bit pricy.
- Cosmote: Cosmote is Italy’s largest cell community. They’ve numerous limitless knowledge plans that final from 24 hours to a full week.
- Vodafone: Vodafone is extra inexpensive with 15GB plans that value round $20.
NOTE: Many of those SIM playing cards solely include restricted knowledge so that you’re required to “high up” as a way to get the complete quantity of information.
Shopping for SIM Playing cards At The Athens Airport
There are just a few SIM Card sellers on the baggage declare space of the Athens airport however I like to recommend skipping them as they’re very overpriced.
Third-Occasion Cellphone Retailers
There are lots of cell phone retailers all through Greece that promote a variety of cellphone plans from a number of cell carriers. Workers may be capable to provide some assist getting arrange however service most likely gained’t be pretty much as good as carrier-specific retailers.
Newsstands, Tobacco Retailers, Merchandising Machines, And so forth:
SIM playing cards are offered in a number of smaller retailers at airports, prepare stations, and randomly all through most cities. Don’t count on any customer support at these places and choices will probably be restricted.
Greece Pay as you go SIM Card Fundamentals
Right here is a few useful background data on cell knowledge plans so you may have a greater thought of how cell knowledge service works in Greece.
You’ll Want Your Passport To Purchase A SIM Card in Greece
You’re required to supply your passport while you purchase a SIM card in Greece. The store will make a duplicate of your passport.
You’ll Get European Union-Large Protection
A regulation was lately handed within the EU which banned cell carriers from charging roaming charges inside the EU—which implies a SIM card you obtain in Greece can be utilized in Frace with out paying any further charges. That is nice for vacationers as a result of you should use one plan in all places.
- Listed below are the nations/areas the place there isn’t a knowledge roaming: Andorra, Azores, Aland islands, Austria, Balearic Islands, Belgium, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Corfu, Crete, the Cyclades, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France mainland, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Eire, Iceland, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg. Madeira, Malta. Isle of Man, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rhodes, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, San Marino, Sardinia, Sicily, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Vatican
Your Cellphone Should Be Unlocked
Some cell carriers (primarily within the US, Australia, and New Zealand) “lock” their telephones so that they’ll solely work on that provider’s community—this usually applies when you have a plan that features a free cellphone with a multi-year contract. You’ll have to contact your provider and have them “unlock” your cellphone so it should settle for a third-party SIM card.
Within the US, carriers are required to unlock telephones if the shopper requests it however it’s not often unlocked by default. That mentioned, just a few carriers nonetheless make clients soar by means of hoops to unlock their telephones so don’t put this off till the final minute or you might be out of luck.
A New SIM Card Offers You A New Cellphone Quantity
Putting in a brand new SIM card provides you a brand new cellphone quantity so your outdated quantity gained’t work till you reinstall your unique SIM card (until your cellphone has two SIM slots). So, if individuals want to succeed in you, you’ll want to inform individuals your new European quantity.
Moreover, a number of web sites and apps use two-factor authentication that’s related to your cellphone quantity so that can now not be an choice with the brand new SIM put in. And when you use Uber/Lyft, you’ll have to replace your new cellphone quantity within the app while you set up your new SIM.
A advantage of getting an eSIM as an alternative of a bodily SIM is that you just preserve your unique cellphone quantity.
How A lot Cellular Knowledge Do You Want?
So long as you’re not streaming music/movies or importing a ton of photographs, you most likely gained’t use greater than 3GB-6GB of cell knowledge per week.
In the event you’re spending a whole lot of time on social media (notably Instagram and TikTok) you then may use a bit extra however when you’re simply doing regular internet searching and utilizing Google Maps you then may solely use 1-2GB per week.
Extra Suggestions On Utilizing Your Cellular Cellphone In Greece
I’ve written extensively about utilizing smartphones and knowledge plans in Europe in addition to suggestions for shopping for SIM Playing cards For Visiting Europe however under are some extra useful tips on utilizing your cellphone in Greece.
Get A Transportable Battery Charger
Touring together with your cellphone will rapidly drain your batteries so I extremely advocate a conveyable battery. I exploit Anker PowerCore 10000 as a result of it’s tiny and inexpensive however there are a number of choices.
Take Steps To Decrease Your Cellular Knowledge Utilization
Knowledge may be costly and it’s extraordinarily straightforward to unknowingly burn by means of a whole lot of knowledge as a result of many apps use knowledge within the background. Fb, e mail, Instagram, Snapchat… these all continuously use knowledge all through the day with out you figuring out it. That’s it’s vital to know easy methods to restrict your knowledge utilization.
Use Airplane Mode And Block Knowledge to Particular Apps
I’ll put my cellphone in Airplane Mode as a result of that disables all knowledge (however GPS nonetheless works in Airplane Mode). You can too go into the settings and disable knowledge entry to every particular person app. I’ll go in and switch each off aside from issues like Google Maps or others that I’ll use extra incessantly — this fashion once I flip off Airplane Mode solely these apps that can use knowledge. Then I’ll flip Airplane Mode again on once I’m carried out.
Obtain Offline Maps
Google Maps permits you to obtain total metropolis maps to allow them to be used offline. As an added bonus, GPS doesn’t use knowledge so offline Google Maps works pretty effectively (however not all performance works). Right here is an efficient YouTube video that explains every little thing.
Make Calls Over WiFi
WhatsApp is a superb app free of charge calling and textual content messages — I’ve discovered that many Europeans completely use WhatsApp to speak (together with many Airbnb hosts).
MORE SIM CARD AND MOBILE DATA PLAN RESOURCES
Listed below are just a few extra country-specific SIM Card guides I’ve written:
Extra Europe Journey Suggestions From The Savvy Backpacker
James Feess is the creator of The Savvy Backpacker and the writer of the ebook “The Savvy Backpacker’s Information To Europe On A Finances”. He is been running a blog about finances journey in Europe since 2010.
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