Roaming in Europe: what O2, EE, Vodafone and Three charge

O2, Tesco Mobile, iD Mobile, giffgaff, SMARTY and Lyca Mobile include roaming in Europe on all current plans, within a fair use limit such as 5GB per plan at giffgaff or 25GB a month at O2. EE, Vodafone and Three include it only on some plans; on the others a daily charge starts by itself: £2.72 at EE, £2.75 at Vodafone, and £2.75 or £2 at Three depending on when you joined. Sky Mobile charges £2 per 24 hours on every plan, except for Sky VIP Diamond customers (as of 26 October 2026).

Is roaming in Europe still free from the UK?

Not by law. Since 1 January 2021, UK networks no longer have to follow the EU's roam-like-at-home rules (GOV.UK, December 2020), so each network sets its own prices and zone. Some still include Europe at no extra cost, others charge by the day.

Networks where Europe costs nothing extra

Here you use your UK allowance in Europe with no pass or daily charge, up to the limit shown (as of 26 October 2026):

• O2: every pay monthly phone SIM includes 48 Europe Zone destinations, up to 25GB a month (10GB on the Essential Plan); past that you need a Bolt On. Tablet SIMs only work in the UK (O2 EU roaming).
• O2 Pay As You Go: "Our Pay As You Go SIMs include EU Roaming", up to 25GB. Once your data runs out, Web Daily starts automatically if you have credit: £3 per MB until you've spent £2 that day, then free up to 100MB that day (O2 roaming help, Web Daily terms).
• Three Pay As You Go: "you can use either your credit or a portion of your Data Pack or Add-on each month, at no extra cost". Packs give 6GB (40GB pack) to 30GB (Unlimited) abroad; credit data costs 10p per MB (Three Pay As You Go price guide).
• Tesco Mobile: Home From Home covers 48 destinations for every customer, pay monthly and pay as you go, and you can use your whole UK allowance there; Tesco publishes no GB limit. Past your allowance you pay UK rates, with no cap unless, on pay monthly, you set a safety buffer (it can be £0). A 0.35p per MB surcharge can apply if you use it for more than two months in a rolling four-month period. Home From Home was due to stop in 2026; Tesco has extended it with no end date (Tesco Mobile, safety buffer).
• iD Mobile: 50 destinations on every plan, up to 30GB a month, then 10p per MB (iD Mobile roaming FAQ).
• giffgaff: up to 5GB of data per plan (not per trip) in the EU zone, then 10p per MB, for up to 63 days if you live in the UK and mostly use your phone there (giffgaff EU roaming).
• SMARTY: every plan includes the EU up to 12GB a month, for up to 60 days in a row. On plans over 12GB, an EU data pass lets you use more: £3 for 1 day or £7 for 3 days (SMARTY Price Guide).
• Lyca Mobile: every current pay monthly and pay as you go plan includes the EU, from 2.5GB on the smallest pay monthly plans to 35GB on Unlimited Plus, then 15p per MB (Lyca Mobile EU roaming).

Lebara says its Roam Like Home lets you use your UK allowance in the EU and India at no extra cost (Lebara community); check lebara.co.uk for your plan's limit.

Daily charges that start by themselves

Without an inclusive plan, four networks charge per day to unlock your UK allowance (as of 26 October 2026). One text sent from a sunbed is enough.

• EE: £2.72 a day. It "will automatically activate when you use your minutes, texts or data abroad" and lasts until 11.59pm UK time. A 7-day pass costs £16.50 and a 15-day pass £30. Included on Essentials Plus, Essentials Plus Max, All Rounder, All Rounder for iPhone, Full Works, Full Works for iPhone and Full Works Plus, up to 50GB (EE price guide).
• Vodafone: £2.75 a day when you make calls, send texts or use data in Zone B. An 8-day pass costs £16 and a 15-day pass £21. Included on the Plus and Premier plans, up to 25GB. Zone A (Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, Iceland, Norway) is free on every plan (Vodafone global roaming).
• Three: £2.75 a day if you joined or upgraded on or after 18 December 2025, charged since 1 April 2026; £2 if you joined between 1 October 2021 and 17 December 2025, or on a 24-month SIM Only Lite plan. If you joined before October 2021, your charges are in Three's older price guides. The charge applies "when you use any of your UK allowances" and lasts 24 hours. Go Roam in Europe passes cost £5 for 3 days, £12 for 7 days and £24 for 14 days. Included on Three Your Way Value and Complete plans joined or upgraded from 22 June 2025, up to 12GB (Three price guide, Three roaming).
• Sky Mobile: Roaming Passport Plus, £2 per 24 hours across the EU/EEA and Switzerland, starts "when you make a call, send a text or use more than 10MB of data a day". Receiving calls or texts doesn't start it. Fair use is 25GB a billing period. Sky VIP Diamond customers get Free Global Roaming instead (Sky VIP Diamond, Sky Mobile tariff guide).

Three caps data roaming at £45 excluding VAT (£54 including VAT) unless you ask to remove it; Sky caps it at £45 a month.

Networks where you buy a pass first

VOXI includes Zone A (Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Isle of Man, Norway). Elsewhere in Europe you need a European Roaming Pass: £2.60 for 1 day, £4.80 for 2, £15 for 8 or £20 for 15, with 20GB fair use per 30-day plan, according to terms dated 30 July 2025 (VOXI passes). On Vodafone Pay as you go, Zone B data needs an Extra: 3GB for 8 days costs £10.30 (Vodafone Extras). EE Pay As You Go needs an active 30-Day or Saver plan and a Roam like Home add-on you opt into on arrival: £2.50 for 24 hours or £10 for 7 days (EE Pay As You Go). All as of 26 October 2026.

Roaming in Europe: every UK network compared

All figures as of 26 October 2026.

Roaming or eSIM: what will your trip cost?

The calculator compares your network with our eSIM for Europe. For networks that include Europe on every current plan, it says your plan already covers it, "within your data allowance". For the others, it asks: "Is roaming in Europe already included in your plan?" If you're not sure, it assumes it isn't and names the plans that include it at EE, Vodafone or Three. Three appears twice, by the date you joined or upgraded. It then takes the cheapest daily charge or passes for your trip, noting when a pass uses your UK allowance, which costs extra once it runs out. Where a pass has fixed data and can be bought again, as with Vodafone's Extras, it counts as many as you need. It doesn't check fair use limits. A line starting "Outside giffgaff's Europe zone" lists the countries left out of that network's Europe zone, such as Switzerland; the next section has the prices there.

Countries that aren't in every Europe zone

Switzerland

EE, Vodafone, O2, Three, Tesco Mobile and Sky Mobile treat Switzerland like the EU, and VOXI covers it with its pass. giffgaff, iD Mobile, SMARTY and Lyca Mobile don't. giffgaff charges 20p per MB or sells Swiss add-ons: £8 for 1GB, £16 for 5GB, £24 for 10GB (giffgaff). SMARTY charges 2p per MB (SMARTY Price Guide), and iD Mobile puts Switzerland in Roam Beyond, its add-on zone (iD Mobile destinations). Lyca Mobile Pay As You Go's EU Roaming Passes do cover it (as of 26 October 2026). See our eSIM guide for Switzerland.

Monaco and Andorra

Monaco is in the Europe zone of EE, Vodafone, O2, Tesco Mobile and iD Mobile, and VOXI covers it with a pass. Three doesn't count it as Go Roam (Three destinations); Sky Mobile charges 36p per MB and SMARTY 10p; giffgaff and Lyca Mobile leave it out of their EU zone. Andorra is in none of the Europe zones we checked. EE says "Turkey ... and Andorra are outside the EU/EEA and not included in our European Roaming Zone" (EE plan terms). VOXI charges £1.20 per MB there and SMARTY £5, and Tesco Mobile lists no data, calls or texts in Andorra (Tesco Mobile roaming). Sky Mobile's £2 Roaming Passport Plus also covers Andorra, as a separate pass, Lyca Mobile's EU Roaming Passes cover it too, and Three Your Way Complete includes it (as of 26 October 2026).

Turkey and Northern Cyprus

Turkey is outside every Europe zone we checked, and EE warns that in Northern Cyprus "you may connect to a Turkish network" (EE plan terms). EE Full Works, Vodafone Premier, O2's Ultimate Plan and Three Your Way Complete include Turkey anyway. Sky Mobile covers it with a separate £2 Roaming Passport Plus per 24 hours, and Lyca Mobile's AloTurka S, M and L pay as you go plans (new customers only) include 5GB, 10GB or 15GB in the EU and Turkey (as of 26 October 2026). Other prices are in our guide to roaming in Turkey.

Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the Balkans

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are in the Europe zone of EE, O2, Three, Vodafone, Tesco Mobile, iD Mobile and VOXI, so the same daily charge or pass applies there (on Vodafone and VOXI, the Isle of Man is in Zone A, free on every plan). Sky Mobile treats them like the UK. SMARTY charges 2p per MB there; giffgaff and Lyca Mobile leave them out of their EU zone. O2 adds that "Albania, Greenland, Montenegro and Turkey are not part of our Europe Zone", nor are Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia or Serbia (O2 help). iD Mobile does include North Macedonia (as of 26 October 2026).

When an eSIM for Europe makes sense

An eSIM pays off when your network charges every day, when your limit is small (5GB at giffgaff), or when it leaves out your destination, like Switzerland on SMARTY. You install it at home before you leave, and it activates when you arrive. Your Simsima eSIM is for mobile data only, so your UK number stays on your usual SIM. You can get a refund within 14 days if it hasn't been activated, and every purchase earns 4% cashback in SimCoins.

You don't need it if your plan's Europe limit covers your trip, if a pass fits (Three's 7 days for £12, say), or if you need a local phone number.

Which countries does a Europe eSIM cover? — coverage and gaps of a Europe eSIM, country by country

Roaming in France: what each UK network charges — the same networks, for France only

Roaming in Turkey: what UK networks charge — Turkey is outside every Europe zone