Roaming in Turkey: giffgaff, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone

Turkey isn't in the Europe zone of any UK network we checked, so it costs extra unless your plan names it. EE sells a 24-hour Roaming Pass for £6, Vodafone charges £8 a day automatically, as does Three on plans from 18 December 2025, and O2 sells data Bolt Ons from £9 for 1GB (as of 26 October 2026). Your giffgaff plan doesn't work in Turkey: you pay 20p per MB from your credit or buy a Türkiye travel data add-on.

Is Turkey included in UK roaming?

Usually not: Turkey isn't in the EU or in the Europe zone of any UK network we checked. EE says Turkey is "outside the EU/EEA and not included in our European Roaming Zone", and O2 lists it among the places that "are not part of our Europe Zone" (EE plan terms, O2 help).

These plans include Turkey at no extra cost (as of 26 October 2026):

• EE Full Works, Full Works for iPhone and Full Works Plus, with a fair use limit of 50GB outside the UK (EE plan terms).
• Vodafone Premier plans, Mobile and SuperMobile: up to 25GB a month (Vodafone SIM only).
• O2 Ultimate Plans, through O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate (O2).
• Three Your Way Complete, taken out or upgraded since 22 June 2025: above 12GB of data a month abroad, a surcharge of 0.3p per MB applies if you still have UK data left (Three price guide, roaming abroad).
• Lyca Mobile Pay As You Go AloTurka S, M and L (new customers only; £15, £20 or £25 for 30 days): 5GB, 10GB or 15GB to use in the EU and Turkey (AloTurka M).

On these plans, if the allowance covers your trip, you have nothing to pay or buy.

giffgaff in Turkey

giffgaff classes Turkey as Rest of the world. In giffgaff's words, "your UK plan won't work" there: you pay from your credit (giffgaff help). Without an add-on, giffgaff charges its Rest of the World rate of 20p per MB, though it says rates can differ by destination (giffgaff rates, add-ons, as of 26 October 2026).

For data, giffgaff sells a Türkiye travel data add-on. It's valid for 30 days from the day you buy it, and you can buy as many as you need. You need one add-on per country outside the EU. Add-ons are sold only in the giffgaff app, which shows the price (travel data add-ons).

giffgaff's credit spend cap stops you spending more than £45 on credit a month, but it's off by default: turn it on before you fly (credit spend cap).

Roaming charges in Turkey: every UK network compared

Prices including VAT (as of 26 October 2026). Sources: EE, EE Pay As You Go, Vodafone, Vodafone Pay as you go, O2, O2 Travel, O2 Pay As You Go, Three, Three Pay As You Go, Tesco Mobile, Sky Mobile, iD Mobile, SMARTY, VOXI, Lyca Mobile, giffgaff, giffgaff add-ons.

Roaming or eSIM: what will your Turkey trip cost?

The calculator first asks whether your plan already includes Turkey. Answer "Yes" and it shows no cost, only a reminder that your data allowance applies: pick it only if your allowance covers the whole trip. Answer "Not sure" and it calculates as if Turkey isn't included, and names any of your network's plans that include it.

It adds a second pass only where the network confirms you can buy it again, as with Three or O2. Where it doesn't say, as with iD Mobile, it counts one pass per period; where it limits purchases, as Lyca Mobile Pay As You Go does (five per add-on in any 30 days, three for the EU Roaming Pass S), it counts no more. If that falls short, it says the pass won't be enough. Without a pass, it uses the per-MB rate, shown as "More than £500" past that amount, and stops at Three Pay As You Go's limit of £45 excluding VAT (£54 including VAT).

What each network charges in Turkey

EE

Outside Full Works plans, you need a pass to use data in Turkey. The Roaming Pass unlocks your UK allowance: £6 for 24 hours, £30 for 7 days or £50 for 15 days. You can only buy it after you land, from the link EE texts you (as of 26 October 2026, EE price guide).

O2

Without a Data Roaming Bolt On, O2 stops your data abroad and you pay nothing. Turkey is in Bolt On Zone 2: 1GB for £9, 3GB for £20 or 5GB for £29 (O2 Bolt Ons). Turkey is also an O2 Travel destination (add it by texting TRAVEL to 23336): £7 on each day you call, text or use data, with unlimited data at up to 2Mbps (O2 Travel). O2 Pay As You Go has neither: data costs £7.20 per MB, so keep data roaming off (O2 roaming rates).

Vodafone

Outside Premier plans, Vodafone adds an £8 daily charge on each day you use your plan in Turkey, and you use your UK calls, texts and data. Above 25GB of data roaming in a billing month, data costs £3.84 per GB (as of 26 October 2026, Vodafone charges guide). On Pay as you go, data costs 12p per MB, and an Around the World Extra starts as soon as you buy it (Vodafone roaming). Vodafone Türkiye is a separate Turkish network, so a Vodafone UK SIM still pays roaming charges on it.

Three

Outside Three Your Way Complete, an £8 daily charge starts automatically with your first call, text or data use in Turkey and unlocks your UK allowance for 24 hours. That's for plans taken out or upgraded on or after 18 December 2025, charged since 1 April 2026. If you joined or upgraded between 1 October 2021 and 17 December 2025, or you're on a 24-month SIM Only Lite plan (25GB or 120GB), it's £7; before October 2021, see Three's older price guides (as of 26 October 2026, Three price guide, roaming abroad, Go Roam).

Go Roam Around the World Extra passes use your UK allowance: £17.50 for 3 days up to £84 for 14. For data alone, Turkey is covered by the Worldwide Data Travel Pass: 18GB for 7 days at £26, or 40GB for 14 days at £54. That's Three's cheapest week if 18GB is enough.

Three Pay As You Go doesn't include Turkey, and your Data Pack doesn't work there: data costs £3 per MB. Three sets a worldwide data roaming limit of £45 excluding VAT (£54 including VAT) a month, on Pay As You Go and Pay Monthly, which you can ask Three to change or remove (Three Pay As You Go price guide, your data roaming limit).

Sky Mobile

For £2 a day you use your UK plan in Turkey. Roaming Passport Plus starts automatically when you make a call, send a text or use more than 10MB of data in a day, but not when you receive a call. Sky caps data roaming spend at £45 a month; you can remove the cap at sky.com/settings (as of 26 October 2026, Sky price guide, Roaming Passport Plus). Sky VIP Diamond customers get Free Global Roaming in Turkey instead (Free Global Roaming).

The other networks

• Lyca Mobile Pay As You Go: EU Roaming Passes also work in Turkey (EU Roaming Pass XS, EU Roaming Pass S).
• iD Mobile Roam Beyond add-ons start as soon as you buy them, so buy one after you arrive. Without one, data costs £1.50 per MB (an iD Mobile employee's answer of 15 July 2026 on iD's forum) and stops at a £45 limit until you contact iD (Roam Beyond, roaming limit).
• VOXI Global Roaming Extras start when you buy them; buy another before one ends and you lose what's left, according to terms dated 30 July 2025 (VOXI).
• SMARTY has no pass: data outside the EU only works with an Out of plan balance, added in steps of £5 up to £15 (SMARTY price guide).
• Tesco Mobile has no add-on for Turkey. On pay monthly, your safety buffer, set between £0 and £100 a month, caps what you spend (safety buffer).
• Lebara: check on lebara.co.uk whether a roaming add-on covers Turkey (Lebara roaming guide).

Going on to Northern Cyprus? EE warns that your phone may connect to a Turkish network there. Three and Tesco Mobile price it like Turkey, and Sky Mobile charges a Turkish Roaming Passport Plus (EE plan terms, Three price guide, Tesco Mobile roaming, Sky price guide).

Local SIM, Wi-Fi and phone registration

Turkey has three mobile networks: Turkcell, Vodafone Türkiye and Türk Telekom. According to the regulator BTK, all three launched 5G in every provincial capital on 1 April 2026 (BTK market report, Q1 2026).

All three sell tourist SIMs, and you need your passport: Turkcell accepts only a valid passport, Vodafone Türkiye asks for a foreign one (Turkcell, Vodafone Türkiye). Türk Telekom sells its tourist SIM at airport dealers and in its stores, from 320 TL for 10GB over 7 days (as of 26 October 2026, Türk Telekom). Lira prices change often, so check them before you buy.

Turkey cuts off phones brought from abroad that aren't registered within 120 days (MCKS, the Turkish device registry). It concerns the phone's IMEI, and a holiday stays well short of it: with a British citizen passport you can stay in Turkey without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period (FCDO).

At Istanbul Airport (IST), Wi-Fi is free and unlimited on "IGA WiFi": you log in with a password sent by text, or with a code from a passport-scanning kiosk (Istanbul Airport).

When an eSIM makes sense for Turkey, and when it doesn't

An eSIM is usually worth a look in these cases:

• You're with giffgaff: your plan doesn't work in Turkey, so compare the Türkiye add-on price with an eSIM.
• You're on Vodafone without Premier, EE without Full Works or Three without Complete, for a week or more: seven daily charges cost up to £56, and EE's 7-day pass £30.
• You're on O2 Pay As You Go, Tesco Mobile or Three Pay As You Go, where data costs £3 to £7.20 per MB.

The Simsima eSIM for Turkey is data only, with no Turkish number, so your UK number stays on your usual SIM. You install it before you fly, and it activates when it connects to a network in Turkey. You can get a refund within 14 days if it hasn't been activated, and every purchase earns 4% cashback in SimCoins. You need an eSIM-compatible phone.

You don't need an eSIM from us if:

• Your plan includes Turkey (see the list above) and its fair use limit covers your trip.
• You're with Sky Mobile and your UK data is enough: Roaming Passport Plus costs £2 a day.
• A pass from your network fits your trip, such as Three's 18GB Worldwide Data Travel Pass or an iD Mobile Roam Beyond add-on.
• You need a Turkish phone number: buy a local SIM.

Best eSIM for Turkey: providers compared — eSIM providers for Turkey side by side

Before you fly: step by step

1. Check in your network's app whether your plan includes Turkey.
2. Choose a pass or an eSIM. Buy EE passes, iD Mobile add-ons and VOXI or Vodafone Extras after you land. On giffgaff, buy the Türkiye add-on in the app and turn on the credit spend cap. Install an eSIM at home over Wi-Fi.
3. When you land, choose the eSIM for mobile data, turn on data roaming for the eSIM and turn it off for your UK SIM.
4. With Vodafone, Three or Sky Mobile, a call or text from your UK number still starts the daily charge; WhatsApp calls use the eSIM's data.
5. With no pass and no eSIM, keep data roaming off and use Wi-Fi.

Roaming in Europe: what UK networks charge — if your trip also takes in Greece, Bulgaria or Cyprus