Key facts
- COVERAGE
- Greece
- NETWORKS
- Cosmote, Vodafone, Wind
- PLAN TYPE
- Data only
- IP ADDRESS LOCATION
- Fixed data: United Kingdom · Unlimited: Poland
- DELIVERY
- QR code by email
How it works
- 1Choose a plan and pay.
- 2Scan the QR code we email you. You can install it before you fly.
- 3When you land in Greece, turn on data roaming for the Spidot line.
Visiting more than one country?
Europe
Greece and 35 more countries on one eSIM
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See the Europe planQuestions about the Greece eSIM
Which networks does it use?
Do I get a local phone number?
Can I use it outside Greece?
How do I install it?
Will my phone work with an eSIM?
Will my data work on ferries between Greek islands?
Can I use my Greece eSIM on Santorini, Crete and the smaller islands?
My phone shows a Turkish network on Rhodes or Kos. What should I do?
Should I buy the eSIM before I leave home?
Can I keep receiving texts from my bank while using the eSIM?
What if I use up my data halfway through the trip?
Using mobile data in Greece: islands, ferries and the mainland
Greece is one of the few European countries where a large part of a typical trip happens at sea. You might land in Athens, spend two days in the city, take a ferry from Piraeus to the Cyclades, hop between three islands and finish in Crete. Each of those steps changes how you use your phone: city maps and taxi apps in Athens, ferry tickets and port updates on the move, and beach-bar Wi-Fi of very mixed quality on the islands.
This guide explains how a Greece eSIM from Spidot fits into that kind of trip. It covers how an eSIM compares with roaming and a local SIM, how much data a Greek holiday usually needs, what to do before you fly and when you land, and what to expect from coverage on the mainland, on the islands and on the ferries in between. Plans for Greece start from $2.90.
eSIM, roaming or a local SIM in Greece
There are three common ways to get online in Greece, and each one suits a different traveller. None of them is right for everyone, so it is worth being honest about the trade-offs.
Roaming with your home SIM
If your SIM is from an EU country, the EU's Roam like at Home rules usually let you use your normal allowance in Greece, sometimes with a fair-use limit set by your carrier. For many EU residents that is enough, and a travel eSIM only makes sense if your home allowance is small or you want a separate data line.
If your SIM is from outside the EU, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Turkey or, for many carriers, the United Kingdom, those rules do not cover you. Roaming then depends entirely on your carrier's own packages, and daily roaming passes can add up over a two-week island trip. Check what your carrier charges before you go rather than after.
Buying a local Greek SIM
Local prepaid SIMs are sold in phone shops and kiosks in Greece. Registration with identification is required, so you will usually need to show your passport, and the shop has to be open when you arrive. If you land late at night or go straight from the airport to a ferry, that can be awkward. A physical SIM also means removing your home SIM, which makes it harder to receive bank verification texts.
A travel eSIM
A Spidot eSIM is bought online, arrives as a QR code by email right after payment and is installed before you leave. Your home SIM stays in the phone for calls and texts, and the Spidot line carries your data. Most plans are data-only, so there is no Greek phone number unless you choose a Data + calls plan. The main condition is that your phone supports eSIM and is carrier-unlocked, which you can check your phone for in a minute.
How much data you need for a Greek trip
Data use varies a lot between people, so treat the figures below as rough guides rather than promises. They assume you use hotel or apartment Wi-Fi for large downloads and photo backups.
- Maps and navigation: a day of walking around Athens or Thessaloniki with maps open uses relatively little, often well under 100 MB, especially if you download offline maps first.
- Messaging and social media: a moderate day of messaging, photos and scrolling might use a few hundred MB. Posting videos uses much more.
- Video calls: roughly several hundred MB to around 1 GB per hour, depending on quality.
- Streaming video: often 1 GB or more per hour in standard definition and considerably more in HD. This is the biggest data user on most trips.
- Ferry and port information: e-tickets, schedule checks and operator apps use very little, but you need them to work reliably at the port.
Matching a plan to your trip
For a long weekend in Athens with mostly maps and messaging, a small fixed data plan is usually enough. For a one- or two-week island-hopping trip where you share photos, look up beaches and tavernas and sometimes use your phone as a hotspot, a medium or larger fixed plan gives more headroom. If you rely on your phone for everything, including streaming on the ferry, an unlimited plan charged by the day removes the need to count, though speeds may be reduced after heavy use.
If you travel to Greece every summer, or you are not sure when you will next use the data, a no-expiry plan keeps unused data for later. You can compare all options on the prices page, and if you run low mid-trip you can add more data without reinstalling anything.
Before you fly: install and set up
Installing the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, is the single most useful thing you can do. Adding an eSIM needs an internet connection, and trying to do it at a crowded arrivals hall or on a ferry deck is unnecessary stress.
- Confirm your phone supports eSIM and is unlocked. Dialling *#06# shows an EID number on eSIM-capable phones.
- Scan the QR code from your Spidot email, following the install guide for iPhone, Samsung or Pixel.
- Label the new line clearly, for example Travel or Greece, so you can tell the lines apart.
- Keep your home SIM as the default for calls and texts, and set the Spidot line for mobile data.
- Leave data roaming off for your home line if you want to avoid roaming charges from your own carrier.
- Download offline maps for Athens and the islands you plan to visit, and save your ferry tickets to your phone.
Arriving in Greece: airports and first steps
Most international visitors arrive at Athens International Airport, with Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Chania on Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Kos, Santorini and Mykonos also receiving many international flights, especially in summer. The first steps are the same wherever you land.
Once you are off the plane, turn on data roaming for the Spidot line. Our data roaming guide shows where the setting is on each phone. Give the phone a minute to find a network. If nothing happens, switch airplane mode on and off once. Your phone may show a different network name from the one you expect, which is normal.
From Athens airport, the metro and suburban railway run into the city, and buses connect to Piraeus and the port of Rafina. If you are heading straight to a ferry, check the departure port on your ticket before you leave the airport: some Cyclades ferries leave from Rafina or Lavrio rather than Piraeus, and they are in different directions from the airport.
Coverage on the mainland and the islands
Greece has a mountainous mainland and thousands of islands, so coverage is shaped by geography more than in flatter countries. In Greece, the Spidot eSIM connects to Cosmote, Vodafone and Wind. In practice, cities, towns and the main tourist areas are well served, while the picture becomes more variable as you move into remote areas.
Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities
In Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Heraklion and other cities you can expect the kind of mobile data you are used to at home. Inside some older stone buildings, basements and parts of the metro, signal can weaken, but it usually returns as soon as you step outside or reach a station.
Popular islands
Busy islands such as Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Rhodes, Corfu and Crete generally have good coverage in towns, ports and along main roads. On quieter islands, in the small Cyclades and in parts of the Dodecanese and Ionian groups, signal in villages is usually fine but can drop on remote beaches, in steep coves and on walking paths behind hills.
If you plan to walk to a beach that is only reachable on foot or by boat, assume you may have weak or no signal there. Download the map in advance and tell someone where you are going.
Mountains and rural areas
On the mainland, places such as the Pindus mountains, the Zagori villages, parts of the Peloponnese and the roads to Meteora or Delphi pass through valleys and gorges where signal can come and go. Main roads are generally covered, but mountain switchbacks and deep valleys can create short gaps. Offline maps are the simplest safeguard.
Using data on ferries and while island hopping
Ferries are where Greek trips differ most from other European holidays. On a ferry, your phone connects to masts on the nearest coast or island. Close to land the connection is usually fine, but on longer open-sea crossings, for example between the Cyclades and Crete or on long routes from Piraeus, you can expect periods with weak or no signal.
Some ferries offer onboard Wi-Fi, sometimes paid and often slow when the ship is full. Do not count on it for anything important.
- Download your e-ticket or boarding pass before you board, and keep a screenshot as a backup.
- Check for schedule changes before leaving for the port. Strong winds, including the summer meltemi in the Aegean, can delay or cancel sailings, and operators post updates online and by text or email.
- Load a playlist, podcast or film to the phone in advance rather than streaming on board.
- Your phone may briefly connect to a Turkish network near islands close to the Turkish coast, such as Rhodes, Kos, Samos or Lesvos. If you notice a Turkish network name, select a Greek network manually in your mobile network settings, because a Greece-only plan is meant for use in Greece.
Road trips, buses and getting around
Many visitors rent a car on Crete, the Peloponnese or the larger islands. Navigation apps work well on main roads, but download offline maps for the whole region before you set off, especially if you plan to explore mountain villages or remote beaches.
Long-distance buses in Greece are run by regional KTEL companies, and timetables are often published online. Athens has a metro, buses, trams and suburban trains, and taxi-hailing apps are widely used in Athens and Thessaloniki. On smaller islands, local buses may run on posted timetables at the bus stop or in the port, so a photo of the timetable can be as useful as an app.
Hotspot and sharing data with others
If you are travelling as a couple or with family, you can usually share your Spidot data as a personal hotspot so that a tablet, laptop or another phone can get online. This is handy at a beach, in a rental car or in an apartment where the Wi-Fi is weak.
Keep in mind that a laptop uses far more data than a phone, because it may start updates and cloud backups as soon as it connects. Set the hotspot connection as metered on the laptop, pause syncing, and check how much data is left now and then. If several people will rely on one line all trip, a larger fixed plan or an unlimited plan is usually the more relaxed choice.
Staying safe on public Wi-Fi
Greek hotels, cafés, beach bars and ports often offer free Wi-Fi, and much of it is open or protected by a password printed on the menu. It is convenient, but you cannot know who runs the network or who else is connected.
- Use mobile data rather than public Wi-Fi for banking, payments and logging in to important accounts.
- Check that websites use HTTPS before entering personal details.
- Be careful with networks that have names similar to the venue's but slightly different.
- Turn off automatic joining of open networks so your phone does not connect without asking.
Practical tips for Greece
Card payments, including contactless and phone wallets, are widely accepted in Greek cities and tourist areas. Some small tavernas, kiosks and island shops still prefer cash, so it is sensible to carry some euros, especially on smaller islands.
Greek road and place names are written in the Greek alphabet, often with a Latin transliteration that can be spelled in several ways. Searching for both versions in your maps app helps. A translation app with camera translation is useful for menus and signs in villages.
The European emergency number 112 works in Greece. Save the address of your accommodation in your phone in both English and Greek if possible, so you can show it to a taxi driver.
Combining Greece with other countries
Greece is often combined with Italy by ferry from Patras or Igoumenitsa, with Albania or Bulgaria overland, or with a city break elsewhere in Europe. If your trip crosses borders, a single Europe plan covering 36 countries is often simpler than buying a separate plan for each country.
For two-country trips you can also compare individual plans, for example Italy, Albania, Bulgaria or Croatia. Check that every country on your route is covered before you buy.
