eSIM for the United Kingdom

eSIM, roaming or a British SIM card

There are three realistic ways to get online in the UK. Which one suits you depends mostly on where your own SIM comes from and how long you are staying.

Networks and coverage across the UK

Your eSIM connects to local British mobile networks, and your phone picks the strongest available signal automatically.

In the United Kingdom, Spidot plans connect to Everything Everywhere and O2.

Coverage is generally strong in cities and towns and along main roads and rail lines. It becomes patchier in remote and hilly areas, and indoors in buildings with thick stone walls, which are common in older parts of British cities and in country houses and castles.

How much data you are likely to need

Everyone uses data differently, so treat these figures as approximate. As rough examples: an hour of navigation with an online map uses tens of megabytes, a video call can use several hundred megabytes an hour, and streaming video in high quality can use one gigabyte or more per hour. Messaging, email and checking train times use very little.

• A long weekend in London: maps, the Tube and bus apps, restaurant bookings and some social media. A smaller fixed data plan is usually enough.
• One to two weeks touring England, Scotland and Wales: daily navigation, train bookings, photos shared online and occasional video calls. Choose a mid-sized plan.
• A month or more, or working remotely: you will use your phone for everything, and perhaps share it with a laptop. Choose a larger plan, or an unlimited plan if one is offered for this destination.

Installing the eSIM before you fly

Install the eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before your flight. You need an internet connection to download it, and it is much easier to deal with a problem before you travel than at passport control. First check your phone supports eSIM and is carrier-unlocked.

Follow the step-by-step guide for iPhone, Samsung or Pixel. Give the new line a clear label, such as "Spidot UK", so you can tell it apart from your home line in the settings.

Arriving in the UK

Most international visitors arrive at one of the London airports, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or Luton, or at Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Glasgow. Others come by Eurostar into London St Pancras or by ferry into ports such as Dover, Portsmouth or Holyhead.

When you land:

• Set the Spidot line as the line for mobile data.
• Turn on data roaming for the Spidot line. The data roaming guide shows where the setting is.
• If you want to keep receiving calls and texts on your own number, leave your home line on but turn data roaming off for it.
• Give the phone a minute to find a network, then open a map to check the connection before you head for the train, bus or taxi rank.

Getting around: trains, buses and driving

Ferries and island trips

Ferries connect the mainland to islands such as the Isle of Wight and the Scottish islands, and link Great Britain with Northern Ireland, Ireland, France and other countries. On short crossings you often stay within range of land for much of the trip. On longer crossings, expect to be offline for part of the journey, and download tickets and boarding passes before you leave port.

Some larger ships use their own onboard mobile network at sea. That network is not part of your Spidot plan, so if your phone connects to it, switch on airplane mode or turn data roaming off until you are back within range of land.

Sharing your connection

You can usually use your phone as a personal hotspot to connect a laptop, tablet or a travel companion's phone. All connected devices use the same data balance. Laptops can use a lot of data in the background, so pause automatic updates and cloud syncing before connecting one.

For two people travelling together for several weeks, a plan for each phone is often more practical, since the phone sharing its connection has to stay close by and charged.

Staying safe on public Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi is common in UK cafes, pubs, hotels, stations, museums and on many trains. It is handy for large downloads, but you cannot always tell who runs a network or whether it is the official one. Avoid entering passwords or bank details on open networks, check that sites use https, and switch to your mobile data for anything sensitive, such as banking or booking tickets.

Practical tips for the UK

• Payments. The currency is the pound sterling. Contactless card and phone payments are accepted almost everywhere, including on London buses, which do not take cash. It is still worth carrying a little cash for small rural shops and markets.
• Plugs. The UK uses three-pin Type G sockets, which differ from most of continental Europe and North America, so pack an adapter.
• Emergency numbers. Call 999 or 112 for emergencies. Both work from any mobile phone.
• Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. All three are part of the UK and covered by a UK plan. Scotland and Northern Ireland print their own banknotes, which are pounds sterling like those from the Bank of England.
• Offline backups. Save hotel addresses, booking references and tickets offline, so you can find them even where there is no signal.

Travelling on to Ireland or continental Europe

Many visitors combine the UK with other countries: a ferry or flight to Dublin, the Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, or a longer tour of the continent. The Republic of Ireland is a separate country from Northern Ireland, and there is no fixed checkpoint at the land border, so your phone may switch to an Irish network near the border without you noticing.

If your trip continues beyond the UK, you have two options. You can add a plan for the next country, for example Ireland, France or the Netherlands, and switch your mobile data line when you arrive. Or you can choose the Europe plan, which covers many countries with one eSIM; check its country list to see whether it includes the UK and every other country on your route.