Destinations
eSIM for Turkey: why a travel eSIM beats a local SIM here
Turkey is outside EU roaming, and its rules on foreign phones make the local shop a worse deal than it looks.
Photo: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0
Turkey is the destination where the maths most clearly favours an eSIM, and the reason has nothing to do with price.
The IMEI rule
A foreign phone used with a Turkish SIM card gets blocked on Turkish networks after roughly 120 days unless you register its IMEI — which costs a fee and means paperwork. Travellers who buy a local SIM on arrival, then come back the following year, find their phone will not connect at all.
A travel eSIM roams on those networks rather than joining them, so the rule does not apply to it.
For a two-week holiday this is academic. For anyone who visits Turkey regularly, it is the whole argument.
Which networks you get
Our plans use Turkcell, Türk Telekom and Vodafone — all three Turkish networks. Any of them covers the coast and the cities well; Turkcell generally reaches furthest inland and in the mountains, which is what you want on the way to Cappadocia.
EU roaming does not apply
Turkey is not in the union and is not part of the roam-like-at-home arrangement. If you use your home plan here without checking, the bill is the kind people write about afterwards. Check what your operator charges per megabyte in Turkey before you leave, then compare it with the price of a plan.
How much data
3 to 5 GB covers a week comfortably. Istanbul eats more than the coast does — you will use maps constantly, and the city is large enough that you will not stop.
Before you fly
Install at home on WiFi, keep data roaming off on the travel line until you have landed, then switch it on for that line alone.
