Best eSIM for Greece (2026): Prices for Athens and the Islands

What is the best eSIM for Greece?

The best eSIM for Greece runs on a national Greek network, holds enough data for your trip, and does not overcharge for it. On October 6, 2026 we compared the Greece pages of eight providers, and 10 GB for 30 days cost between $9.40 and $22.99. Pelesim had the lowest list price in that check at 5, 10 and 20 GB, on Vodafone and Nova, two of Greece's three national networks.

Pelesim publishes this blog, so every price below is dated and taken from the provider's own page for you to check. Current sizes, from 1 GB to 50 GB, are on Pelesim's Greece eSIM page.

The short version About 1 GB a day covers most trips: 10 GB for a week, 20 GB for two. Pick a plan on a national network, install it at home, and compare the price per GB rather than the headline price.

How much does a Greece eSIM cost in 2026?

These are list prices in US dollars from each provider's own Greece page, checked on October 6, 2026. All are 30-day plans. Prices change often, and Holafly and Yesim convert from euros at their own rates, so read the table as a dated snapshot rather than a quote.

The spread is wide. At 20 GB the highest price in the table is more than twice the lowest for the same 30 days. Yesim shows crossed-out "was" prices beside its current ones, and the figures above are what it actually charges.

Holafly and Maya Mobile sell only unlimited plans for Greece, so they are in the unlimited table further down rather than here.

If Greece is one stop on a longer trip, one regional plan is simpler than a country plan in each place. Pelesim's Europe eSIM covers Greece and 40 other countries, at $15 for 10 GB over 30 days on the same date, and uses the same Nova and Vodafone networks inside Greece. For any other trip, the eSIM store lists every destination.

Which Greek network does each eSIM use?

Greece has three mobile networks: Telekom, Vodafone and Nova. Telekom belongs to the OTE group and was branded Cosmote until Deutsche Telekom renamed it in September 2026, so your phone now shows it as TELEKOM.GR. Nova is the former Wind Hellas, and some providers still list it as Wind.

A travel eSIM has no network of its own. It connects to one or more of these three, and that choice decides your signal far more than the brand on the app.

Some provider pages still say Cosmote after the rename; it is the same network.

A plan that lists two networks lets your phone fall back to the second when the first has no signal, which covers most gaps on the mainland and the larger islands. It does not help in a cove or a village where neither network has built a mast.

What is coverage like on the Greek islands?

Good where people live and travel, on all three networks. Each says its 5G reaches 95% or more of the Greek population, and Opensignal's September 2026 report for Greece, based on data from April to June 2026, measured all three at between 97% and 98.2% Time on Network, the share of time their users had a signal.

What that means in practice:

• Athens, Thessaloniki, Crete, Rhodes, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Kos. Towns, ports and main roads are where the networks put most of their masts, and where most visitors spend their time.
• Small and quiet islands. Signal thins out away from villages and ports on every network. If your stay is remote, download offline maps and save your addresses before you go.
• Hikes and boat days. Gorges, coves you reach by boat and the sea between islands can be without signal on any network. Download offline maps before you set out.

Do you get signal on Greek ferries?

Near the ports, yes. In the middle of a longer crossing, often not, because land masts only reach so far out to sea. Vodafone said in January 2026 that it had added onboard coverage to ships serving the islands and reached about 65% of them, as reported by iefimerida. That tells you coverage at sea needs equipment on the ship itself; it does not tell you which crossings have it.

The bigger risk is a different kind of network. Attica Group, which runs Blue Star, Superfast, ANEK and Hellenic Seaways, signed a deal in December 2024 to fit more than 40 of its ships with satellite Wi-Fi and an onboard mobile network from Telenor Maritime. A network on a ship connects through satellite, and the EU's Your Europe roaming guide is plain about it: once your phone uses satellite at sea, the EU roaming rules no longer apply and there is no price cap. Even an EU SIM can run up a real bill on board.

On the ferry Turn data roaming off for your home line before you board, and leave it on only for the travel eSIM. A travel eSIM works on the networks it lists, so on a ship's own network it usually shows no data rather than a bill. Your home SIM is the one that can charge you.

Onboard Wi-Fi is sold in time blocks. Hellenic Seaways lists 12-hour packages from €4.50 for a basic connection without streaming, so it is fine for messages and a poor substitute for a working mobile signal.

How much data do you need for a week in Greece?

About 10 GB for a week of everyday use, and about 20 GB for two weeks. Our data calculator works with three profiles. Light use, about 0.4 GB a day, is maps, messages and some browsing. Everyday use, about 1 GB a day, adds social feeds, sending photos and some short video. Heavy use, about 3 GB a day, means video calls, streaming, or a laptop working off the phone's hotspot.

These are the totals it gives for each profile, with a 30% margin for slow days, app updates and background use:

Most hotels and apartments in Greece have Wi-Fi, and the real figure falls if you let photo backups and app updates wait for it.

Is an unlimited plan worth it in Greece?

Only if you would use more than about 2 GB a day, and only after you read where the plan slows down. Every unlimited plan in our check slows at some point, and the point varies a lot:

Maya's FAQ says its plan has no caps, while the plan data on the same page says 5 GB a day. The table uses the plan data.

For comparison, a fixed 10 GB plan, enough for a week of normal use, costs $9.40 to $22.99 at the same providers. Unlimited earns its price for heavy streaming, long video calls or a working day on hotspot. Check the hotspot rule as well: Holafly allows 1 GB a day of sharing, Saily says it has no hotspot limits, and Nomad, Maya and Ubigi say hotspot use is allowed.

Can you just roam with your home SIM?

If your SIM is from the EU or EEA, usually yes. Under the EU's Roam Like at Home rules, extended to June 30, 2032, you pay your home prices in Greece while you spend more time, or use more data, at home than abroad. An eSIM is still useful if your home plan has a small roaming allowance or you are staying for months, but most EU visitors on a short trip do not need one.

Everyone else pays their own carrier's rates, and those add up over a trip:

Prices are from each carrier's own roaming page in October 2026. A US traveler on a day pass spends $84 for a week, against $9.40 to $22.99 for a 10 GB eSIM. A UK traveler on a daily fee pays about £19 for the same week, so the gap is smaller.

Should you buy a local SIM in Athens instead?

For a long stay, a local prepaid SIM is a reasonable option. Greek law requires every prepaid SIM to be registered to an ID, so you need your passport, and the card is not active until registration is done.

Vodafone sells a tourist SIM at its kiosk at Athens airport and in its shops. On October 6, 2026 its €20 top-up gave 50 GB for 14 days, and €35 gave 300 GB for 28 days. Telekom's prepaid card has no tourist pack, but its 20 GB monthly data bundle was €13.50 before Greece's 10% mobile tax. Those are good prices per GB for a stay of several weeks.

The costs are practical. You queue on arrival, register with a passport, swap a physical SIM, and lose your home number for the trip unless your phone takes a SIM and an eSIM at the same time. An eSIM installed at home avoids all of that and keeps your home number reachable on the other line.

Which plan fits which trip?

Most providers in our check sell top-ups, so the cheaper move is to buy for your expected use and top up if you run low, rather than paying in advance for your worst case.

How do you install the eSIM before you fly?

Install it at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before you leave. Pelesim plans do not start counting days until the eSIM first connects to a network in Greece, so installing early costs nothing. Some providers start the clock at install, so check that line in the plan details before you buy.

1. Check that your phone supports eSIM, using our supported device list, and that it is carrier unlocked. Our guide on checking whether your phone is unlocked covers iPhone and Android.
2. Buy the plan, then scan the QR code from another screen, or use the install button if you bought on the phone itself. The iPhone install guide shows each screen.
3. Name the new line "Greece" so you can tell your two lines apart.
4. Until you land, keep using your home line as usual. The Greece line can stay switched off.
5. On arrival, choose the Greece line for mobile data and turn on data roaming for that line only. On iPhone both are under Settings > Cellular, which some regions call Mobile Data. Leave data roaming off on your home line.
6. If the phone shows signal but no data, pick a network by hand. On iPhone it is Settings > Cellular > your Greece line > Network Selection, then turn off Automatic. On Android, look for Network operators or Automatically select network in that SIM's settings. Choose one of the networks your plan lists, then restart the phone.

If you arrive without having installed anything, Athens airport has free Wi-Fi in two-hour sessions, which is enough to download and install an eSIM before you leave the terminal.

What changes and what does not?

Prices change. The tables above are a snapshot from October 6, 2026, and travel eSIM prices move without notice. Check the date on any comparison you read, this one included.

Names change too. Cosmote is now Telekom, Wind became Nova in 2022, and provider pages catch up slowly, so read "Cosmote" on an eSIM page as Telekom.

What does not change is how to choose. Pick a plan on a national network, size it to the days you travel, and compare the price per GB rather than the headline price.