eSIM Greece
Greece eSIM on the Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova networks: 1 to 50 GB or unlimited, prepaid, no contract and no registration — online the moment you land in Athens.
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2GB highspeed/day, then unlimited at 1Mbps
Your Selection
Your plan only starts counting when the eSIM first connects at your destination — so you can buy today and travel in three weeks.
How does Simbye eSIM work for Greece?
Get connected in under 2 minutes
Set it up at home
Order, open the email, tap the link or scan the QR code. The eSIM then sits in your phone's settings but isn't looking for a network yet and uses nothing. Do this on your home Wi-Fi, not in a rush at the gate.
Switch it on after landing
Whether you arrive in Athens (ATH), Thessaloniki (SKG), Heraklion (HER), Chania (CHQ), Rhodes (RHO), Corfu (CFU), Kos (KGS), Santorini (JTR) or Mykonos (JMK): turn off airplane mode, turn on data roaming for the new line, and it books into the Greek network. That exact moment is when the clock starts — not when you bought it.
Top up as you go
Running low? You top up the same eSIM without reinstalling anything and without touching your setup. Useful when one week on Crete turns into three weeks of island hopping.
Check Device Compatibility
Make sure your device supports eSIM before purchasing
Which networks will you be on in Greece?
Three Greek networks — Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova — and your phone automatically takes whichever one comes in better.
Average measured mobile internet performance, nPerf barometer (measured 01.01.2025–31.12.2025). What you actually get depends on where you are, the time of day and your phone.
The eSIM is not tied to a single network. In Greece it picks between Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova — the network that used to be called Wind. Your phone finds the stronger signal on its own and switches when one drops out; you don't have to configure anything or type in an access point. The one thing that has to be switched on is data roaming — otherwise the line stays silent even though everything installed correctly. In Athens, Thessaloniki and the big holiday spots it runs on 5G, elsewhere on 4G. Either is plenty for maps, ferry bookings, photos and video calls.
You're well covered in Athens and all of Attica, in Thessaloniki, Patras, on Crete around Heraklion, Chania and Rethymno, and on Rhodes, Corfu, Kos, Santorini, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos — there the signal usually carries right down to the beach coves. It gets thin in three places: out on the open Aegean between two islands you often have nothing at all for minutes at a time, in the mountains (Pindos, Zagori, Mount Olympus, the Samaria Gorge on Crete) it drops away, and on very small islands like Koufonisia, Donousa or Schinoussa the network doesn't reach every last bay. So: download the offline map of your island beforehand and save the ferry ticket as a PDF on your phone, not just as a link.
eSIM or a local SIM card in Greece?
For Greece the eSIM is the easier answer: it hops between Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova wherever the signal is better, and nobody copies your passport — a local card is registered to your name in a shop.
| Compared | Simbye eSIM | Local SIM card |
|---|---|---|
| ID | Not needed — you buy with an email address | Passport required: Greek prepaid cards are registered to your name by law and the shop copies the document |
| When it works | Ready before you fly, live as you step off the plane | Only after the walk to a shop and the registration — on a Sunday, possibly not at all |
| Where you get it | Straight from the email, from anywhere | In a Cosmote, Vodafone or Nova shop or at a kiosk — at the airport only during opening hours |
| Which network | Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova, your phone takes the stronger signal automatically | One single network, fixed at purchase — no help to you in a hill village with no bars |
| Your number | Your phone keeps its own number, WhatsApp and Viber carry on. Calls and SMS over the network are not possible on this eSIM, calls through WhatsApp or Viber are | You get a new Greek +30 number with real calls and SMS; your old one only reaches you with a second SIM |
| Paying | Card or PayPal up front, before you travel | Cash or card on the spot; later top-ups are often in Greek only |
| Topping up | Through the link in your email, from any island, in minutes | Add credit at a periptero or in a shop, in person and during opening hours |
| Moving on | Stays on your phone; you just add the next country | The card becomes a souvenir and any leftover credit is gone |
What roaming on your home contract really costs in Greece
Your home contract is the most expensive and the least predictable way to be online in Greece. Arriving from Turkey, Israel, the US, Canada, Australia or the Gulf, you pay roaming by the day or by the megabyte — and only see the total weeks later on the bill. Even on a cheap unlimited plan it is worth reading the small print: for use abroad there is almost always a separate, much smaller data package. As long as it lasts, fine — but when it runs out halfway through week two, every further gigabyte is billed separately, and that is exactly the moment you are standing in the port of Piraeus unable to open your ferry ticket. This eSIM turns that around: you book 1 to 50 GB or an unlimited plan for 7 to 180 days in advance, pay once, and know from day one what you have.
One point hits island travel in particular. Between two islands, far out on the Aegean, the land networks lose contact and phones latch onto the ship's own onboard network. These maritime networks run over satellite, belong to none of the three Greek networks and bill at their own very high rates — no roaming bundle and no travel eSIM covers them. That is the classic Greek phone-bill shock after a week of island hopping. Neither a home contract nor this eSIM helps you out there: the only protection is to switch mobile data off on the boat and to have your ferry ticket, your map and your accommodation address saved offline beforehand. What does reliably get through is the state 112 wildfire alert — it goes out as a broadcast to every device in an area and needs neither data nor a Greek number.
How far Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova actually reach
This eSIM uses all three Greek networks: Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova, the former Wind. Across the mainland and the holiday regions they are densely built out. In Athens and Attica, in Thessaloniki, Patras, on Crete between Heraklion, Rethymno and Chania, on Rhodes, Corfu, Kos and the big Cyclades — Santorini, Mykonos, Paros, Naxos — you have signal virtually throughout, usually right down to the beach and up into the hill villages behind the main towns. In cities and larger resorts it runs on 5G, elsewhere on fast 4G; for maps, bookings and video calls you won't notice the difference.
Three situations call for honesty. On open water between the islands there is often nothing at all for minutes on end. In the mountains — Pindos, Zagori, around Mount Olympus, in the Samaria Gorge on Crete — the signal drops away in the valleys, sometimes for kilometres. And on very small islands such as the Lesser Cyclades of Koufonisia, Donousa and Schinoussa, as well as in lonely bays and on hiking trails, coverage isn't everywhere. That isn't a flaw in this eSIM but the real topography. On the smallest islands and in remote mountain areas Cosmote has traditionally the densest coverage — and that is exactly where your phone can fall back to here, without you changing a setting. If you are heading deep into the mountains or onto a tiny island anyway, plan for it: download the offline map, save the ferry ticket as a PDF, agree meeting points in advance. For the 95 percent of trips that happen in Athens, on Crete and on the well-known islands, none of it matters.
Data roaming has to be switched on for the new line — otherwise it stays silent even though the QR code installed correctly. Keep your home SIM in the phone and only turn its mobile data off, so calls and SMS codes still reach you on your usual number.
What does a Greece eSIM cost?
Simbye offers 9 plans for Greece from €1,95 to €46,95 — data packs from €1,95, unlimited from €18,95. Prepaid, no contract.
| Plan | Validity | Price | Per travel day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 7 days | €1,95 | €0,27 |
| 3 GB | 30 days | €7,95 | €0,26 |
| 5 GB | 30 days | €11,95 | €0,39 |
| 10 GB | 30 days | €13,95 | €0,46 |
| 20 GB | 30 days | €18,95 | €0,63 |
| Unlimited | 7 days | €18,95 | — |
| Unlimited | 15 days | €32,95 | — |
| 50 GB | 180 days | €41,95 | €0,23 |
| Unlimited | 30 days | €46,95 | — |
- Networks
- Cosmote Greece + Vodafone Greece + Wind Greece (Nova)
- Setting it up
- A link in your email, or the QR code — one tap is enough
- Network technology
- 4G/LTE — and 5G where the network already offers it
- APN and settings
- Nothing to set. The eSIM brings everything with it
- Hotspot
- Allowed — for a laptop, tablet or a travel companion
- Adding more data
- Top up any time, without setting anything up again
- Calls and texts
- Not included — WhatsApp calls run over the data
- Your own number
- Stays in the phone and stays reachable
- Contract
- None. The plan ends by itself
- Worth knowing
- Prepaid instead of a contract — useful as a second line, or when your own data allowance is used up
Frequently Asked Questions about Greece eSIM
Data, calls, real phone numbers, top-ups and setup — everything you need to know before you buy a Simbye eSIM.
