If you’re travelling to Turkey, having the right SIM card can save you a lot of money. We review the best value SIM cards for using your mobile phone in Turkey.

Each year, more than 2.5 million Brits make a visit to Turkey. Whether you’re there to experience the culture or to enjoy the seaside resorts, you’ll probably want to use your mobile phone whilst you’re there.

Having access to your mobile phone whilst you’re travelling in Turkey will make it a lot easier to stay in touch with friends and family. It can also help you to navigate around (e.g. finding nearby restaurants and attractions on Google Maps) and to check-in for your flights online.

Thankfully, it’s now really easy to use your mobile phone in Turkey with packages available from just £15 for 8 days of usage when you roam on a UK-based SIM card. Alternatively, you can buy a local SIM card in Turkey if you’re travelling for an extended amount of time or if you want a larger allowance of data. In this article, we’ll look at the multiple ways to use your smartphone in Turkey and the best value SIM cards for roaming whilst you’re there.

Best Turkey SIM Card: VOXI by Vodafone (UK-based SIM)
Recommended Plan: £15 for 8 days usage in Turkey
(up to 2GB data, 100 minutes & 100 texts)
Inclusive Features:
  • Set up & activate your SIM card in the UK, before you depart.
  • Choose from two Global Roaming Extras: £15 for 8 days or £25 for 15 days.
  • No contract & no credit check.
Network Coverage: 99% population coverage in Turkey
Free SIM Card: Get a VOXI SIM card (with £10 top-up) →

Using Your Mobile Phone In Turkey

If you’re planning a trip to Turkey, there are two ways to use your mobile phone whilst you’re there:

  • You can roam on a UK-based SIM card. This is the easiest and most straightforward way to use your mobile phone in Turkey. You’ll have a UK-based phone number (+44) and you’ll pay your UK mobile network for usage.
  • You can buy a Turkish SIM card on arrival. If you’re travelling for an extended amount of time, you can get a local SIM card from one of the Turkish networks. This tends to be more hassle as you’ll need to buy your SIM card on arrival. You’ll also need to register the SIM card with your passport.

The following table shows a side-by-side comparison of the two options:

Roaming on your UK SIM card Buying a Turkish SIM card on arrival
Best for most short-term visitors to Turkey.
 Best for extended trips & heavy data users.
You’ll have a UK-based number (beginning with +44). You’ll have a Turkish number (beginning with +90).
We recommend VOXI’s Pay As You Go SIM. Add a Global Roaming Extra from £15 before you depart. Choose a SIM card from Turkcell, Vodafone TR or Türk Telekom. Prices can vary by store & negotiation.
You’ll need to set up & activate your UK SIM card before you depart. You’ll need to buy & activate your Turkish SIM card on arrival (e.g. at the airport or a phone store).
There’s no need to register your phone or SIM card with the authorities in Turkey. You’ll need to register the SIM card with official ID. Your phone also needs to be registered within 120 days.
Inclusive calls to both UK and Turkish phone numbers. Inclusive calls to Turkish phone numbers only. Extra charges apply for calling UK-based numbers.
You can continue to use your SIM card in the UK after the end of your trip. The SIM card you buy from Turkey will normally stop working after you return to the UK.

For most people, we’d normally recommend roaming on a UK-based SIM card, unless you’re planning an extended trip to Turkey that will last for more than two weeks. Alternatively, a SIM card from Turkey might also be more suitable if you’re planning to use lots of data during your trip (more than 4GB).

The best SIM card for roaming in Turkey is VOXI’s Pay As You Go SIM. You’ll need to activate it with a UK plan (starting from £10 for one month’s usage). You can then add a Global Roaming Extra to your SIM card before you depart (either £15 for 8 days usage or £25 for 15 days usage in Turkey). There’s no contract and no credit check with the SIM card.

Get VOXI Pay As You Go SIM Card →

Roaming On Your UK SIM Card

The most straightforward way of using your mobile phone in Turkey is through international roaming on a UK-based SIM card. Although you might end up paying a little bit more, there are three major benefits to roaming on a UK-based SIM:

  1. You can set it up before you depart. There’s no need to find a phone shop on arrival and to negotiate with the staff there when buying and registering your SIM card. You’ll also know your phone number in advance, making it easier to stay in touch with others.
  2. There’s no need to register your SIM card & mobile phone with the Turkish authorities. If you buy a local SIM card in Turkey, you’ll need to register it with the government authorities. This normally involves providing your passport and filling out a registration form when you buy your SIM card. In addition, mobile phones with a Turkish SIM card inside are subject to a tax payment of about 2,000 Turkish Lira (around £88) following an initial grace period of 120 days. This doesn’t apply if you’re roaming on a UK-based SIM card.
  3. You’ll be able to call both UK and Turkish phone numbers using your inclusive minutes. In contrast, most local Turkish SIM cards only include an allowance of minutes for calling other phone numbers in Turkey.

Best Turkey Roaming Deals

VOXI is currently our recommended mobile network for roaming in Turkey. If you’re using a VOXI SIM card inside your mobile phone, you’ll have a choice of the following Global Roaming Extras that can be used in Turkey:

Network Minutes Texts Data Bundle
Cost
VOXI 100 100 2GB £15.00
valid for 8 days
VOXI 200 200 4GB £25.00
valid for 15 days

The Global Roaming Extras are a one-off purchase on your VOXI SIM card – they won’t renew automatically (see the full terms and conditions). However, you can decide to purchase another one if you require (e.g. for longer trips away or if you’ve already used up all of the data).

If you’re not currently a VOXI customer, you can order a VOXI SIM card online. To activate it, you’ll need to buy a UK plan such as the £10 plan with 45GB of UK data. Even when you take this into account, it ends up being pretty good value (e.g. a total of £25 for the initial £10 UK plan and then £15 for the Global Roaming Extra).

There’s no contract and no credit check on VOXI. Although you’re able to continue using the SIM card when you get back to the UK, there’s no commitment and you can pause or cancel your plan at any time.

Get VOXI SIM Card (with £10 top-up) →

You can also get special deals for roaming in Turkey on the following UK networks:

  • Vodafone UK Pay As You Go: Like VOXI, Vodafone UK also offers an 8-day and 15-day Around The World Extra if you’re a Pay As You Go customer. It’s exactly the same as what you’ll get on VOXI, but the original UK plan will give you much less data for your money. You can order a Vodafone Pay As You Go SIM card online. To buy the Extra, you can text ROAMEXTRA8 to 2345 (for the 8-day Around The World Extra), or ROAMEXTRA15 to 2345 (for the 15-day Around The World Extra).
  • Sky Mobile: If you’re a Sky Mobile customer, you’ll pay £2 per day to use the Roaming Passport Plus in Turkey. This allows you to use your normal UK allowance of minutes, texts and data in Turkey. If you’re not currently a Sky Mobile customer, you can get a Sky Mobile SIM card from £6 per month (subject to a minimum 12-month contract).
  • Vodafone UK Pay Monthly: If you’re a Vodafone UK Pay Monthly customer, you’ll pay £7.39 per day to use your normal allowances in Turkey. This is unless you have an unlimited data plan with 4 Xtra benefits, in which case you’ll get Global Roaming Plus. This comes with inclusive roaming in 83 destinations, including Turkey.
  • O2 Pay Monthly: If you’re an O2 Pay Monthly customer, you can pay £6 per day to use the O2 Travel bolt-on in Turkey. This gives you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data, subject to a maximum download speed of 500kbps (0.5Mbps).

Standard Roaming Rates

If your current provider doesn’t have any special roaming offers for Turkey, the following table shows the standard roaming rates you can expect to pay:

Network Making a Phone Call Receiving a Phone Call Sending a Text Accessing the Internet
EE £2.52/minute £2.52/minute 82p/text £8.45/day for 500MB
giffgaff £1.00/minute £1.00/minute 30p/text 20p/MB
O2 £2.00/minute £2.00/minute 50p/text £7.20/MB
iD Mobile £2.40/minute £2.40/minute 60p/text £1.50/MB
Lebara Mobile £1.99/minute £1.49/minute 49p/text £14.99/MB
SMARTY 50p/minute 5p/minute 20p/text 10p/MB
Sky Mobile £2/day to use your UK allowance of minutes, texts & data
Tesco Mobile 79p/minute 69p/minute 40p/text £5/MB
Three £1.40/minute 99p/minute 35p/text £3/MB
Virgin Mobile £1.00/minute Free 50p/text 50p/MB
Vodafone Pay Monthly £7.39/day to use your UK allowance of minutes, texts & data
Vodafone Pay As You Go 60p/minute 36p/minute 8p/text 12p/MB
VOXI (without Extra) 60p/minute 36p/minute 8p/text 12p/MB

Comparison of roaming charges when using your UK-based SIM card in Turkey. The costs shown are for calling the UK and sending a text message to the UK. It’s always free to receive a text message wherever you are in the world.

The average UK smartphone user can normally expect to consume about 100MB (0.1GB) of mobile data each day. Therefore, the costs of roaming in Turkey can add up very quickly unless you have a suitable deal for roaming.

Buying A Turkish SIM Card On Arrival

The other way to use your mobile phone in Turkey is to buy a local SIM card on arrival. This can sometimes work out to be a little bit cheaper, but there can be quite a lot of additional hassle involved.

Here are the four things worth knowing before you buy a local SIM card in Turkey:

  1. You’ll need to buy your SIM card on arrival, with prices varying based on location and negotiation. You’ll need to pay an upfront fee when buying a local SIM card in Turkey. This price will vary from shop to shop (e.g. it might be cheaper in the city centre but you’re less likely to get support in English, whereas you can expect to pay a lot more at airport). The upfront cost of the SIM card can vary from 40 Turkish Lira (about £2) to 200 Turkish Lira (about £9) or more. In some shops, you may also be charged commission on the airtime credit (kontör) purchase. For instance, you may be charged 22 Turkish Lira for a top-up of 20 Lira.
  2. You’ll need to register your SIM card with the Turkish authorities. You’ll need to provide your passport and will need to fill out a government registration form before you’re able to get a local SIM card in Turkey.
  3. You’ll need to pay a mobile phone registration fee of around 2,000 Lira within 120 days when using a local Turkish SIM card. If you’d like to use your mobile phone with a local Turkish SIM card, you’ll need to pay a registration fee of about 2,000 Turkish Lira (approximately £87). You can do this by visiting your nearest tax office (vergi ofisi) to pay the registration fee. For a short one-off visit, this is something you can choose to ignore as the registration fee will only be due 120 days after you first use your phone in Turkey. However, if you do not pay the registration fee, you will not be able to use your mobile phone on future trip to Turkey (it will be barred until you pay the fee). If you’re roaming on a UK-based SIM card, this registration fee won’t apply to you.
  4. You won’t get inclusive calls back to the UK. Most local SIM cards in Turkey will only give you inclusive minutes for calling other phone numbers in Turkey.

The primary benefit of getting a local SIM card in Turkey is the fact you’ll get a local phone number (starting with +90). This can be beneficial for staying in touch locally. In addition, you’ll normally get a larger data allowance included, compared to if you were roaming on a UK-based SIM card. For instance, you can get 20GB data on a local tourist SIM card.

If you decide to buy a local SIM card in Turkey, you can choose from three local networks: Turkcell, Vodafone Türkiye and Türk Telekom.

Turkcell

Turkcell is Turkey’s largest mobile network. They tend to offer the most widespread coverage (especially if you’re travelling outside of the urban areas).

As a tourist, you can buy Turkcell’s Tourist Welcome Pack. This gives you 200 minutes for calling locally and 20GB of mobile data. You’ll also get unlimited data for messaging on WhatsApp.

Once you have a Turkcell SIM card, you’ll pay 169 Turkish Lira (about £8) for the Tourist Welcome Pack. This is valid for up to 30 days of usage in Turkey.

Network Minutes Texts Data Monthly
Cost (TRY)
200
to Turkey		 Unlimited
to Turkey		 20GB 169₺ (~£8)
valid for 30 days

Find a Turkcell store to get your Tourist Welcome Pack SIM card.

Vodafone Türkiye

Vodafone Türkiye is the second largest mobile network in Turkey. Although it’s part of the Vodafone Group, it’s run as a totally separate business from Vodafone UK.

As a tourist, you’ll be able to get the Vodafone Prepaid Tourist Pack. This comes with 750 minutes for calling within Turkey, 1000 local text messages and 20GB data. You’ll pay 80 Turkish Lira for the plan (plus the cost of your SIM card).

Network Minutes Texts Data Monthly
Cost (TRY)
750
to Turkey		 1,000
to Turkey		 20GB 80₺ (~£4)
valid for 30 days

You can find a Vodafone retail store in Turkey to get one of their Tourist Plan SIM cards. There are also a range of other prepaid plans available if you’re staying for an extended amount of time.

Please note: if your handset is locked to Vodafone’s UK network, you’ll need to unlock it before you can use a Vodafone Turkey SIM card. This doesn’t apply if you’re using a Vodafone UK or VOXI UK SIM card.

Türk Telekom

Türk Telekom is the smallest mobile network in Turkey. Previously known as Avea, they tend to offer slightly patchier coverage compared to Turkcell and Vodafone Türkiye (particularly outside of the major urban areas).

On Türk Telekom, there isn’t a specific SIM card for tourists. Instead, you can just buy one of their regular prepaid plans. You can visit a Türk Telekom retail store to get your Türk Telekom SIM card.

Handset & Network Compatibility

If you’re currently using your mobile phone in the UK, it will also be compatible with the mobile networks in Turkey. This is because the mobile networks in Turkey use the same bands and frequencies that are in use within the UK.

The following table shows the bands and frequencies that are in use in Turkey:

Network Provider 4G Bands 3G Bands 2G Bands
Turkcell LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 WCDMA 2100 GSM 900
Vodafone Türkiye LTE bands 3, 7, 8, 38 WCDMA 2100 GSM 900, 1800
Türk Telekom LTE bands 3, 7, 8, 20, 38 WCDMA 2100 GSM 1800

5G technology is currently being trialled in Turkey. However, it is not currently available for everyday use.

You can check your handset manufacturer’s spec sheet to see a list of bands supported by your phone.

If you’re using a different SIM card for the duration of your trip abroad, you’ll need to make sure your handset is unlocked.

More Information

At present, our recommended SIM card for usage in Turkey is VOXI’s Pay As You Go SIM. You can find out more about it on VOXI’s website. You can also read our in-depth guide to roaming on VOXI.

Your Comments 27 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 27 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Steve said:

    Regarding the Lycamobile sim card for Turkey. I am travelling to Turkey in August, can I purchase the sim card now in April & activate it before I travel or do I need to wait until closer to my travel dates before ordering?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Steve,
      Thanks for your comment. I think you’re probably best off ordering and activating the plan before travel. Alternatively, if you like, you can possibly order a different plan to begin with (e.g. Lycamobile’s £1 plan) to save money in the UK for a few months, before switching to the AloTurka plan for August.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Yvette said:

    With the AloTurka S (15Gb) it says that the Turkey data roaming allowance is only 5Gb. The advertising blurb says that it has unlimited national mins and sms. Does this mean that it is free to send sms and make calls to the UK whilst in Turkey? If so, do those UK texts and calls have to be to another Lycamobile mobile or any UK mobile? A bit confused after reading the Ts & Cs on their site and no agent ever comes to the chat to ask. Thanks

  • JP said:

    Sorry, this is perhaps a dumb question, but is a “UK-based SIM card” relevant only to people in the UK? Or can folks from the US also purchase and use? I am looking for a sim card that I can buy in advance that will work in Turkey, Greece and Italy. Most sim cards I’ve researched that cover Greece and Italy don’t cover Turkey. Thank you for any clarification you can provide.

    p.s. if it’s relevant, I currently have an android phone with a t-mobile sim card.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi JP,
      Thanks for your comment. A UK-based SIM card is one that’s issued by a UK mobile network. However, If you’re using a prepaid UK-based SIM card, there’s no need to be an actual UK resident to get one. The caveat is that most UK networks will only ship their SIM cards inside the UK so you’ll either need to get one in person, or through other sources (e.g. eBay).
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Nick,
      Thanks for your comment. This only gives you a Turkish phone number (+90) which you’ll need to access using VoIP/SIP technology. It doesn’t give you access to the mobile network so you’ll need a SIM card for that (either roaming on a UK SIM, or a local Turkish SIM). Once you’re connected to the mobile network, you’ll be able to use your phone number over the 4G mobile data connection.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Jim said:

    Ken,

    Thanks for updating the page, but NO ONE in Turkey will sell you the Vodafone Turkish tourist sim for 80TL ($4) like you’ve written on the page. Each shop sets it’s own price and none of them sell it for $4

    • Amir replied:

      About time Ken your website is getting hopelessly out of date now! Normal roaming article is nearly 5 years old and going on about free EU roaming is coming. Lol.

      Sky Mobile article nearly three years old. Not only have they changed their passport plus to £2 they changed the countries too. Qatar, Thailand went into normal roaming and the UAE was added to the £2 a day charge. Do you need help for articles written now? I get that your busy but a website that is mostly out of date is useless to people using it who could miss out on some deals.

      Also three PAYG upped prices again. Think data reward sim has stayed the same again no mention on here what soever.

      Sorry Ken you forgot 02 travel too. It’s not in their exclusive non-EU roam but its £6 a day if you add the bolt on rather than paying the standard rate. I think you have to opt in first otherwise it’s standard rates.

      • Ken replied:

        Hi Amir,
        Thanks a lot for the feedback. It’s hard work trying to keep 100+ articles up-to-date with all of the latest changes in the industry 😉 But in seriousness, thanks a lot for bringing this to my attention. We rely a lot on contributions from people like you to let us know when things have changed so we can keep the information up to date. So thank you!!!
        On your points, updating our content on roaming is a key focus at the moment, given the return of international travel post-pandemic, as well as all of the changes that have happened in the last few months.
        I’ve added O2 Travel into the above, and we’re currently working on an updated piece about European roaming.
        Thanks again,
        Ken

  • Richard said:

    Vodafone no longer offer a one month Unlimited Max sim. So to get Unlimited Max you have to sign up for an expensive £47pm for 12 months. This makes this an impractical solution. Vodafone do, however, have PAYG to which you can add an 8/15 day Around the World Extra for £15/£25 which is 2/4 Gb data and 100/200 mins.

  • Claire Elliott said:

    You need to delete this article.
    It’s now completely wrong for Turkey and North Cyprus.
    Whilst you can get an unlimited max sim only deal, it’s dependant on you using the data/calls etc less than your useage in the UK. If you do overuse your phone then you are given a months notice.

    • TimM replied:

      The criteria used to decide whether it is fair usage while roaming vary hugely by network and change from time to time. To cover all of that would take an entire wiki, not an article.

  • Sid said:

    I would find it useful if you could talk about the situation with tethering, when it comes to the Turkey SIM cards. For me, an issue will be tourist apartments with useless wifi that is available only in the entry way or breakfast room. This seems to be common in Istanbul. I would like like buy Turkish SIM with a lot of GB of data, and tethering my phone to my laptop.

  • David Coles said:

    Also you could add smarty to your chart as they are best alternative for data charges @ 10p a mb:

    Using Internet or Data 10p/ mb
    Call to UK Landlines 50p/ min
    Call to UK Mobiles 50p/ min
    Call to UK Other 50p/ min
    Call to Turkey Landlines 50p/ min
    Call to Turkey Mobiles 50p/ min
    Call to Turkey Other 50p/ min
    SMS to Turkey numbers 20p/ sms
    Receiving calls from any number 5p/ min
    Receiving texts from any number FREE MMS to UK numbers 20p/ mms

  • Nicola Bonnet said:

    Can u update or remove yr original info above pls as it’s completely wrong for Turkey now.
    Anyone looking for advice like I was would have bought either voxi or vodaphone and not been able to use it.

  • Rodney Breckon said:

    Vodaphone have just withdrawn the inclusion of Turkey in their roaming plan. I’m disgusted – how can a company change the terms like this, mid-term? Shouldn’t be allowed.

  • Pete Forman said:

    There is a typo in your last table: Best option for frequent travellers to the US.

    The change is a few months old now but it is still worth pointing out that VOXI no longer has an age restriction.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Pete,
      Whoops… thanks a lot for letting me know about that error – I’ve just amended it. Also, a good point of clarification around VOXI’s removal of the age restriction. *Hopefully* I don’t think there should be too much confusion as the age limit has been gone for nearly a year (we also mention this in our full review of VOXI). I’ll definitely add it in, however, if other readers seem to be getting confused about it…
      Ken

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