Free Roaming in Europe: Which UK Networks Still Include It

If your network charges by the day, or its Europe allowance runs out before your trip does, a HelloRoam Europe eSIM can carry your data across the plan's borders while your UK number stays on, so calls and texts can still reach you.

We read the roaming pages, price guides and help articles of 15 UK networks on 6 and 8 November 2026, and each figure below comes from them. Networks change these terms, so check your own plan in your network's app before you travel.

Ten UK networks include free roaming in Europe on their phone plans

On these networks, your UK minutes, texts and data work in the network's Europe zone at no extra cost. The catch is the data limit, which runs from 5GB on giffgaff and Asda Mobile to 35GB on Lycamobile's unlimited plans, while Tesco Mobile sets no cap beyond your UK allowance. Each zone is a slightly different list of places, too.

O2 says it is the only major network that lets everyone roam in the EU at no extra cost, Pay As You Go customers included. One catch: that only works with SIMs for phones, so an O2 pay monthly tablet SIM works only in the UK. Our guide to O2's Travel Inclusive Zone covers its roaming outside Europe.

Tesco Mobile says its Home From Home benefit was set to stop in 2026 but will now carry on, and it promises at least 30 days' notice before any EU roaming fees. Our Tesco pay as you go guide covers its rates outside Europe.

SMARTY sells a data add-on if 12GB won't last. iD Mobile asks you to switch Roaming on in its app or online account before you set off.

BT's own pages disagree on its fair use limit, and our guide to BT Mobile roaming sets out both figures. Two BT help pages say a surcharge may apply once you use more than 15GB of roaming data in a billing period, one on plans of 20GB or more and the other on plans of 50GB or more. BT's price guide puts the point at 50GB, on plans with more than 50GB. Ask BT which applies to yours before a long trip.

EE, Vodafone, Three, Sky Mobile and VOXI charge for roaming in Europe

These five networks charge by the day or sell passes, unless your plan already includes Europe. Either way, you then use your UK allowance in the network's Europe zone.

Our guide to EE's roaming charges by zone covers its passes and older contracts in more detail. EE's Full Works plan includes its EU and Roam Further Pass, and on pay as you go EE sells Roam like Home at £2.50 for 24 hours or £10 for 7 days.

Three charges no daily fee on Pay As You Go, or on Pay Monthly plans that started before 1 October 2021. Its pass prices above come from its Three Your Way price guide, effective from 12 October 2026, and our guide to Three's Go Roam charges covers its passes outside Europe. Vodafone pay as you go customers can add a Europe Extra, such as 3GB of data for 8 days at £10.30, as our guide to Vodafone's roaming zones explains. VOXI needs no pass in Ireland, the Isle of Man, Iceland or Norway.

Free EU roaming is each network's choice since the UK left the EU

The government's guidance on EU and EEA roaming puts it plainly: since the UK left the EU, surcharge-free roaming there is no longer guaranteed, and you should check your operator's roaming policy before you travel.

The EU's Roam Like at Home rule still applies, but to customers of EU networks. The EU's Your Europe guide to roaming says it works across the EU and also in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine, and that operators may apply a fair use policy.

Each UK network therefore draws its own map. Lycamobile's zone is the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. iD Mobile counts 50 destinations, which take in Jersey, Guernsey, Monaco and even Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Free roaming in Europe comes with data caps and limits on long stays

Free roaming is meant for holidays and short trips, and each network sets limits to keep it that way. Data comes first. Past the limit, O2 stops your data until you buy a bolt-on, while giffgaff and Asda Mobile charge 10p a MB. On giffgaff, using 500MB more than its 5GB cap would cost £50, and our guide to giffgaff's roaming charges covers its travel data add-ons.

Long stays come next. O2 treats more than 63 days of inclusive roaming in any four-month period as unfair use and adds surcharges after a warning text. Vodafone may charge extra if you roam for more than 62 days, or use your phone more abroad than at home within four months, and it texts 14 days before it does. Tesco Mobile applies its fair usage policy if you spend more time, or use more of your allowance, in its Home From Home destinations than in the UK.

Hotspots are the last catch. Lycamobile's EU roaming doesn't include sharing data from your phone, so a laptop or a child's tablet needs Wi-Fi.

Switzerland, the Channel Islands, Monaco and Turkey are where free roaming often stops

The networks in the table below all cover Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Portugal in their Europe zones. The differences show up at the edges. Yes means the place sits in the network's Europe zone on the same terms as Spain, and No means it costs extra or needs a pass.

Sky is the odd one out. Sky Mobile's £2 roaming pass covers Turkey, and the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man cost nothing extra on Sky. BT lists Monaco under Roam Like Home in its price guide, but its help page on using BT Mobile abroad names Monaco as a place where data roaming isn't available, so ask BT before a day trip from Nice.

For skiers, Andorra is the gap to watch. It sits outside the Europe zones of O2, EE, Vodafone, Three, giffgaff, Tesco Mobile, iD Mobile, Lycamobile, BT Mobile and Talkmobile, while Sky's £2 pass includes it. Much of the Balkans is the same: O2 says Albania, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia are all outside its Europe Zone.

You can also roam without crossing a border. Ofcom says a phone near a border, such as the one between Turkey and Greece, can connect to the stronger network across it by accident, and Sky names Kos and Rhodes as places where phones can pick up a Turkish network. Three, Tesco Mobile and Talkmobile all suggest choosing the local network by hand in your phone's settings to prevent it.

Roaming in Spain for a week costs £12 to £16.50 with a pass on networks that charge

This is what seven days in Spain costs on the networks that charge, if you use your phone every day and your plan doesn't already include Europe.

A pass doesn't always win. On EE, six daily charges come to £16.32, so its 7-Day Pass only pays off if you would pay the daily charge on all seven days. Vodafone's 8-day pass beats its daily charge from the sixth charged day, and Three's 7-day pass from the fifth at £2.75 a day.

Sky charges only on days you make a call, send a text or use more than 10MB of data, so a quiet day by the pool can cost nothing. VOXI's passes count down from the day you buy them, not the day you land, so buy yours close to departure.

Data roaming and your spend cap need checking before you fly

Included roaming still needs your phone set up for it. Three says Go Roam works automatically on a compatible phone with data roaming switched on, and Sky asks you to turn on data roaming and mobile data before you go.

• On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Mobile Data, then Mobile Data Options, and turn on Data Roaming. With two lines, tap the number you want to change first.
• On a Samsung Galaxy, open Settings, tap Connections, then Mobile Networks, and use the Data Roaming switch.

Check your spend cap too. Sky says a cap set too low, or at £0, stops you using your phone abroad, and a week of its £2 passes needs a cap of at least £14 a month. Three warns that a Spend Cap set to zero, or too low, may stop you roaming.

When you arrive in another country, Ofcom says your network must send you a message about its roaming charges, unless you've opted out. You can also set a monthly bill limit, which your network can only go over with your agreement. At sea, phones can join a ship's satellite network, which Ofcom says can cost more than normal roaming.

Our explainer on data roaming costs covers the same switches on Pixel phones, plus what can happen at sea and on planes.

The cheapest way to use your phone in Europe depends on your network

If your network includes Europe and your trip fits inside its data limit, your own plan is the cheapest way to use your phone there, and you need nothing else. A week in Spain on O2, Tesco Mobile or iD Mobile costs nothing extra within those limits. On a network that charges, a pass usually beats the daily rate for a full week, as the table above shows, and Ofcom suggests using Wi-Fi where you can.

A travel eSIM earns its place in the gaps: a network that charges by the day, a 5GB cap on a fortnight of maps and photos, or a stop such as Turkey or Andorra outside your network's zone. HelloRoam sells travel eSIMs, so weigh this paragraph with that in mind. Our editorial policy on conflicts of interest explains how we handle it, and our guide to a travel eSIM versus roaming covers the trade-offs.

HelloRoam has plans for countries in and beyond Europe, with 24/7 support. Check your phone supports eSIM first, and install the eSIM before you fly. When you land, choose the eSIM for mobile data and turn on its data roaming. On an iPhone, each line has its own Data Roaming switch, so you can turn it off for your UK line. Many Samsung Galaxy phones have one switch for both lines, so leave it on and pick the eSIM for mobile data in SIM card manager.

On Sky and Three, a call or text sent from your UK line counts as using your plan abroad, so it can start that day's charge even while the eSIM carries your data.