Lebara Roaming Charges: Europe, India, the USA, Turkey and Beyond

For a trip beyond that list, you can keep your Lebara SIM in for calls and texts and run maps and messages on a travel eSIM from HelloRoam.

GOV.UK says that since the UK left the EU, surcharge-free roaming there is no longer guaranteed, and Lebara is a network that still includes it. We read every Lebara price and rule in this guide on Lebara's UK website on 2 November 2026. Lebara can change them, so run its Roaming Rate Finder for your destination before you travel.

Lebara's Roam Like Home covers the EU, the EEA, India and Ukraine

Lebara calls this Roam Like Home, and it comes with all of its SIM-only plans. In the included countries you use your plan's minutes, texts and data as you would in the UK, at no extra charge, with data capped at 30GB.

Lebara's list covers the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Gibraltar and the French overseas regions of Réunion, Mayotte, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Martinique, as well as India and Ukraine. If your destination is not on the list, check its page in Lebara's Roaming Rate Finder before you travel.

Calls from one EU country to another, such as from Spain to a German number, come out of your plan's international minutes instead. One rule matters before you go: your SIM must have been activated in the UK. Lebara says roaming will not work on a SIM that was first activated abroad.

The list helps near home too. Lebara says phones near the Northern Ireland border and on the south-east coast of England can connect to an Irish or French network, and it sends a text when that happens. Ireland and France are both included, so it costs nothing extra.

If your allowance runs out in the EU, the EEA or India, Lebara sells roaming add-ons there too. Without one, you pay Lebara's pay-as-you-go rates from your credit, and your destination's page in the Roaming Rate Finder lists them.

Lebara's fair use rule adds a surcharge on long stays abroad

Lebara says Roam Like Home is designed for people who mainly live in the UK and make short trips. It compares your use in the included countries with your use in the UK over any 120 days in a row. If you use more abroad than at home over that stretch, it adds a surcharge. Data costs 0.20p per MB, which Lebara puts at £2 per GB. Calls you make cost 2.4p a minute, calls you receive 0.6p a minute, and each text you send 0.8p.

The surcharge comes out of your pay-as-you-go credit, so on a long stay, such as a winter in Spain or months with family in India, keep some credit on the account.

Lebara roaming charges outside its included countries depend on where you go

Outside the included countries, your plan's allowances no longer apply. Lebara's roaming add-ons last 8 or 15 days, and the ones on offer depend on where you go. Pick your destination in Lebara's Roaming Rate Finder to see its add-ons and its pay-as-you-go rates.

An add-on's minutes cover calls within the country you are in, calls back to the UK and calls you receive. Texts you receive are free. Calling a third country, say Spain from New York, needs pay-as-you-go credit.

Lebara charges data in 1KB steps and counts what crosses its network, which can be more than your phone's own counter shows. Before you buy an add-on, our guide to travel eSIM versus roaming sets out the options.

Lebara does not include the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Switzerland, Monaco or Andorra

These are the trips closest to home where a Lebara plan does not work as it does in Spain or France. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are not on Lebara's Roam Like Home list, so a long weekend in St Helier means a roaming add-on or pay-as-you-go credit. An eSIM for Jersey is another way to get local data on the island.

Switzerland is not included either. Lebara's own FAQ explains that Switzerland is in EFTA but not in the EEA or the EU, so it sits outside EU roaming plans. If Switzerland is one stop on a trip through France or Italy, a Europe eSIM that includes Switzerland covers the whole route on one plan.

Monaco is outside Roam Like Home too, so plan a day trip from Nice with that in mind. Ofcom's rules mean a roaming text should arrive when your phone joins a network in another country, so a text as you cross from Nice is your cue that your phone has moved onto a Monaco network. Andorra is outside it as well, so check its page in Lebara's Roaming Rate Finder before you go.

Lebara roaming in Turkey needs an add-on

Turkey is not on Lebara's Roam Like Home list, so your UK allowance does not apply there. Lebara sells roaming add-ons for Turkey that last 8 or 15 days, and its Roaming Rate Finder shows what each one includes. Lebara says an add-on covers data, plus calls and texts within Turkey and back to the UK. If you plan to use a Turkish SIM instead, our guide to using your UK phone in Turkey covers the IMEI rule.

For a fortnight in Antalya, one 15-day add-on bought on the day you fly lasts the whole trip. For three weeks, buy the 15-day add-on and, when it ends, an 8-day one. Without an add-on, you pay Lebara's pay-as-you-go rates from your credit. Our guide to Turkey roaming on other UK networks shows what they charge.

Ofcom names the border between Turkey and Greece as a place where phones can roam onto the other country's network by accident. If a roaming text about Turkey arrives while you are on a Greek island close to the Turkish coast, your phone has probably joined a Turkish network, where Turkish rates apply. To stay on a Greek network, choose one by hand in your phone's network settings, as Lebara advises for border areas at home. Ofcom warns that a phone set to one network by hand misses calls and texts where that network has no signal, so switch back to automatic when you move on.

Instead of an add-on, a data-only eSIM for Turkey can carry your data, with your Lebara SIM left in for calls and texts.

Lebara USA roaming: one 15-day add-on covers a fortnight

Lebara's roaming add-ons for the USA last 8 or 15 days, and each comes with minutes and texts for calls within the US and back to the UK. A two-week trip to Florida fits inside one 15-day add-on if you buy it on the day you fly.

Lebara does not offer data or calls everywhere, and ships need care

Lebara's Roaming Rate Finder says data or voice services are not available in some destinations, and it links to the details. Check them before a trip off the usual routes.

Ofcom warns that at sea a phone can connect to a ship's satellite network instead of a land one, and that the charges can be higher than normal roaming. Check the ship's or ferry's own Wi-Fi packages before you sail.

Lebara roaming works best when you set it up before you leave the UK

Before you fly, work through these five steps:

1. Check that your SIM was activated in the UK. Roaming will not work on a SIM activated abroad.
2. Buy any add-on you need on the day you travel. Its days run from the moment you buy it to 23:59 UK time on the 8th or 15th day, so Lebara suggests buying it as close to your travel date as possible. You buy it from your destination's page in Lebara's Roaming Rate Finder. A roaming add-on does not renew on its own, and the MyLebara app shows what is left.
3. Top up some pay-as-you-go credit. Pay-as-you-go roaming rates and calls to third countries come out of it, and so does any fair use surcharge.
4. Turn on Data Roaming on your phone when you arrive in a country Lebara includes, or once your add-on is active. Mobile data will not work abroad with the switch off.
5. If data still fails, enter Lebara's settings by hand: APN uk.lebara.mobi, username WAP and password WAP. Then restart the phone.

Ofcom requires UK networks to send an automatic message when you arrive in another country, explaining the charges, unless you have opted out.

If you think you were charged for roaming by accident, Lebara asks you to contact a customer service advisor. For the wider picture, our explainer covers how UK networks charge for roaming, whatever network you are on.

Outside Lebara's included countries, a data-only eSIM can sit beside your SIM

HelloRoam sells travel eSIMs, so this section is about our own kind of product. Our editorial policy on conflicts of interest explains how we handle that.

In the EU, the EEA, India and Ukraine you need nothing else, since Lebara includes up to 30GB of data there. Further afield, where you pay for an add-on or for pay-as-you-go roaming, a data-only eSIM beside your Lebara SIM earns its place.

Apple says an iPhone XS, XS Max, XR or later can run an eSIM, and that an iPhone with a SIM tray can use a physical SIM and an eSIM together abroad. Its guide to eSIM for international travel adds that the iPhone must not be locked to a network to use another provider's eSIM. Check your phone supports eSIM before you buy one.

Then choose the line that carries data. On an iPhone, pick the travel eSIM under Settings, Mobile Data, Mobile Data, and turn on Data Roaming in that line's Mobile Data Options. An iPhone has a separate Data Roaming switch for each line, so you can leave it off on your Lebara line. A Samsung Galaxy has one Data Roaming switch for the whole phone: leave it on, and choose the eSIM for mobile data under Settings, Connections, SIM Card Manager. Outside the included countries, calls you answer on your Lebara number still use up your add-on's minutes.

HelloRoam's eSIMs carry data only, with no phone number, so your Lebara number keeps your calls and texts. You install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, and the plan starts when it first connects to a network at your destination. For a trip through several places Lebara charges for, such as the USA and Turkey, one global eSIM covers both. That was the line-up on 2 November 2026, and each plan page lists the places it covers.