Untold Italy · Friday, July 17, 2026
Katie Clark, host of Untold Italy, advises most travelers that standard international roaming plans from their home provider are sufficient for cell phone service in Italy, unless venturing into very remote areas. She notes that international SIM cards or eSIMs can be purchased before traveling for potentially lower costs, but obtaining a physical SIM card in Italy can be difficult. Clark suggests that for typical usage, like navigation and occasional social media, data allowances are generally generous.
“Laurie, unless you're going to be very remote, you're going up into the mountains or some really non touristy areas, I wouldn't worry about reception at all.”
“I use my phone from home here in Australia throughout Italy and have never had any problems, except if I'm somewhere really out of the way, and in that situation we just go to the nearest village.”
“I use the International Roaming Plan from my telecommunications company and it's around five dollars a day, and it's similar across most operators globally.”
“You can also buy. An international SIM if you're concerned about the cost, and I would do that before you leave home. You can buy an e SIM online. As the process to get a physical SIM is a bit of an die Mary in Italy.”