Greece SIM card 2026: Telekom, Vodafone or Nova

Part of our Greece eSIM guide: all articles and key facts →

A Greek SIM gives you a local number and, for a long stay, data at a lower price than most travel eSIMs. The choice is between three networks: Telekom, the former Cosmote, Vodafone and Nova. We read their pages on 26 October 2026, together with Opensignal's latest measurements and the EU's roaming rules. Here is what each operator offers a visitor from outside the EU, what you need to buy a line, and when a travel eSIM remains the better choice.

If your SIM is from an EU or EEA country, you roam in Greece at home prices and can skip this guide. Prices below are in euros and include Greek VAT at 24%.

Telekom, Vodafone, Nova: who is who?

Greece has three mobile networks. Telekom is the former Cosmote, part of the OTE group; it completed its switch to the Telekom brand in September 2026, and the old cosmote.gr addresses now redirect to telekom.gr. Many eSIM sellers and travel guides still say "Cosmote": it is the same network. Vodafone Greece is the second operator, and Nova, formerly Wind, the third; Nova sells prepaid lines under the FREE2GO and Q brands.

According to figures from the regulator EETT quoted in Opensignal’s September 2026 report, Telekom held 44.4% of mobile connections at the end of 2024, Vodafone 34.1% and Nova 21.5%, and 5G reached 99.8% of the population in June 2024. Greece has switched off 3G, so a recent phone with 4G is all you need.

This guide is for visitors from outside the EU. With an EU or EEA SIM, you roam in Greece at home prices and do not need a local line.

Which network is fastest and covers the most of Greece?

Telekom, according to the latest Opensignal report; Vodafone keeps its users connected the longest. Opensignal’s Greece report of September 2026 is based on measurements taken by its app's users between 1 April and 29 June 2026.

Opensignal names Telekom Greece's best network: it won download speed, upload speed, consistent quality, coverage and 5G coverage outright, and shared reliability with the other two. Vodafone had the highest time on network, 98.2%, and the best 5G availability. Nova improved on almost every measure but finished third in eleven awards.

Coverage, in Opensignal's sense, measures signal in the places people live, work and travel, not every hillside. For a visitor, the gap between 8.4 and 6.7 shows mostly on mountain roads, in gorges and on the smaller islands.

What does Vodafone Greece offer a visitor?

Vodafone was the only one of the three operators whose tourist page we could read with bundles and prices: unlimited data in Greece plus 200 minutes for 30 days at €27. On 26 October 2026, its tourist SIM page listed two "Vodafone International" prepaid bundles:

Prices include 24% VAT. The page shows a top-up amount beside each bundle, the credit you load to pay for it; the difference stays on your balance. Validity runs from the bundle's activation. Once the bundle is used up, the page warns that data and calls switch to a daily charge of €2.

You can order the SIM online "using only your valid passport/id", and the online order includes an eSIM option priced at €9.90. Alternatively, Vodafone says you can buy the SIM "from Vodafone kiosk at Athens International Airport, Fraport Airports in Greece or any Vodafone shop in Greece".

For a month in Greece, €27 for unlimited data is cheaper than any Greece-only unlimited travel eSIM we read; the cheapest, Ubigi, cost €55 for 30 days. For a week, the gap narrows: Ubigi's 7-day plan cost €22, without a counter visit.

What do Nova's FREE2GO and Q offer?

Nova's prepaid brands advertise the largest allowances in Greece, but they are designed for residents. On 26 October 2026, FREE2GO promoted a "Super Data Max" offer of 250 GB with rollover for 30 days at €14.20, and a "Super Data" offer of 150 GB for 30 days at €13.30. Nova's other prepaid brand, Q, showed the same 250 GB offer at €12.50.

Getting a line is the hard part for a visitor. FREE2GO's online SIM order delivers the SIM by courier to an address in Greece, with a copy of your identity document needed on delivery; you then activate it by scanning a QR code, taking a selfie, photographing your ID and signing a declaration electronically. We found no price for a FREE2GO or Q starter SIM bought in a shop, and no tourist page in English.

Nova's eSIM page says its eSIM is free, and that new customers can choose an eSIM instead of a physical card, with the switch handled in Nova stores. If you are staying several weeks in one place, a FREE2GO line delivered to your rental is worth considering; for a short trip, the paperwork outweighs the saving.

And Telekom, the former Cosmote?

Telekom has the best measured network, but we could not read its prepaid prices. On 26 October 2026, every Telekom page we tried, including its prepaid and eSIM pages, answered our reader with a bot-protection screen, so we publish no Telekom price, allowance or eSIM fee.

If you want Telekom's coverage, two routes remain. You can buy a Telekom prepaid line in one of its stores with your passport and ask the staff for the current tourist or data bundles. Or you can use a travel eSIM that names Cosmote among its networks: in our comparison of Greece eSIMs, Yesim and Orange Travel were the only two.

Buying at Athens airport or on the islands?

You can buy a Vodafone tourist line on arrival at Athens International Airport; on the islands, plan on a shop in town. Vodafone's tourist page names a kiosk at Athens International Airport and at "Fraport Airports in Greece". Fraport Greece runs 14 regional airports, among them Thessaloniki and island airports such as Chania on Crete, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes and Kos, according to GTP. Vodafone's list of kiosk locations is published as an image we could not read, so check before you count on a kiosk at a given island airport.

We found no operator page listing a different price at the airport than in town. Whatever the counter, bring your passport, and ask four things before you pay: the total price including the top-up, whether you get a physical SIM or an eSIM, the date the bundle ends, and how to buy more data. Keep the receipt with your number on it.

If you land late on a night flight or connect straight to a ferry at Piraeus or Rafina, a travel eSIM installed at home avoids the queue; you can still buy a Greek line the next day.

What ID do you need for a Greek SIM?

A passport or national identity card, for every operator and every channel we checked. Vodafone's tourist offer is ordered online "using only your valid passport/id" or bought at a kiosk or shop. FREE2GO asks for a copy of your identity document at delivery, then a selfie and a photo of the document to activate the line. Greek prepaid lines are registered to a named person, so you cannot activate a line bought by someone else.

Registration takes a few minutes at a counter. Online, it depends on the courier, which is why a line ordered from abroad is rarely practical for a short stay. A travel eSIM needs no identity check by the Greek operator, since you remain a customer of the eSIM seller.

Islands and ferries: what changes with a local SIM?

On land, nothing: a Greek SIM and a travel eSIM use the same networks. The difference is choice. With a local line you pick your network, and Telekom, the coverage leader in Opensignal's report with 8.4 out of 10, is not available through most travel eSIMs. If you plan to hike the Samaria Gorge or stay on small Cyclades islands, that can matter.

At sea, all lines behave alike: the signal fades as the ferry leaves the coast. The EU’s Your Europe page warns that when a ship's mobile service runs "via satellite systems, EU rules no longer apply" and roaming is unregulated, without price caps. A Greek SIM is not protected either if it connects to such a network. Download tickets, boarding passes and maps before you sail, and switch on flight mode or Wi-Fi only if you see an unfamiliar network name on board.

Local SIM or travel eSIM: which costs less?

For a month, Vodafone's tourist bundle wins on price; for a week or a late arrival, a travel eSIM installed at home wins on convenience. On 26 October 2026, Vodafone's unlimited bundle cost €27 for 30 days with 200 minutes and a Greek number, against €55 for Ubigi's 30-day unlimited eSIM and €57 for Yesim's. For a week, Ubigi's €22 and Yesim's €24.50 are close to Vodafone's €18.10 bundle of 25 GB over 20 days, and you skip the counter.

• City break in Athens, late arrival: a travel eSIM installed at home.
• Two weeks or more, heavy data use: Vodafone's unlimited tourist bundle, bought at Athens airport or in a Vodafone shop.
• Need a Greek number: any of the three operators.
• Hiking and small islands: a Telekom line, or a travel eSIM that names Cosmote, such as Yesim's.
• Several months in one place: a Nova FREE2GO or Q line, if you can receive the courier.

Our comparison of Greece eSIMs has all the prices by trip length, and our Greece eSIM guide sums up the key figures.

How do you set up a Greek line or eSIM, and what if you travel on?

Check your phone before you leave, and keep your home line reachable without letting it roam. A Greek SIM or eSIM only works in a phone that is not locked to your home operator: read do you need an unlocked phone for a travel eSIM and check your model on our list of eSIM-compatible phones. If you take Vodafone's eSIM option or a Nova eSIM, you will scan a QR code: FREE2GO's eSIM page says to connect to Wi-Fi first. Our step-by-step activation guide covers the Android settings, and our fixes for an eSIM stuck on activating help if the line never comes up.

With a physical Greek SIM in a dual-SIM phone, or a Greek eSIM next to your home SIM, choose the Greek line for mobile data and switch off data roaming on your home line. Our guide to running two eSIMs at the same time explains the settings, and 10 fixes for a travel eSIM not working abroad apply to local lines too.

A Greek prepaid line roams in the rest of the EU under EU rules, within the limits each bundle sets: Vodafone's unlimited bundle includes 22 GB in the rest of the EU. Outside the EU, it does not. If your trip continues to Turkey or Albania, read our Turkey eSIM guide or our Albania eSIM guide before you cross, and for Italy, our Italy eSIM guide.

How we checked

We read the tourist and prepaid pages of Vodafone Greece and Nova (FREE2GO, Q) on 26 October 2026, including the bundle data embedded in Vodafone's page. We recorded only what the pages showed: where a price was missing, we say so. Telekom's pages blocked automated reading that day, so we give no Telekom prices.

Network figures come from Opensignal's September 2026 Greece report, the airports operated by Fraport from GTP, and the ferry and roaming rules from the EU's Your Europe page. Travel eSIM prices come from our comparison of the same day. We did not buy the lines or test them in Greece, and we found no reliable source for airport price differences, so we give none. Check the operator's page or counter before you buy.