eSIM for a road trip outside the EU

A car changes two things. Navigation runs all day and eats data non-stop, and you cross a border every few hours, sometimes without noticing: the phone picks up a Swiss network while you are still in Germany, and a Montenegrin one in Croatia. Your Polish SIM then charges for data at the non-EU rate before you see the border sign.

The rule before the first border

Turn data roaming off on your Polish SIM before you enter the first country outside the EU, and use the eSIM until the end of the trip. In EU countries along the way your Polish SIM works as it does at home, so you can turn it back on, but the simplest thing is to drive on the eSIM from the start.

Which plan

• •
  The Balkans by car (Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia): a regional plan for the Balkans. Croatia and Slovenia are in the EU.
• •
  Through Switzerland to Italy: a small plan for Switzerland for the day you drive through; on the Italian side, your Polish SIM.
• •
  To Turkey through Bulgaria: a plan for Turkey; Bulgaria is in the EU.
• •
  To the UK by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel: a plan for the UK, unless your operator still charges for it as if it were in the EU.

Data: navigation with online maps takes 50–100 MB per hour of driving; for a two-week tour count on 5–10 GB, with Instagram and bookings along the way.

Before you set off

1. 1.
   Download offline maps of the countries on your route; in the mountains and in remote areas, the signal drops out with every operator.
2. 2.
   Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi: the guide. Keep a regional plan that covers Poland with its line turned off until the first border.
3. 3.
   Vignettes, road tolls and parking are more and more often paid in an app; check before you enter, and in Switzerland and Montenegro for certain.

What to watch out for

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  Passengers have phones too; a hotspot from one eSIM uses up the plan for everyone.
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  At the Serbian–Hungarian and the Croatian–Montenegrin borders, queues can last hours; data is more useful than ever, but by then you are on the next country’s network.