Greece SIM card for Indian travellers: roaming, local SIM or eSIM

Greece eSIM or local SIM: what Indian travellers need

An Athens-and-islands trip runs on data: ferry tickets, maps, hotel chats. A Greek number rarely matters. A data eSIM set up in India covers you from the moment you land, and your Indian SIM stays in the phone for bank OTPs. A Greece tourist SIM is worth buying only when someone in Greece must call you locally. For the rest of a longer route, see our international SIM guides by country.

Pack prices as listed by Jio, Airtel and Vi on 13 Oct 2026; ₹ per GB is our derivation (price ÷ GB). eSIM prices are an estimate at the day’s rate; your card is charged in US$.

A physical Greece SIM card from a local operator takes the slot your Indian SIM uses on a single-slot phone, so OTPs to that number pause until you swap back. Identity is checked before a local line is issued. We quote no Greece SIM card price because we have not verified current rates, and no plan is the best eSIM for Greece on every trip.

Two host networks carry our Greece plans: Nova on 5G and the Greek Vodafone network on 4G. You choose from twelve sizes: 1 GB for 7 days, 2 GB for 15 days, 3, 5, 10 or 20 GB for 30 days, or unlimited data for 3, 5, 7, 10, 15 or 30 days. On the unlimited plans, speed falls to 1 Mbps once a day’s use passes 3 GB. Hotspot / tethering use draws on the same data allowance; our plan details do not state a hotspot rule.

Your Jio, Airtel or Vi pack in Greece vs this eSIM

Jio, Airtel and Vi each sell roaming packs that list Greece, and the five in our table cost ₹951 to ₹3,495 as listed on 13 Oct 2026. Each one bundles minutes on your Indian number, which our data-only eSIM does not. Greece sits in Vi’s unlimited zone, so Vi prints the data on its ₹3,495 Ultra pack as FREE. Cyprus is different: Vi’s prepaid T&C list no pack for it, as the Cyprus guide explains.

We sell travel eSIMs, so we have an interest here. The table still shows when your operator pack is the better choice.

Source: operator documents (Jio plan list · Airtel T&C PDF · Vi prepaid T&C PDF); Jio checked 13 Oct 2026, Airtel 13 Oct 2026, Vi 13 Oct 2026. The ≈ ₹ per GB column is our derivation (price ÷ GB). Airtel’s T&C dated 24 Sep 2026 list ₹998 and ₹1,298; its FAQ page still shows older prices.

Vi’s two rows differ for separate reasons. Ultra shows FREE data because Greece is in Vi’s unlimited zone; the Budget pack has 2 GB because Budget packs are sized that way for Set 1 countries. Our 7-day unlimited plan costs ≈ ₹1,532 (12 Oct rate), charged US$15.99, and slows to 1 Mbps after 3 GB in a day; Vi’s Ultra also covers calls on your Indian number.

On a 15-day island-hop, Vi’s ₹1,495 Budget pack runs the full fortnight with 2 GB and 200 minutes. The same 2 GB over 15 days on our plan costs ≈ ₹478 (12 Oct rate), with no minutes, plus any markup your card issuer applies. Jio states: “Your plan validity begins only with your first usage—call, text, or data.” Airtel counts a prepaid pack from when your phone latches on to a covered foreign network and makes chargeable usage.

Athens and the islands: what the Greece plan covers

Is there one SIM for all of Greece? Our Greece plan covers the mainland, Athens included, and names six islands: Crete, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Corfu and Kos, with more covered besides. If your island is not among those six, ask us before you rely on it there. We promise no signal on a ferry crossing or a remote beach.

On the islands, two host networks share the load: Nova (5G) and Vodafone (4G), a Greek network that has nothing to do with Vi. We cannot tell you which of the two serves a given village. For a month of island-hopping, 20 GB over 30 days costs ≈ ₹1,819 (12 Oct rate); the 30-day unlimited plan costs ≈ ₹4,405 (12 Oct rate) and keeps the 1 Mbps limit after 3 GB in a day.

Greece plan or the Europe plan for Greece plus Italy or Türkiye

Pick the Greece plan when Greece is the whole trip and the Europe plan when the route crosses a border. The Europe plan lists 41 countries, among them Greece, Italy and Türkiye. For 10 GB over 30 days, the Greece plan costs ≈ ₹1,244 (12 Oct rate) and the Europe plan ≈ ₹1,819 (12 Oct rate), so the Europe plan costs more for the same data.

Vi lists Italy and Türkiye in the same unlimited zone as Greece, so its Ultra pack keeps FREE data along such a route. The wider route is covered in the Europe SIM card guide, on the Europe eSIM page and in the Europe roaming comparison.

Setting up the Greece eSIM before you fly (manual APN on Android)

Install the eSIM in India; it connects when you land in Greece. Scan its QR code over home Wi-Fi: data plan validity starts with the first connection to a Greek network, so the QR code install at home costs no days. On Android, the Greece plan needs its access point name typed in by hand; iPhone sets it automatically.

We print no access point name value here: it comes on your order page. The APN settings guide shows where it goes. When you land, switch data roaming on for the eSIM line. Confirm your model on the eSIM phone list before you buy; the plans are on the Greece eSIM page.

Full refund within 30 days of purchase, as long as the eSIM has not connected to any network. If the eSIM doesn’t work and it isn’t your phone’s fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

Bank OTPs and your Indian number in Greece

Bank OTPs reach you as SMS on your Indian number. The Greece plan has no SMS, so it cannot take them. Leave the Indian SIM in the phone as a second line with mobile data off, and before you fly, ask your operator whether SMS gets through to you in Greece on your plan.

No page can promise that every OTP will reach you; the OTP guide covers the dual-SIM settings.

Your card is charged in US dollars. Your bank converts the amount at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction (forex markup) fee. How card payments work.

What if the eSIM doesn’t work when you land in Greece?

Check four settings, in this order, before you write to us.

The first is the line for mobile data. On iPhone it is Settings > Mobile Service > Mobile Data; on Android, the SIM manager. Pick the travel line there; your Indian line stays on for calls and SMS, with its mobile data off.

The second is data roaming, for the eSIM line only. The eSIM is a foreign profile, so the phone treats Greece as roaming for it.

The third is the APN. The plan does not set it by itself here: add globaldata/orange/orange.fr on Android under the eSIM line’s mobile network settings.

The fourth is a restart. Restart the phone or switch airplane mode on and off, and let it find Nova and Vodafone; this can take a few minutes after you leave the plane.

Still no data? Write to us on WhatsApp or at support@esimgo.in with your order number, or go through the no-signal checklist. Do not delete the eSIM to “try again”: a deleted profile usually cannot be installed twice from the same code. If the eSIM doesn't work and it isn't your phone's fault, we refund the payment whether or not it was installed.

What I’d choose (and when NOT to buy the eSIM)

For a week of maps, rides and messaging I’d take 1 GB for 7 days, ≈ ₹285 (US$2.99). For two weeks or more, with photos and social media, I’d go for 5 GB for 30 days, ≈ ₹857 (US$8.99). If you video-call and stream every day, take the unlimited plan for 7 days, ≈ ₹1,524 (US$15.99), with 3 GB a day at full speed, then 1 Mbps.

I would not recommend the eSIM in three cases. If you need calls or SMS on your Indian number every day, a Jio, Airtel or Vi roaming pack carries them (compare the packs). If your phone has no eSIM or is locked to one operator, it cannot take the plan: check your model first. And if your group travels together all day and shares one connection, a pocket Wi-Fi can cover everyone.

FAQ

Get an eSIM for Greece, from ≈ ₹285 Pay by card in US$. Your bank converts the US$ charge at its own rate and may add a foreign-transaction fee. Install the profile at home on Wi-Fi before you fly. The QR code arrives by e-mail after payment. See plans