Most people buying a travel eSIM either buy far too much or panic and buy a gigabyte. Here are the actual numbers, so you can decide from evidence rather than anxiety.
The short answer
About 3 GB covers a normal week in Europe. Around 5 GB covers ten days. Take 10 GB if you stream in the evenings or tether a laptop.
That surprises people, and the reason is simple: on holiday you are out looking at things, not sitting on your phone. The usage that eats data at home happens on your sofa, on WiFi.
What each thing actually uses
| Activity | Rough data use | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps navigation | about 5 MB an hour | Far less than people assume |
| WhatsApp messages | negligible | Thousands of texts is a few MB |
| WhatsApp voice call | about 30 MB an hour | Cheap |
| WhatsApp video call | about 300 MB an hour | The one that adds up |
| Instagram scrolling | about 300 MB an hour | Reels are much worse than photos |
| Netflix or YouTube on a phone | about 1 GB an hour | The main consumer, by far |
| Spotify streaming | about 70 MB an hour | Download playlists instead |
| Email and web browsing | about 20 MB an hour | Barely registers |
Two things dominate: video streaming and video calling. Everything else is noise by comparison. If you remove those two from your holiday, 3 GB is generous.
Real trip profiles
| Traveller | A week | Ten days | A fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maps, messaging, bookings only | 1 GB | 2 GB | 3 GB |
| Adds Instagram, taxis, a daily call home | 3 GB | 5 GB | 7 GB |
| Evening streaming or tethering a laptop | 10 GB | 15 GB | 20 GB+ |
| Working remotely, video meetings | 20 GB+ | 30 GB+ | 40 GB+ |
Why Europe needs less than you thinkEurope is the easiest continent in the world to travel on a small data plan. Hotels, cafes, museums, trains and often whole city squares have free WiFi. Your phone spends a large part of the day not using your allowance at all.
The four things that quietly burn your allowance
- Automatic photo backup. iCloud or Google Photos uploading every picture you take over mobile data. Turn it to WiFi only before you travel. This is the biggest silent consumer on any holiday.
- App and system updates. Set both to WiFi only.
- Video autoplay. Instagram and TikTok playing video as you scroll. Instagram has a data saver setting.
- Navigation running all day. Not much per hour, but a driving holiday runs it for eight hours a day.
Fixing the first one alone often halves what a traveller uses.
Should you just buy unlimited?
Usually not, and the word is doing a lot of work.
Almost every travel eSIM sold as unlimited has a daily allowance, after which you keep working at a much slower speed. So unlimited generally means a few gigabytes a day at full speed, then throttled.
That is a perfectly reasonable product, and for a heavy user it can be the right buy. But if you need 3 GB for a week, paying daily for unlimited is worse value than a fixed plan, and the only genuine benefit is never having to think about it.
How to judge an unlimited planThe question worth asking any seller is what the daily cap is and what speed you drop to afterwards. Plenty of them do not print it anywhere, which tells you something on its own.
What if you run out?
Most sellers, us included, let you top up the same eSIM without installing anything new. Your profile keeps working and you add data to it.
The thing to understand is the difference between running out of data and running out of days. If the validity period expired, topping up will not help and you buy a fresh plan.
In practice, buying one size up at the start usually costs less than topping up mid trip, because small top ups carry proportionally more overhead.
Country by country, roughly the same
People ask whether Spain needs more than Italy, or Greece more than Portugal. Broadly, no. Data use follows how you travel, not which country you are in.
The two real exceptions are worth knowing:
- Driving holidays need more. Italy in particular, where navigation keeps you out of a ZTL restricted zone and the fine that follows.
- Island hopping needs planning rather than volume. On Greek ferries you lose signal in open water, so the answer is downloading before you board rather than buying more gigabytes.
Do you need to buy anything at all?
If your phone plan is from an EU country, no. EU roaming gives you your home allowance across the EU at no extra cost. This entire question is one you do not have to answer.
From outside the EU you do need something. UK travellers should check their own plan, because EU roaming policy varies by network after Brexit.
Quick answers
How much data do I need for a week in Europe?
About 3 GB for normal use, covering maps, messaging, bookings and social media. One gigabyte is enough if you stick to maps and WhatsApp and use hotel WiFi. Take 10 GB if you plan to stream video in the evenings or tether a laptop.
How much data does Google Maps use?
Roughly 5 MB an hour, which is far less than most people assume. Navigation is not what drains a travel plan. Video streaming at about 1 GB an hour and video calling at about 300 MB an hour are the two things that actually matter.
Is it worth buying an unlimited eSIM?
Usually only for heavy users. Almost every unlimited travel eSIM has a daily allowance after which you are throttled to a much slower speed, so unlimited really means a few gigabytes a day at full speed. If you need 3 GB for a week, a fixed plan is better value.
What uses the most data on holiday?
Video streaming, at roughly a gigabyte an hour, followed by video calling at about 300 MB an hour. The biggest silent consumer is automatic photo backup uploading every picture over mobile data, so set iCloud or Google Photos to WiFi only before you travel.
What happens if I run out of data?
You can usually top up the same eSIM without installing anything new. The distinction that matters is data versus days: if the validity period has expired, topping up will not help and you need a fresh plan. Buying one size up at the start is generally cheaper than topping up mid trip.
Sources
- Published data consumption figures from Google Maps, Meta and Netflix help documentation.
- European Commission roaming rules, Roam Like At Home, ec.europa.eu.
- MegaEsim plan structures and fair use policies, from our own catalogue.
