UK SIM Card for Tourists: What It Costs and Where to Buy One
You have read that a UK SIM costs £10, and that is true. The catch comes at the counter. An iPhone 14 or later bought in the US has no SIM tray, so a plastic card will not fit. And if you land at Heathrow after 10 p.m., every SIM shop hour the airport lists has already ended.
A UK SIM card for tourists is the best deal on data if your phone has a tray, is unlocked, and you can reach a shop. Three sells 40 GB for £10, with unlimited UK calls and texts. If your phone has no tray, or you land late, a travel eSIM set up at home is simpler, and our 5 GB UK plan is $9.50. If your US plan already includes the UK, you may not need either one.
In short:
- Three sells 40 GB for £10 for one month, in a price guide effective 2026-04-19. Vodafone sells 27 GB for £10 on 2026-11-01, but its standard amount is 8 GB.
- Heathrow lists 11 SIM Local stores. No listed hours run past 10 p.m.
- We found no passport rule on any page we read. Bring your passport anyway.
- The Moosetrip UK eSIM runs on EE and 3 and starts at $3.50 for 1 GB over 7 days, on 2026-11-01.
United Kingdom eSIM from $3.50Install at home, connect when you land.See plans
Which networks sell a UK prepaid SIM?
The names you will see most are EE, O2, Vodafone, and Three. Vodafone's site footer now shows the name VodafoneThree, with a link to Three UK. Their prepaid plans and price lists are still separate.
Smaller brands such as giffgaff, Lebara, and Voxi sell SIMs too. We could not read current plans on the O2, giffgaff, Lebara, or Voxi sites, so they are not in the table.
UK prepaid SIM prices
Three prices come from its guide effective 2026-04-19. Vodafone Pay as you go Plus prices were read on 2026-11-01 and can auto-renew every 30 days if you choose. Confirm both before you buy.
| Plan | Price | UK data | Calls and texts | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three Data Pack | £10 | 40 GB | Unlimited | 1 month |
| Three Data Pack | £15 | 100 GB | Unlimited | 1 month |
| Three Data Pack | £35 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 month |
| Vodafone Plus | £10 | 27 GB offer, 8 GB standard | Unlimited | 30 days |
| Vodafone Plus | £40 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 30 days |
The fine print changes the deal.
Buy a pack, not just credit. On Three, credit with no active pack pays 10p per MB. At that rate 1 GB costs £102.40.
Three caps speed. Its New Pay As You Go plans run at 25 Mbps. That covers maps and video calls.
Vodafone's big numbers are an offer. The £10 plan is 8 GB plus 19 GB extra for 3 months. The offer ends 2026-12-08, and the footnote ties it to Auto-Renew and a registered payment card. The page does not say whether one single purchase gets the extra, so plan on 8 GB until a seller confirms it.
EE listed no plan prices on its pay as you go page on 2026-11-01, so it is not in the table.
Where we lose on price. Three gives 40 GB for £10, and our 5 GB plan is $9.50. If you will stream every day, or you want a UK number, a local SIM is the better buy.
SIM card at London Heathrow
Heathrow's own page names one SIM seller: SIM Local, which carries cards from "various UK operators." It lists 11 stores across Terminals 2, 3, 4, and 5, mostly in arrivals or baggage reclaim.
On 2026-11-01 most listed stores ran 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Two opened at 5:30 a.m., and one of those closed at 9 p.m. One gave no hours, and none is listed as open all night. The text we read showed 9 of the 11 stores and did not match them to terminals, so look up yours on the same page.
The Heathrow pages name no networks, give no prices, and say nothing about ID. Do not assume the table above applies at the counter. Ask which network the SIM uses, the total, the data, and the end date.
Heathrow also promotes a free eSIM through SIM Local, with no data prices on the page. Ask what the data costs.
SIM card at Gatwick
Gatwick has a passenger guide at a SIM card address, but on 2026-11-01 it opened as a shop directory and named no SIM seller. The closest match was InMotion, an electronics shop after security in both terminals, open 4 a.m. to 7 p.m. in North and 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. in South.
After security is the departures side, so it will not help when you land, and the page does not say InMotion sells SIMs. If you fly into Gatwick, have data working before you board. Our guide to the SIM card at the airport covers how to plan around that.
We did not confirm city store lists or hours, so we print no addresses.
Do you need a passport for a UK SIM?
We cannot give you a firm rule. The Three guide, the Vodafone and EE pages, and the Heathrow pages say nothing about ID for a prepaid SIM. We found no official statement either way, so carry your passport to the shop.
Activation and how long a plan lasts
Three spells out the steps:
- Put the SIM in while you are in the UK and wait for the phone to connect.
- Top up, from £5 to £90.
- Turn the credit into a Data Pack and wait for it to go active. Until then, up to 5 MB or 10 minutes of data can come out of your credit.
- Note the end date. A Three month runs from one date to the same date next month.
If you switch on Auto-Renew at Vodafone, turn it off before you fly home.
Do not count on keeping the SIM for next year's trip. Three says it may disconnect you after 180 days with no chargeable use.
Will your US phone take a UK SIM?
- Tray. Apple says iPhone 14 and later models bought in the US are eSIM only. See does my phone support eSIM for other models.
- Lock. A phone locked to your US carrier may refuse a UK SIM. Check your phone and ask your carrier well before the trip.
- Bands. We did not read band lists for UK networks. Ask the staff to test the SIM before you pay.
Vodafone lists every Plus plan as available with eSIM, which could suit a phone with no tray. We have not confirmed that a visitor can finish that setup or pay with a US card.
Coverage outside London
Ofcom, the UK regulator, reports on coverage in its Connected Nations series. The 2025 UK report, published 2025-11-19, would not open for us, so this guide prints no percentages.
Instead, look up your exact stops on the coverage map for your network, and check the hotel, not just the city. A Three pack runs on Three. Our UK eSIM lists EE and 3, so check those two. Hills can block any signal, so save an offline map before a day in the countryside.
Going on to Ireland or France
Big UK allowances shrink at the border. These are Three's figures for its Go Roam countries:
| Three pack | UK data | Data in Go Roam countries |
|---|---|---|
| £10 | 40 GB | 6 GB |
| £35 | Unlimited | 30 GB |
Go Roam in Europe includes France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. In Ireland your full UK allowance applies. Your phone must first connect to Three in the UK, and Three says Go Roam is meant for UK residents on short trips.
EE treats Ireland like the UK at no extra charge. For 47 other destinations it sells a pass at £2.50 for 24 hours or £10 for 7 days.
Our UK plan is for the UK. For the continent, add a plan like our France eSIM, or look at the Europe plan for 35 countries, and confirm the UK and every stop are on its list. On 2026-11-01, Europe is $10.50 for 5 GB.
UK SIM, eSIM, or roaming?
| Your trip | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Tray, unlocked phone, heavy use, daytime arrival | Three pack from a UK shop |
| US iPhone 14 or later, or a late landing | eSIM installed at home |
| Two days with lots of calls | Daily roaming pass |
| US plan already includes the UK | Keep your plan |
Our UK plans list the EE and 3 networks. Prices on 2026-11-01:
| Data | Valid for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | 7 days | $3.50 |
| 3 GB | 30 days | $7 |
| 5 GB | 30 days | $9.50 |
| 10 GB | 30 days | $15.50 |
| 20 GB | 30 days | $28 |
The plan installs at home over Wi-Fi with a QR code, and days count from your first connection in the UK. It is internet only, with no UK number, and you can add data to the same eSIM. Your US line stays on, and our guide to keeping your US number abroad covers bank texts.
For sizing, 1 GB is about 5 hours of maps and taxi apps, or about 1.5 hours of video calls. Five days in London with an hour of maps and a 30-minute video call each day comes to about 2.7 GB, so 3 GB just fits. How much data you need has more examples.
Verizon TravelPass and AT&T International Day Pass both listed $12 a day for one line, on 2026-10-30. Confirm the UK and the rate in your carrier app. That is $84 for 7 days, against $9.50 for 5 GB. A pass keeps your number working for calls.
Questions
Can I buy a SIM card at Heathrow?
Yes. Heathrow lists 11 SIM Local stores across four terminals. Listed hours end by 10 p.m., and the airport pages give no prices.
How much is a SIM card in England?
Vodafone says its SIM is free to order, and you pay for the plan. Three and Vodafone plans start at £10.
Sources
- Three, New Pay As You Go Price Guide, checked 2026-11-01
- Vodafone UK, Pay as you go Plus, checked 2026-11-01
- Vodafone UK, Pay as you go phones, checked 2026-11-01
- EE, pay as you go SIM, checked 2026-11-01
- Heathrow, UK sims and phones, checked 2026-11-01
- Heathrow, Sim Local, checked 2026-11-01
- London Gatwick, SIM card guide address, checked 2026-11-01
- Apple, which type of SIM your iPhone uses, checked 2026-10-30
- Verizon, TravelPass FAQs, checked 2026-10-30
- AT&T, International Day Pass, checked 2026-10-30