Short answer. Tunisia is not part of the European roaming zone that most UK plans include, so your usual allowance does not simply carry on there. When we read the networks' own pages on 17 September 2026: EE said there are no roaming passes for Tunisia and no mobile data without one; O2 did not list Tunisia among the destinations of its Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate or its £7-a-day Travel Bolt On; Three included Tunisia in Go Roam Around the World Extra, at £7 or £8 a day depending on when you joined; and Vodafone's pay-as-you-go page listed Tunisia among its "additional destinations". A week of Three's daily charge is £49–£56. A 7-day travel eSIM from us is €37, about £32.
Why your UK plan behaves differently in Tunisia
Most UK pay-monthly plans now bundle roaming for Europe, sometimes for a list of long-haul destinations too. Tunisia is on the Mediterranean, a short flight from Gatwick or Manchester, and it is easy to assume it counts as "Europe". It does not. Each network puts Tunisia in its own category — and those categories range from "included in a daily pass" to "no data at all". The only reliable answer is your own network's Tunisia page, read before you fly.
What each network said about Tunisia
EE
EE's Tunisia roaming page stated: "There are no roaming passes available for Tunisia. Standard charges apply." Its standard roaming charges there were £2.46 a minute for calls made or received and 98p a text. On data, the page was just as clear: "You will not have access to mobile data without a roaming pass." In other words, an EE customer in Tunisia has no mobile data at all from EE, and pays per minute for calls. EE also advises turning off Wi-Fi Calling abroad to avoid extra charges.
O2
O2 Travel Inclusive Zone Ultimate — the roaming bundle that comes only with O2's Ultimate plans — lists 75 destinations, and Tunisia was not among them. O2's page adds that customers who move off an Ultimate plan can buy the O2 Travel Bolt On covering the same destinations for £7 a day, so that bolt-on does not cover Tunisia either. Outside its listed destinations, O2 applies its standard international roaming rates: look up the Tunisia rate in My O2 before you travel, and assume it will be expensive for data.
Three
Of the four networks, Three was the only one whose page clearly placed Tunisia in a daily roaming band you can use with your normal allowance. On its Pay Monthly destinations list, Tunisia appears under Go Roam Around the World Extra. With that band, the calls, texts and up to 12 GB of data a month included in a Three plan work in Tunisia, for a daily charge:
- £7 a day if you joined or upgraded between 1 October 2021 and 17 December 2025;
- £8 a day if you joined or upgraded on or after 18 December 2025 (charged from 1 April 2026, and subject to annual price increases);
- £7 a day on the SIM Only 24-month Lite plans with 25 GB or 120 GB taken from 1 June 2025.
Three says Go Roam Around the World Extra is not available on Pay As You Go, or on Pay Monthly plans that started before 1 October 2021. On Three's Pay As You Go list, Tunisia sits under "Rest of the World", where standard roaming rates apply.
Vodafone
Vodafone's roaming page groups destinations into zones. For pay-monthly customers it describes Zone D as "73 additional worldwide destinations" and gives Egypt, India, Morocco, Thailand and the UAE as examples, plus "Rest of the World" zones — but it did not say in which of them Tunisia sits, so we will not guess. For pay-as-you-go customers, the same page lists "39 additional destinations. Includes the Maldives, Mauritius and Tunisia", where you add an Extra or pay a daily charge. Vodafone points customers to its Roaming Charge Checker: enter Tunisia there, with your own plan, before you go.
Other UK networks
Giffgaff, iD Mobile, Lebara, Sky Mobile, Smarty, Tesco Mobile, Voxi and the other smaller networks set their own roaming lists and prices. We did not check them for this article. Search your network's site for "Tunisia" and read the data line carefully: "not available" and "per MB" are the two answers that should make you look at an alternative.
A week in Tunisia, side by side
| Option | 7 days of mobile data |
|---|---|
| EE | No data available (no roaming pass for Tunisia) |
| O2 (Ultimate plan or Travel Bolt On) | Not covered — standard roaming rates |
| Three, joined 1 Oct 2021 – 17 Dec 2025 | 7 × £7 = £49 |
| Three, joined on/after 18 Dec 2025 | 7 × £8 = £56 |
| Vodafone | Depends on your plan — check the Roaming Charge Checker |
| eSIM Tunisie, 7 days | €37 (about £32) — 1 GB a day at full 4G speed, then 512 kbps |
| Local Tunisian SIM | Orange Tunisie lists 4 GB for 10 dinars (about £3), plus the SIM — bought in person with your passport |
The sterling figure for our plan uses the ECB reference rate of 16 September 2026; our prices are charged in euros, so your bank may add a non-sterling transaction fee. Three describes its daily charge as unlocking your allowances for 24 hours, and it also sells Go Roam Around the World Extra passes that it says can give you up to 2 days of roaming free — on a longer trip, compare the pass with seven daily charges.
What happens if you do nothing
If you land with your UK SIM exactly as it is at home, the phone will usually try to connect to a Tunisian network straight away. What follows depends on your network: on EE there is simply no mobile data, on O2 you are on standard roaming rates, and on Three your plan may trigger the daily charge the moment you use your allowance. Meanwhile the phone does what it always does — checks email, refreshes apps, syncs photos, sometimes downloads an update — without asking. That background activity is what turns a short trip into a surprising bill. The safest default is to switch data roaming off on your UK line before the plane doors open, and to switch it back on only if you have decided that roaming is your plan.
One more point if Tunisia is only one stop on your trip: our eSIM works in Tunisia only. If you continue to another country, you will need a separate solution there.
Keeping your UK number without paying for roaming
Most recent phones can run two lines at once: a physical SIM and an eSIM, or two eSIMs. That lets you keep your UK number reachable while the travel eSIM carries all the data.
- Install the travel eSIM at home, on Wi-Fi, a day or two before you fly. Name the lines "UK" and "Tunisia".
- Set the Tunisia line for mobile data and turn data roaming on for that line only.
- Turn data roaming off on your UK line. This is the step that protects you: with it off, your UK line cannot use data in Tunisia, even in the background.
- Leave the UK line on for calls and texts if you want to be reachable — but remember what those cost. On EE, calls made or received in Tunisia were £2.46 a minute. If you only need to receive bank codes by text, that is usually the only thing to keep the UK line for.
- Call and message over apps. WhatsApp, FaceTime and Signal work over the eSIM's data and keep your usual identity, at no roaming cost.
Our eSIM is data only: it gives you no Tunisian number and no ordinary calls or texts, which is exactly why this two-line setup works well.
When roaming is still the better choice
- You are on Three with Go Roam Around the World Extra and you stay only a couple of days: £7–£8 a day with your full UK allowance can be simpler than installing anything.
- You need to make many ordinary calls from your UK number: a data-only eSIM does not do that.
- Your phone does not support eSIM, or is locked to your UK network: then roaming or a local SIM are the only options. Check your phone here.
When a travel eSIM or a local SIM is the better choice
- You are with EE or O2: for data, there was no included option for Tunisia at all.
- You stay a week or more on Three: a week at £8 a day is £56, against about £32 for our 7-day eSIM or much less for a local SIM.
- You want a fixed, known cost before you leave, with no daily charges triggered by a background app.
- You are staying a month: compare a local SIM first — see Tunisia SIM card at the airport or an eSIM — and other travel eSIMs in best eSIM for Tunisia, where Airalo was cheaper than us from 5 days on the day we checked.
A checklist for the day before you fly
- Open your network's Tunisia page and note the data rule and the call price.
- Set a spending cap in your network's app if it offers one.
- Install your travel eSIM on Wi-Fi, or plan where you will buy a local SIM (and bring your passport).
- Download offline maps of the places you are going, and save your bookings, boarding passes and hotel address as screenshots.
- Make sure someone at home has your hotel's landline or email, in case your phone is out of reach.
- Turn off automatic app updates and photo backup over mobile data.
- Turn off data roaming on your UK line before the plane lands.
Getting our eSIM
eSIM Tunisie is a data-only eSIM for Tunisia, from €6.50 for 1 day to €99 for 30 days, on the Orange Tunisie network. Every plan gives 1 GB a day at full 4G speed, then 512 kbps, with no cut-off — explained in Tunisia eSIM unlimited data, explained. It installs at home from a QR code and starts on its first connection in Tunisia. The eSIM is delivered immediately and our terms exclude the right of withdrawal once it has been issued, so check compatibility first. See the durations and prices.
Roaming prices change, and each network's rules depend on the exact plan you are on. Everything in this article is what the networks' own pages said on 17 September 2026; your own account is the final word.