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Where does 'roam like at home' work, and where does it stop?

By Gallivanting GadaboutResearched, not travelledSource: European Commission (Your Europe and Shaping Europe's digital future), checked 24 Sep 2026
TL;DR

With a mobile subscription in an EU country you pay home prices for calls, texts and data across the EU and in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine. Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and Türkiye are not on that list, nor are Switzerland and the UK. On ships and planes, satellite connections are not covered and usually cost extra.12

Check the latest before you rely on it. Rates, limits and rules change, and some figures on this page may be out of date. Each amount links to the official page it comes from: check the current figure there before you travel, pay or declare anything. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice, and to the extent the law allows we accept no liability for any loss or problem arising from its use.

Which countries are covered?

Roam like at home applies automatically when you use your phone in any of the 27 EU countries, and also in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine and Moldova joined on 1 January 2026.2

Roam like at home in the non-EU countries covered on this site, and nearby
CountryCovered?What the Commission says
Iceland, Liechtenstein, NorwayYesIn the European Economic Area, where the regime is also available12
Albania, Montenegro, SerbiaNoOn 25 February 2026 the Commission proposed opening negotiations to bring them, with other Western Balkan partners, into the regime; the release gives no start date3
TürkiyeNoNot among the countries the Commission lists as covered12
SwitzerlandNoNot among the countries the Commission lists as covered12
United KingdomNoThe regime no longer applies since the UK left the EU, although some operators have kept its benefits2

For the Western Balkans, surcharge-free roaming would only begin once an agreement is finalised with each partner and each has fully aligned with the EU roaming rules.3

Outside the covered countries, the Commission notes that many operators choose to extend similar offers, but that roaming, especially data, can be expensive, so check your operator's prices before you travel.1

What does it cover?

Calls to mobile and fixed phones, text messages and data are charged at your domestic rates, and you are not charged extra to receive calls or texts while roaming.1

Each time you cross a border within the EU, your operator should text you to say you are roaming, with its fair-use policy, services that may cost extra and the emergency contacts for that country.1

Your operator should also offer the same quality as at home, including speed or 5G, where that is technically possible, and say in your contract how roaming may differ.2

What are the fair-use limits?

Roam like at home is meant for periodic travel, not permanent use abroad. You count as roaming as long as you spend more time at home than abroad, or use your phone more at home than abroad.12

  • The 4-month check. Your operator can look at your roaming over a 4-month period. If you spent more time abroad than at home and roamed more than you used at home, it may ask you to explain, and you have 14 days to do so.1
  • Capped surcharges. If that pattern continues, extra charges (before VAT) cannot exceed €0.019 a minute for calls, €0.003 a text and €1.30 per GB of data, the 2025 level, which falls to €1 per GB from 2027.1 Check the latest: European Commission, Mobile roaming costs
  • Cheap or unlimited data. Your operator may set a roaming data limit, but must tell you in advance; on an unlimited plan, the allowance must be at least twice your monthly price (before VAT) divided by the wholesale cap.12
  • Prepaid cards. If a data limit applies, it should be at least your remaining credit divided by €1.30.1 Check the latest: European Commission, Mobile roaming costs
  • A spending cut-off. Your provider must stop roaming services once extra charges reach €50, or another limit you choose, unless you tell it you want to continue.1 Check the latest: European Commission, Mobile roaming costs

Your Europe's roaming page was last checked by the Commission on 7 January 2026 and still quotes the 2025 cap, so re-check the figures before you travel.1

Does it work on ferries and planes?

Yes, while your phone is connected to a land-based mobile network, for example in a harbour, on a river or at the airport. If the service on board comes through a satellite system, EU rules no longer apply and there are no price caps.1

You should get an automatic message when your phone connects to such a network, and services stop once extra charges reach €50 or another set limit. The Commission suggests turning off roaming or using flight mode on board to avoid charges.21 Check the latest: European Commission, Roaming: connected anywhere in the EU at no extra charge

What this page cannot tell you

  • Only for EU subscriptions. These pages describe what customers of mobile operators in the EU get. They do not describe what a visitor on a SIM from outside the EU pays; ask your own operator.
  • Türkiye and Switzerland are inferred. No official page we read says 'Türkiye is excluded'; we list it as not covered because it is absent from the Commission's list of covered countries.
  • Operators can do more. Some offer roam-like-at-home terms in countries outside the scheme, and their own terms decide what you pay there.
  • Figures fall over time. The wholesale data cap changes each year; the Your Europe figures we quote are for 2025.

Related: When is Albania quietest? Tourist nights by month · When is Montenegro quietest? Tourist nights by month · When is Serbia quietest? Tourist nights by month · When is Türkiye quietest? Tourist nights by month · When is Norway quietest? Tourist nights by month.

Key takeaways

  • In the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Ukraine, an EU SIM costs the same as at home, within fair use.
  • In Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Türkiye, Switzerland and the UK, check your operator's roaming prices before you go.
  • On ferries and flights, switch to flight mode or turn off roaming to avoid satellite charges.
  • What we would skip: leaving data roaming on during a ferry crossing or flight, where satellite networks fall outside the price caps.

Sources

All facts on this page come from European Commission pages: Your Europe on roaming costs, the Commission's roaming policy page (updated 13 July 2026) and its press release of 25 February 2026, read on 24 September 2026. See how we research.

  1. European Commission, Your Europe, Mobile roaming costs (page last checked by the Commission 7 January 2026). Read it. Accessed 24 September 2026. © European Union, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we summarised it.
  2. European Commission, Shaping Europe's digital future, Roaming: connected anywhere in the EU at no extra charge (last update 13 July 2026). Read it. Accessed 24 September 2026. © European Union, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we summarised it.
  3. European Commission, Shaping Europe's digital future, 'Roam Like at Home': Commission proposes to open negotiations to extend EU Roaming to the Western Balkans, press release, 25 February 2026. Read it. Accessed 24 September 2026. © European Union, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we summarised it.

Changes made. We summarised the Commission pages (CC BY 4.0) in our own words and built the country table from the Commission's list of covered countries; where a country is simply absent from that list, we say so. We name no mobile operator or SIM seller.