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The Best SIM Cards for Turkey in 2023
Turkey has become a very important and recognized tourist destination over time. Last year, this amazing country received 39.5 million visitors from all over the world, especially from Russia, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Of course, you will find a lot of beautiful tourist destinations, but some of the most popular ones are Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Edirne, and some other cities.
If this is your first time visiting Turkey, we recommend you to carry your mobile phone with you all the time! It will be very helpful to find interesting places to visit without getting lost. That is why you will need to buy the best SIM card for Turkey. Here you will find more information about this topic:
Looking for an alternative solution? We have eSIMs for Turkey available!
What Are The Top SIM Cards Offers for Turkey?
| About the provider | Sim Card Features | ||
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Move to TrueMove H & instantly connect to the widest 4G LTE and 3G roaming network coverage. Enjoy TrueMove H's international service and roam with confidence in Turkey |
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The first SIM Card that truly covers every country in the whole world! Enjoy a great internet experience within Turkey with the ISP Orange. They commit to provide the best service possible and have been awarded as the best internet operator in France many times in the row. |
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What is The Best SIM Card for Turkey?
SimOptions – The #1 Marketplace for International SIM Cards
This company provides the best prepaid SIM cards for travelers all over the world. SimOptions has one of the best quality-price relations compared to other SIM card providers. People prefer SimOptions because their SIM cards have the best benefits and prices for more than 200 destinations worldwide. One of the main reasons why travelers love SimOptions is because you do not need to waste valuable time of your trip looking for a store to buy your SIM. You can order it online and receive wherever you are! Now let’s see the prepaid SIM card for Turkey offered by SimOptions. It is called Smart Traveler + SIM card. See its benefits below:
Travel SIM World | $39.90 - 6GB
- Data: 6GB
- Calls/SMS: No
- Credit Validity: 15 days
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Mobile Network Operators in Turkey
Turkey has 3 main telecommunication companies: Turkcell, Vodafone, and Turk Telecom. In total, these 3 mobile network operators have around 75 million subscribers. Here you will find very important facts and information about each one of those providers so you can choose the best SIM card for Turkey before you arrive there. Keep reading and learn more:
Turkcell – The Largest Turkish Carrier
Based on the most popular Turkish city Istanbul, Turkcell is the leading telecommunication company in the country. This company was founded in 1994 and it currently has more than 34 million subscribers. It offers the best mobile telephony and Internet services in the whole nation, including the most remote places in Turkey. Turkcell still offers 2G services to their clients, apart from 3G and 4.5G/LTE services. Travelers have expressed that Turkcell offers the best prices and they affirm that sometimes it is better to buy a local SIM card than an international SIM card because of its price and benefits. That is why Turkcell offers a local SIM card for them called Tourist Welcome Pack. Let’s see the benefits included in this SIM:
Tourist Welcome Pack | 149 TL ($27,14) – 20 GB
- Data: 20 GB / Unlimited BiP & WhatsApp messages
- Calls: 200 minutes to make local calls and international calls
- Validity: 30 days
* NOTE: Find more information about this pack for travelers here. However, if you want to buy a regular Turkish SIM card (which is around 130 TL or $23,68) you have the option to add the following data plans to have mobile Internet during your trip:
Data Plans
Plan 1 | 12 TL ($2,19) – 1 GB
- Data: 1 GB
- Activation: HAFTALIK 1GB
- Validity: 7 days
Plan 2 | 22 TL ($4,01) – 1 GB
- Data: 1 GB
- Activation: YENI 1GB
- Validity: 30 days
Plan 3 | 27 TL ($4,92) – 2 GB
- Data: 2 GB
- Activation: YENI 2GB
- Validity: 30 days
Plan 4 | 37 TL ($6,74) – 4 GB
- Data: 4 GB
- Activation: YENI 4GB
- Validity: 30 days
Plan 5 | 47 TL ($8,56) – 6 GB
- Data: 6 GB
- Activation: YENI 6GB
- Validity: 30 days
Plan 6 | 57 TL ($10,38) – 8 GB
- Data: 8 GB
- Activation: YENI 8GB
- Validity: 30 days
To activate any of the previous data packages, please send the activation code to 2222 and confirm your activation sending EVET to the same number. If you want to deactivate the data package, send IPTAL + the name of the data plan to 2222. In case you want to check your data balance, you can dial *100# or text KALAN to 2222 and you will immediately receive a text message with your balance.
Vodafone – The Second Best Network Operator
This large mobile network operator was founded in 1994 as Telsim but changed into Vodafone Turkey in 2005. Vodafone Turkey has great network coverage in 81 cities in the entire country. It currently has 23.744 million users; this number has been increasing over time due to its benefits and good prices. It offers mobile phone services and other goods. They also have different options talking about SIM cards, including SIM cards, especially for tourists. Keep reading and see what they offer:
Holiday Line (Tourist SIM) | 105 TL ($19,12) – 10 GB
- Data: 10 GB
- Calls: Local calls: 300 minutes / International calls: 30 minutes
- Validity: 90 days
But if you already used your data, you can add one of the following 2 data packs:
Data Pack 1 | 50 TL ($9,11) – 6 GB
- Data: 6 GB
- Activation: ABONE 1AY6GB
- Validity: 1 month
Data Pack 2 | 80 TL ($14,57) – 12 GB
- Data: 12 GB
- Activation: ABONE 3AY12GB
- Validity: 3 months
Send the activation code to 3636 to start using any of those 2 data plans mentioned before. Vodafone also has a regular SIM card which can be bought in any Vodafone store, but its price depends on the store location. Vodafone prepaid SIM card costs around 100 TL ($18,21) and if you are interested in data only, you can add any of the following data packages:
Data Package 1 | 2 TL ($0,36) – 150 MB
- Data: 150 MB
- Activation: pkkokijij
- Validity: 24 hours
Data Package 2 | 5 TL ($0,91) – 250 MB
- Data: 250 MB
- Activation: ABONE H250MB
- Validity: 7 days
Data Package 3 | 7 TL ($1,27) – 500 MB
- Data: 500 MB
- Activation: HAFTALIK 500
- Validity: 7 days
Data Package 4 | 10 TL ($1,82) – 1 GB
- Data: 1 GB
- Activation: 1 GB HAFTALIK
- Validity: 7 days
Data Package 5 | 12 TL ($2,19) – 250 MB
- Data: 250 MB
- Activation: ABONE DEVAM 250 MB
- Validity: 30 days
Data Package 6 | 16 TL ($2,91) – 500 MB
- Data: 250 MB
- Activation: ABONE DEVAM 500 MB
- Validity: 30 days
Data Package 7 | 22 TL ($4,01) – 1 GB
- Data: 1 GB
- Activation: ABONE DEVAM 1 GB
- Validity: 30 days
Data Package 8 | 30 TL ($5,46) – 2 GB
- Data: 2 GB
- Activation: ABONE DEVAM 2 GB
- Validity: 30 days
Data Package 9 | 40 TL ($7,29) – 4 GB
- Data: 4 GB
- Activation: ABONE DEVAM 4 GB
- Validity: 30 days
To activate those data plans, send the activation code to 3636. To check your data balance text the same activation code but change ABONE to SORGU to 3636.
Türk Telekom – One of the Best Telco Companies in Turkey
Türk Telekom is the result of a merger between this company and AVEA, the youngest mobile network operator in Turkey (it was founded in 2004). This merger happened in 2016 and the company popularity has been increasing although it is considered the third-best mobile operator, after Turkcell and Vodafone. Right now Türk Telekom has around 16.700 million users and 6 different subsidiaries offering mobile and fixed-line telephony, Internet and WiFi services, and digital television. Although its coverage is not as good as the other competitors, Türk Telekom offers great mobile Internet speed and good coverage in more remotes areas. They have different options that will allow you to update your social media, stay connected with your friends and family, and many other things. See what they have to offer:
Plan 1 | $26 – 4 GB
- Data: 4 GB
- Calls: 750 minutes to make local calls
- SMS: 750 SMS
- Validity: 28 days
Plan 2 | $27 – 6 GB
- Data: 6 GB
- Calls: 750 minutes to make local calls
- SMS: 750 SMS
- Validity: 28 days
Plan 3 | $28 – 8 GB
- Data: 8 GB
- Calls: 750 minutes to make local calls
- SMS: 750 SMS
- Validity: 28 days
Plan 4 | $30 – 10 GB
- Data: 10 GB
- Calls: 750 minutes to make local calls
- SMS: 750 SMS
- Validity: 28 days
Buying a SIM card in Turkey may seem a very difficult thing to do because of the language barriers and the different options that you will find on the Internet when planning your trip. But you do not need to worry anymore! Choose one of the prepaid SIM cards we mention before and enjoy your trip.
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