Buying a SIM Card or eSIM for Travel in Finland

Finland. Home of reindeer, saunas, and Santa, it’s also home to some of the fastest data speeds we’ve seen in any country.

Not only that, but free Wi-Fi covers anywhere you’d want to go in Helsinki, with speedy downloads as well. That means you may not need to buy a SIM card if you’re going to be limiting yourself to the capital city.

If you’re going elsewhere in the country or just want to grab one anyway, though, you have several options. Prices are low (or at least, data allowances are high) in Finland, so you won’t spend a fortune with any of the providers.

Travel eSIMs are also an option: you don’t get anywhere near the same amount of data with them, but they still make sense for some travelers. Whichever approach you take, here’s what you need to know.

There are three cell providers in Finland: Telia, Elisa, and DNA. All three provide LTE service to almost the entire population, while 5G has rolled out to about a quarter of the country so far and is available on prepaid with some companies.

If you’re going to be traveling to very rural parts of the country, go for Elisa, but otherwise there’s little difference between the three providers. I’d originally planned to use Elisa, but struggled to find them in stock, so ultimately went with DNA.

Compared to the low prices for unlimited data in Finland, it’s hard to get excited about most of the offers from travel eSIM companies.

That said, if you prefer the convenience of an eSIM and don’t need limitless data, it’s not like you’re paying a fortune for one. Instabridge has 3GB/15 day packs for under $5, and even the 10GB version that lasts a month usually isn’t much over ten bucks.

The other companies are typically a bit more expensive, but prices and specials do vary. To that end, take a look at the table below before you commit. It has details for all the companies I regularly use and is updated each week, most recently on 12 May 2025.

Like most travel eSIMs, they’re data-only: you don’t get a local number. I use apps for everything from communication to transport these days, so the lack of a local number very rarely matters to me, but you might have different needs.

One thing worth noting: if you’re planning to travel to several European countries within a few weeks, it might be worth looking at some of the regional eSIM packages on offer.

Because data is so cheap in Finland, all of the local companies put strict limits on how much of it you can use elsewhere in the EU, or simply charge extra for it. This can make Europe eSIM bundles a cheaper and/or easier option.

There are too many to list each one separately (and they change all the time), but as a starting point, these are the Europe eSIM options from companies I’d actually consider using:

• aloSIM (34 countries)
• Airalo (39 countries)
• Nomad (30-35 countries)
• SIMOptions (29-39 countries)
• yeSIM (31 countries)

If you’re new to eSIMs, they offer big benefits to travelers in terms of how quickly, easily, and (often) cheaply you can get connected when you arrive in a new country. Most recent phones support them, and you can read all about them here.

We’ve also got a quick and easy eSIM finder that lets you find the best provider in every country in a few seconds!

After arriving in Helsinki, I headed straight to an Elisa store. They didn’t sell prepaid cards there, they told me, and recommended I visit an R-Kioski — the 7-Eleven of Finland. You’ll find one on practically every street, as well as at the airport if you’re arriving by plane.

After stopping in a few and finding that Elisa prepaid cards were out of stock, I went with DNA instead. Because I was buying from a busy convenience store rather than a mobile store, I was handed a packet and was left to my own devices to figure out how to get it working. I didn’t have to show ID to buy it.

Inside the packet was a SIM card with the usual cutouts. I popped in the nano SIM, entered in the pin code when prompted, typed in the APN details that were written on the packet, and I was good to go.

Lightning-fast data speeds, here I come!

DNA

You’ll typically pay €4 or €5 for the SIM card, loaded with €5 of credit. The DNA Unlimited Prepaid plan costs a flat €0.99/day for unlimited domestic calls, texts, and data. You get just over 1.2GB/day when roaming elsewhere in the EU.

If you’re staying longer, an unlimited data-only plan valid for a month is also available. At €24.90, it’ll save you a bit of money if you don’t need a local number. Again, it only includes data use within Finland.

You can find out more about these and other options here.

Topping Up

DNA

You can buy top-ups from R-Kioski stores all over Finland, as well as from post offices, and Otto ATMs.

Instabridge

Topping up with Instabridge is simply a matter of firing up the app and buying another package. In that regard it’s not really a top-up, but the effect is the same: you don’t need to do any configuration, and it starts working immediately.

The data speeds I got from my DNA SIM card were very impressive. I was regularly getting close to 100Mbps downloads with LTE, no matter where I was in Helsinki. Even indoors or in areas surrounded by large buildings, speeds never seemed to slow.

Likewise, I had no issues with coverage: I had full service every time I looked at my phone.

Turning to eSIMs, aloSIM and Airalo also use the DNA network, so you’ll have the same coverage with both. Nomad and easySIM can use both the Telia and Elisa networks, so are good options if you’re going somewhere more remote.

Finland is part of the European Union, so EU roaming regulations apply. These “roam like at home” rules ended roaming charges across much of Europe in 2017, letting you use a SIM card from any EU country across all the others at no extra charge.

When it comes to roaming elsewhere in the EU with a Finnish SIM, though, beware. The low price of cell service in Finland allows providers to greatly restrict the amount of roaming data they provide for free, and/or charge extra for it.

Be sure to double-check the exact details at time of purchase, or just use one of the Europe regional eSIMs I mentioned earlier if you’re heading elsewhere in the EU.

---

Check out our guides to SIM cards and eSIMs in 65+ other countries here.

Main image via Oleksiy Mark/Shutterstock.com