Traveling to Austria and looking for the best way to stay connected? Don't let slow overseas data roaming plans or high roaming charges ruin your trip. This is the ultimate guide for buying a prepaid sim card in Austria. Find below where to buy a sim card, up to date prices as per July 2022, the best 4G/5G network in Austria, my recommendation and even information about international and e-sim cards for Austria.
Buying a prepaid sim card is the first thing l do on arrival in a new country and since I am aiming to travel to every country in the world I am constantly looking for the best way to get connected. Therefore you can already find more than 150 guides for buying a prepaid sim card on Traveltomtom from all over the world: Europe, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, UK, USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, South Africa, Hong Kong and many more.
Why buying a sim card in Austria
First of all it is the best and cheapest way to stay connected and avoid high roaming charges. Local prepaid sim cards give you great value for money and you get the fastest data speed. Although all hotels, bars, restaurants and even trains offer free public WiFi these days in Austria there is no guarantee it actually works or is fast enough. Also very important: public WiFi's are UNSECURED networks. The use of a VPN in these cases is recommended.
When ordering a taxi through an app, getting directions from Google Maps, finding restaurants, nearby friends, emergencies, etc. it is very much recommended to have a working data connection on your phone when traveling.
My recommendation
Traveltomtom recommends buying a T-Mobile sim card in Austria. For €30 you get 30 GB data and they have the best 4G/5G network in Austria.
A great alternative is a global travel sim card. Check out my comparison of the best international sim cards for traveling in 2022 and find the one that best suits your trip. Traveling onwards in Europe then have a look at my list with the best European sim cards in 2022.
When swapping sim cards and changing numbers is not preferred then we recommend you to check out using a portable WiFi device. It is the best way to get WiFi abroad. Click on the link to read an HONEST review about these pocket WiFi's. Im not complete convinced!
But hey this is so old school, in 2022 the easiest way to get connected when traveling abroad is an e-sim card.
E-sim cards for Austria
No more buying physical sim cards, as there is now an electronic sim card. Everything can be arranged online within a couple minutes without visiting a store. Order an e-sim card, get an email with instructions, apply the settings, fill out a code and you are all set and connected. Check out the following e-sim card deals for Austria:
- 1 GB data for 7 days = $7 USD
- 3 GB data for 30 days = $14 USD
- 5 GB data for 30 days = $21 USD
- 10 GB data for 30 days = $31.5 USD
Click here to order one of the above Austria e-sim card deals or find more info.
Rather looking to order a physical sim card for Austria, don't worry! $30 USD will give you 10 GB data for example. Click here to directly order an international sim card for traveling in Austria. Check out all the offers and more info in the link.
Austria sim cards and free EU roaming
Prepaid Austria sim cards come with free EU roaming. That means that the sim card you buy in Austria is also valid in Italy, Croatia, Germany, etc. So when you crossing the border into another EU country you can still use your data, voice and text allowance at no extra costs. Always ask your provider about the EU roaming limitations when buying a sim card in Austria.
I wrote a complete guide with tips and tricks for buying a prepaid sim card in Europe, check it out for more info about free EU roaming.
Traveling to Vienna? Check out my 3 days in Vienna travel blog, including the best places to visit and things to do. Vienna in winter is completely different. Check which Christmas markets are the best in the link.
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Where to buy a sim card in Austria
All over the country you can easily find mobile shops that sell Austria prepaid sim cards. All big cities and tourist destinations in Austria have multiple official retail stores of the mobile internet providers in Austria.
Buy a sim card at Vienna Airport
If you fly into Vienna Airport and you are looking to buy an Austria sim card then click on the link to read my article about buying a sim card at Vienna Airport.
Convenience store and gas stations
Not my preferred choice but yes you can also buy sim cards for traveling in Austria in bigger convenience stores as well as gas stations and supermarkets. These sim cards are pretty basic and don't expect any service. You will need to activate the sim card yourself. Therefore this is not preferred for tourists.
Mobile internet providers Austria
There are three mobile internet operators in Austria: A1, T-Mobile and Drei (3). All of them sell prepaid sim cards for Austria. A1 claims to have the best 4G network, T-Mobile claims to be the cheapest! Let’s see if some of that is true…
Best 4G/5G Austria network in 2022
To determine what is the best sim card for Austria we will also have a look at the 4G/5G network coverage in Austria.
Is there 5G in Austria?
Yes, there is an ok 5G network in Austria. All the internet providers offer 5G in the bigger cities. See the 4G/5G coverage maps below or click here for a more detailed 5G coverage map of Austria.
A1 Austria 4G/5G network coverage map
3 Austria 4G/5G network coverage map
T-Mobile Austria 4G/5G network coverage map
As you can see from the above A1 has the best 4G/5G network coverage in Austria in 2022. That said all the tourist destinations in Austria have a great 4G signal coverage, no matter which provider.
Prices prepaid Austria sim card in 2022
All the below information and prices are up to date as per July 2022.
A1 sim card
When buying a A1 prepaid sim card you will pay a registration fee of €29,90 ($35). On top of that you will have to choose between one of the following packages:
- A1 SIMply S - €16,90 = 6 GB data + unlimited calls/text valid in the EU for 30 days.
- A1 SIMply L - €26,90 = 20 GB data + unlimited calls/text valid in the EU for 30 days.
For more info about the A1 prepaid sim cards have a look at their website.
3 Austria sim card
A 3 Austria sim card costs €9,90 for the activation. 3 Austria has two different prepaid sim cards for tourists for sale:
- €15 = 8 GB data + 2,000 minutes + 2,000 sms.
- €30 = 18 GB data + 5,000 minutes + 5,000 sms.
All of the above packages are for use in Austria AND in all the in Europe!
There are way more 3 sim card deals for Austria, like a sim card with unlimited data in Austria for €40 or a data only sim card with 8 GB data for €10. Click here to check the latest 3 Austria sim card deals on their website.
T-Mobile Austria sim card
A T-Mobile prepaid sim card costs €10 for the activation fee as well. And then there are the following packages available:
- Klax S €10 = 8 GB data + 1,000 min/sms.
- Klax M €15 = 15 GB data + 1,500 min/sms.
- Klax L €20 = 20 GB data + 2,000 min/sms + international min/sms.
- Klax XL €30 = 30 GB data + 3,000 min/sms + international min/sms.
For more details see the picture below.
For more info have a look at the latest T-Mobile sim card deals on their website.
Best Austria prepaid sim card in 2022
Although normally I would go with the strongest 4G/5G network as the best prepaid sim card. However, the network of T-Mobile is not much weaker than A1 and T-Mobile has a great prepaid sim card deal and allows (limited) FREE EU roaming. Therefore Traveltomtom concludes that T-Mobile is the best prepaid sim card in Austria in 2022!
Are you traveling onwards in Europe and don't want any EU roaming limitations? Then check out my list of the best prepaid sim cards for traveling in Europe in 2022.
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Buy a sim card for Austria online
This all sounds like too much hassle and effort or you just want to make it much easier for yourself? Then order an international sim card for Austria online. These pre-activated sim cards will be shipped to your home address. See the following sim card deals:
1. Orange Holiday ZEN - $29.90
- 8 GB data
- Unlimited calls/sms in Europe
- 30 minutes worldwide
- 200 sms worldwide
- Valid 14 days
2. Three PAYG AIO15 - $29.90
- 10 GB data
- Unlimited calls/sms within Europe
- Valid 30 days
3. Three PAYG AIO20 - $39.90
- 12 GB data
- Unlimited calls/sms within Europe
- Valid 30 days
4. Orange Holiday Europe - $49.90
- 20 GB data
- Unlimited calls/sms in Europe
- 120 minutes worldwide
- 1,000 sms worldwide
- Valid 14 days
Click here to order one of the above sim card deals for Austria directly online or find more info. Personally I recommend either option 3 or option 4. Also another reminder that you can also order an e-sim card for Austria to stay connected on your trip to Austria!
There are many Christmas markets in Vienna, but which ones are the best when traveling to Vienna in winter? Check them out in my latest Vienna blog. A complete travel guide for this city? Have a look at all my Vienna travel tips and 3-day itinerary.
I hope all these tips for buying a sim card for Austria were helpful. In case you have any additional questions please leave me a comment below and I am happy to help you out. Also with Austria travel tips.
Curious what it looks like trying to visit every country in the world? Go check out my Instagram account @traveltomtom and follow along. As of July 2022 I have visited more than 135 countries, so still a long way to go.
Enjoy your trip to Austria!
