2Rank 02 of 8 · Best eSIM Data Plans for Europe
Orange Orange Holiday Europe / Orange Travel
The only option here with a real European phone number. A genuine French +33 line with unlimited EU calls and SMS, running on Orange's own network rather than resold wholesale capacity.
8.5BPR score
- €43Price
- approx. €1.43/GB (30 GB / 31 days) — with calls and SMSPrice per GB, 10 GB / 30 day benchmark
- 2 of 8in Best eSIM Data Plans for Europe
- 8.5BPR score 0–10
Review
What this product is
Written after the analysis, from the same sources the score is built on: the manufacturer's documentation, available studies and verified owner feedback.
Everything else in this ranking is data-only. This is not, and for some travellers that single difference outweighs every price comparison on this page.
Orange Holiday Europe gives you a real French +33 number with unlimited calls and SMS within Europe, plus two hours of worldwide calls and 1,000 worldwide SMS, alongside 30 GB over 31 days at $49.90 — roughly €42.91, or about €1.43 per GB. That is competitive on data alone before you count the voice service.
What you get back by having a number: SMS two-factor codes from your bank, the ability to phone a restaurant or an apartment host, the ability to be phoned, and the ability to complete booking forms that reject foreign numbers. Data-only eSIMs break all four.
It also runs on Orange's own Tier-1 network in France and Spain, with roaming partners elsewhere — a real mobile network operator rather than a reseller buying wholesale capacity. Given Ookla's finding that routing choices produce up to 30-fold latency differences between eSIM brands on the same radio network, that structural difference is meaningful.
The reuse story is the best here. Top-ups are genuinely priced in euros, from €11 for 1 GB to €40 for 20 GB, and the line stays active indefinitely if you register online and top up every six months — so the same number works trip after trip.
Orange is rebranding the product as Orange Travel, with a data-only ladder (10 GB / 14 days at $22.99, 50 GB / 30 days at $49.99) and tiers that include calls and SMS. Hotspot sharing is unrestricted.
Three cautions. Country counts vary wildly between channels — 30, 40+ and 41 depending where you look. The tier list we found sits on a genuine orange.com subdomain but quotes USD prices for a French carrier product in marketing-style copy, so cross-check against boutique.orange.fr or the Orange Travel app. And sources disagree on whether 5G is supported: Orange Travel says 4G/5G with no throttling, the main reseller says 4G/LTE only.
This is also the only provider here requiring online registration to keep the line alive beyond its initial credit — consistent with French SIM registration law.
Technical data
Specification
Figures from the manufacturer's documentation, verified against available outside sources. Values we could not confirm are marked as declared.
- Plan
- Orange Holiday Europe / Orange Travel
- Countries
- 30 / 40+ / 41 depending on channel
- Classic plan
- 30 GB / 31 days, $49.90, approx. EUR 42.91
- Price per GB
- approx. EUR 1.43, including voice and SMS
- Data-only ladder
- 1 GB/7d $5.99; 10 GB/14d $22.99; 50 GB/30d $49.99
- Phone number
- Yes - real French +33 number
- Calls and SMS
- Unlimited within Europe, plus 2 hours and 1 000 SMS worldwide
- Hotspot
- Unrestricted
- Host network
- Orange's own Tier-1 network in FR/ES, partners elsewhere
- 5G
- Disputed - Orange Travel says 4G/5G, reseller says 4G/LTE
- Top-ups
- EUR 11 (1 GB) to EUR 40 (20 GB) - genuine EUR pricing
- Line retention
- Indefinite with registration and a top-up every 6 months
- KYC
- Online registration required
- Reseller Trustpilot
- SimOptions 4.5 from 2 123 reviews, 12% one-star
Component scores
Where the score
comes from.
Four components, equal weight, each on a 0–10 scale and each resting on a named source. The overall score is their mean — the full procedure is in the methodology.
What we liked
- The only option here with a real phone number — a French +33 line
- Unlimited calls and SMS within Europe, plus 2 hours and 1 000 SMS worldwide
- Runs on Orange's own Tier-1 network, not resold wholesale capacity
- 30 GB / 31 days at approx. €42.91 — around €1.43/GB including voice
- Genuine EUR top-up pricing from €11 to €40
- Line stays active indefinitely with a top-up every six months
- Unrestricted hotspot sharing
Worth knowing
- Country count varies between 30, 40+ and 41 across Orange's own channels
- Tier pricing published in USD for a French product, in marketing-style copy
- Sources conflict on 5G support: Orange Travel says yes, the reseller says 4G only
- Online registration required — the only provider here with a KYC step
- Not sold direct to non-EU buyers; you go through a reseller
- Reseller support replies are slow, typically around two weeks
Comparison
How it compares
within the category
All values come from the same analysis and are comparable only within the category Best eSIM Data Plans for Europe.
| Product | Score | Price per GB, 10 GB / 30 day benchmark | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubigi EUROPETop score | 8.8 | approx. €1.29/GB — cheapest here | €13 |
| Orange Holiday Europe / Orange TravelThis product | 8.5 | approx. €1.43/GB (30 GB / 31 days) — with calls and SMS | €43 |
| Category average8 products analysed | 7.7 | — | — |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I really need a phone number when travelling?
It depends on what breaks without one. Data-only eSIMs cannot receive SMS two-factor codes from your bank, cannot call a restaurant or an apartment host, cannot be called back, and are rejected by booking services that require a local number. If you keep your home SIM active alongside — voice and SMS on, mobile data off — most of that is solved for free, since inbound SMS while roaming is usually cheap or free. If you would rather not, this is the option that gives you a working number.
Why does running on Orange's own network matter?
Because most travel eSIM brands resell wholesale roaming capacity from roughly a dozen underlying providers, and traffic often routes back through the provider's core network on another continent before reaching the internet. Ookla measured one case where median latency to the same network was 54 ms with local routing and 543 ms when traffic went via Madrid. A real MNO connection avoids that layer entirely.
From the same ranking
Other products in Best eSIM Data Plans for Europe.
The same protocol, the same key parameter, the same set of sources.
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No. 018.8/ 10
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No. 048.2/ 10
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The best-documented provider here: published fair-use thresholds, an explicit…
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No. 057.8/ 10
Saily
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