For a week in Germany on normal use — maps between cities, messages home, a podcast on the ICE — 3 GB at €1.79 covers it. Two weeks of the same lands on 5 GB at €2.99. The plan worth knowing about sits at the top of the ladder: 50 GB for €26.99, where the 180-day version costs exactly the same as the 30-day one.
The Germany plan ladder
| Data | Validity | Price | Per GB | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 GB | 7 days | €0.99 | €0.99 | | 3 GB | 15 days | €1.79 | €0.60 | | 3 GB | 30 days | €1.79 | €0.60 | | 5 GB | 30 days | €2.99 | €0.60 | | 10 GB | 30 days | €5.99 | €0.60 | | 20 GB | 30 days | €10.99 | €0.55 | | 50 GB | 30 days | €26.99 | €0.54 | | 50 GB | 180 days | €26.99 | €0.54 |
The 1 GB starter is the weakest rung. At €0.99 it works out to €0.99 per gigabyte, against €0.60 from 3 GB upwards. It is a stopover plan, not a trip plan. A lower one-time introductory price is shown on the plan page where an account is eligible for it.
The 50 GB pair is the thing to notice. Both cost €26.99. One gives you 30 days to use the allowance, the other gives you six months. If 50 GB is the size you want, there is no version of this decision where the 30-day plan is the better pick — take the 180-day one and let the allowance last as long as it lasts.
That plan is not really a tourist product. It is for people who come back: someone working across two countries, a student going home in the holidays, family visiting for a few weeks twice a year. One profile, one allowance, six months of validity.
For everyone else, the ladder is flat at €0.60 per gigabyte from 3 GB to 10 GB, so buying the size you need costs nothing in efficiency.
How much data does a week in Germany use?
Rough figures. Real numbers move with your video quality and how much of the day you spend on hotel or café wifi.
| What you are doing | Roughly | | --- | --- | | Turn-by-turn navigation | 5 MB per hour | | Messaging and photos | 10–20 MB per day | | Web browsing and email | 30 MB per hour | | Music and podcasts | 50 MB per hour | | Social feeds | 150 MB per hour | | Video calls | 300 MB per hour | | Video streaming, standard quality | 700 MB per hour |
Germany makes this easier than most destinations. Wifi is normal in hotels, cafés and a lot of long-distance trains, so the mobile allowance mostly carries navigation, messaging and whatever you do between places. A city-break week on that pattern often lands under 3 GB.
Where it climbs: driving, because navigation runs all day; video calls home; and sharing the connection with a laptop, where the selected plan and your device allow it. Any of those three moves you a rung up the ladder.
Do I even need one? The EU roaming question
Worth asking honestly. If you already hold a SIM from an EU or EEA country, EU roaming rules mean it generally works across the bloc on your domestic allowance, and a travel eSIM adds nothing. Check your own plan's fair-use terms first.
A travel eSIM is the answer when you are arriving from outside the EU — the UK, Switzerland, the US, Turkey, the Western Balkans — or when your home allowance is small enough that a fortnight abroad would eat it.
One country or the whole trip?
The Germany plan covers Germany. That is the right buy if you are flying into Berlin or Munich and staying put.
Germany plus neighbours. Trips through Germany rarely stop at the border — Austria, the Netherlands, Czechia and Switzerland are all a train ride away. For a route like that the Europe plan is the one to buy: one allowance carried across the whole Europe destination list, from €1.09 for 1 GB over 30 days.
Germany to the Western Balkans. This is the corridor Horizon knows best, and it is the one where plan choice matters most, because the Europe bundle does not reach it. For a trip down to Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania or Montenegro, the Balkans plan covers eight countries — and Kosovo, which is outside both bundles, can be added to the same order as a second eSIM. If you are driving that route, read which eSIMs actually include Kosovo before you buy anything.
Short answers
Which size for a week in Berlin? 3 GB at €1.79. Wifi is everywhere; the allowance carries maps and messages.
Which size if I am driving? 10 GB at €5.99. Navigation running most of the day is what changes the maths.
Is the 50 GB plan worth it? Only if you return within six months — but then take the 180-day version, which costs the same as the 30-day one.
Does it cover Austria or Switzerland? No. The Germany plan covers Germany. For a multi-country route, buy the Europe plan.
When does the clock start? It depends on the package. Read its activation trigger before installing early — the three possibilities are explained in when does an eSIM's validity actually start.
Pick a size on the Germany eSIM page.
