EU roaming from Switzerland 2026: how to avoid the cost trap

The EU roaming regulation of 2017 (“Roam like at home”) applies to EU and EEA countries; since 1 January 2026, Moldova and Ukraine have been part of it as well. Switzerland belongs to neither zone – the bilateral agreements with the EU do not cover mobile roaming.

A political roaming agreement with the EU has been under discussion for years, but as of October 2026 it is not in force. At the end of October 2025, the Federal Council recommended rejecting a motion from the National Council calling for such an agreement: it said it was fundamentally in favour of the idea, but that the timing for negotiations was “not opportune”. So customers of Swiss operators keep paying for roaming – the only question is how much.

For a typical holiday profile (4 EU trips a year, 14 GB in total, 30 minutes of calls), the annual cost according to Moneyland's comparison of June 2026 comes to CHF 39.95 (Salt and Salt's sub-brands), CHF 75.80 (Swisscom) and CHF 102.70 (Sunrise).

Per GB, Moneyland puts the EU average at roughly CHF 6.80 for Sunrise, CHF 8.40 for Swisscom (roughly CHF 5.30 with country packs) and CHF 10.40 for Salt – with data packs activated, mind you. If you use up the big packs, you end up lower: Salt's 20 GB annual pack works out at around CHF 2 per GB. Without a pack, or once it is used up, your operator's standard rate applies – check it before you leave.

In fairness, all three operators have improved their offers. Swisscom cut the 1 GB price in its EU/UK zone pack from CHF 14.90 to CHF 9.90 back in June 2025 and introduced country packs from CHF 5.90 per GB, which are valid in one single country only. Since March 2026, Sunrise has offered 1 GB for CHF 7.90 instead of the previous 500 MB. And since 1 June 2026, Salt has finally counted all EU countries as part of its Europe zone and has introduced weekly, monthly and annual packs – this also applies to Salt's sub-brands Gomo, Lidl Connect, Post Mobile and Sky Mobile.

Example: 2 weeks in Italy using 8 GB. With Sunrise you need the 10 GB pack for CHF 47.90 and with Swisscom the 20 GB zone pack for CHF 59.90 (a country pack for Italy alone is cheaper), while with Salt the 20 GB monthly pack for CHF 29.95 is enough. A Europe eSIM with 10 GB for 30 days costs $24 (EU + UK) or $31 (41 countries) at Airalo and $35.99 at Saily – roughly CHF 20–30 when converted. Compared with the Sunrise pack, that saves you around 40–60%; compared with Salt, nothing.

For heavy users, unlimited data can pay off: Holafly Europe Unlimited costs €46.90 for 15 days – approx. CHF 44 when converted. That is less than Sunrise's 10 GB pack (CHF 47.90) or Swisscom's 20 GB zone pack (CHF 59.90). Salt customers do better with 20 GB for CHF 29.95, as long as 20 GB is enough; Sunrise sells an unlimited pack of its own, “travel data unlimited Europe”, for CHF 59.90 (30 days, 60 GB at full speed).

The key finding of our analysis: according to Moneyland, the average price per GB in the EU is around CHF 7–10 for the data packs from Swisscom, Sunrise and Salt, and CHF 2–3 for a 10 GB Europe eSIM. At CHF 1.50–3 per GB, however, the Swiss operators' large 20 GB packs reach a similar level – the travel eSIM's lead has shrunk considerably in 2026 (our analysis, October 2026).

If your plan already includes roaming, you don't need an eSIM: at Swisscom, data in the EU/UK is included in the blue Mobile M, L and XL plans (blue Mobile M: 40 GB a month at full speed), while blue Mobile S includes 1 GB a month for Germany, France, Italy and Austria. Sunrise and Salt also have plans with European roaming included – check your plan before you buy anything on top.

For light users (under 1 GB per trip) who only need WhatsApp and maps anyway, the 1 GB packs are handy (Sunrise CHF 7.90, Swisscom CHF 9.90 or from CHF 5.90 as a country pack): they are valid for 12 months, so they often last for several short trips.

Customers of Salt and of Salt's sub-brands have mostly not needed a travel eSIM since June 2026: 20 GB plus 60 minutes of calls cost CHF 39.95 and are valid for a year in all EU countries, the UK and Norway. For Sunrise and Swisscom customers without included roaming, a travel eSIM remains cheaper from about 5 GB per trip.

Dual-SIM set-up: your Swiss number stays active for calls, texts and security codes sent by text message (TWINT, e-banking) – explicitly switch off data roaming on it.

The travel eSIM takes over mobile data. That way you neither pay roaming charges nor become unreachable on your Swiss number.

In the iOS or Android settings you choose which SIM handles mobile data and which one handles calls. Most travel eSIMs are data-only eSIMs without a phone number: ordinary calls then still go through your Swiss SIM and are billed as roaming – so when you are abroad, it is best to call via WhatsApp, FaceTime or Signal.