How Much Data Do I Need for Travel? GB per Week Guide (2026)
How much data do I need for travel? See how many GB a week abroad takes, what maps, WhatsApp, Netflix and Spotify really use, and how to cut your data use.
ArriGo team 11 min read Updated
For a typical trip, plan on about 3 to 5 GB of mobile data per week if you use maps, messaging, social media and the odd photo upload, and save video for hotel Wi-Fi. If you stream video, make daily video calls or share your connection with a laptop, plan on 7 GB a week or more.
The difference between those two answers is almost entirely video. Netflix says its default mobile setting uses about 1 GB every four hours, while an hour of Spotify at Normal quality is well under 50 MB. This guide uses figures that the app makers publish themselves to show what each app uses, gives a data table by trip type, and explains how to cut your usage with Low Data Mode, Data Saver and offline maps.
Key takeaways
- A week abroad with maps, messaging and social media typically needs 3 to 5 GB. Video calls and streaming push that to 7 GB or more.
- At home, the average North American smartphone used about 25 GB a month in 2025, or roughly 0.8 GB a day, according to Ericsson.
- Video is the big variable: Netflix’s default mobile setting uses about 1 GB per 4 hours, and its highest setting about 1 GB per 20 minutes.
- Offline maps, Low Data Mode on iPhone and Data Saver on Android cut data use without changing how you travel.
How much data do I need for travel?
Start with what you use at home. Ericsson’s Mobility Report key figures put average smartphone data use in North America at 25 GB a month in 2025. Spread over 30 days, that is a little over 0.8 GB a day, and that average covers everything people do on their phones, video included.
Most travellers use less mobile data than that, for a simple reason: they spend evenings on hotel or rental Wi-Fi, and the heavy things (Netflix, backups, app updates) happen there. What you need on the road is navigation, messages, a bit of browsing and social media, and photos sent home.
So the honest answer to “how much data do I need for travel” depends on three questions:
- Will you watch video away from Wi-Fi? Streaming, video calls and autoplay on social media are the big users.
- Will you share your connection? A laptop on hotspot downloads updates and syncs files in the background.
- How long is the trip? Data adds up per day, so a two-week trip needs roughly double a one-week trip.
How much data do apps use? Figures from the app makers
Most app makers do not publish exact data use, because it changes with quality settings and network speed. The ones below do, either as data per hour or as a bitrate that converts directly into data per hour. Where a company publishes a bitrate in kilobits per second, we converted it: 1 kbit/s for one hour is 0.45 MB.
| App and setting | Published figure | Data per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix mobile, Save Data | About 6 hours per GB | About 0.17 GB |
| Netflix mobile, Automatic (default) | About 4 hours per GB | About 0.25 GB |
| Netflix mobile, Maximum Data | 1 GB per 20 minutes or more | 3 GB or more |
| Netflix on a browser, Medium | Up to 0.7 GB per hour | Up to 0.7 GB |
| Netflix on a browser, High (HD) | Up to 3 GB per hour | Up to 3 GB |
| Spotify, Low | About 24 kbit/s | About 11 MB |
| Spotify, Normal | About 96 kbit/s | About 43 MB |
| Spotify, High | About 160 kbit/s | About 72 MB |
| Spotify, Very high (Premium) | About 320 kbit/s | About 144 MB |
| Zoom 1:1 video call, standard quality | 600 kbit/s each way | About 270 MB each way, about 0.5 GB in total |
| Zoom 1:1 video call, 720p HD | 1.2 Mbit/s each way | About 540 MB each way, about 1.1 GB in total |
Sources: Netflix’s help page on how to control data usage, Spotify’s audio quality page and Zoom’s system requirements. Real use varies with your connection and the content, so treat these as upper guides rather than exact meters.
For web browsing, the HTTP Archive’s Web Almanac 2024 found that the median mobile web page weighed about 2.3 MB. Reading 50 pages in a day, a busy day of checking restaurants, opening hours and museum tickets, comes to roughly 115 MB.
How much data does Google Maps use?
Google does not publish a per-hour data figure for Google Maps, so we will not guess one. What Google does document is how to avoid using data for maps at all. Its guide to downloading areas and navigating offline explains that you can save an area on Wi-Fi and then get driving directions offline, as long as the whole route stays inside the downloaded map.
Two limits matter for travellers. Walking, cycling and transit directions are not available offline, and offline driving does not show live traffic or alternate routes. In a city where you walk and take the metro, you will still use some data for directions, but the map itself loads from your phone.
How much data does WhatsApp use?
WhatsApp does not publish data figures for messages or calls either. Text messages are tiny. The data goes on photos, videos and voice notes that download automatically, and on video calls.
WhatsApp’s help page on configuring auto-download suggests setting media to download only on Wi-Fi if your data plan is limited. The same Storage and data menu has a Use less data for calls switch. Turn both on before you leave and WhatsApp becomes one of the lightest apps on your phone.
How much data do Instagram, TikTok and YouTube use?
None of these apps publishes a reliable per-hour figure, because use depends on how much video you watch and at what quality. The pattern is clear, though: scrolling short videos is streaming video, so expect it to use far more than messaging or maps.
YouTube’s help page on changing video quality explains how to set a separate quality for mobile networks, including a Data saver option. To see what Instagram or TikTok actually uses on your phone, check the per-app counter in your settings, covered in the section on cutting data use below.
How many GB do I need for a week abroad?
The table below is our guide for choosing a plan size. It is built from the published figures above, a typical mix of apps and evening Wi-Fi at your accommodation, with a margin so you do not run short on the last day.
| Trip type | Typical mobile data use away from Wi-Fi | About per day | 1 week | 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resort or all-inclusive | Messages, a few photos, maps on day trips | 0.2 to 0.3 GB | 1 to 2 GB | 3 to 5 GB |
| City break or sightseeing | Directions, browsing, social media, photos | 0.5 to 0.7 GB | 3 to 5 GB | 7 to 10 GB |
| Road trip with daily navigation | Maps, music streaming, messages, a short video call | 0.7 to 1 GB | 5 to 7 GB | 10 to 15 GB |
| Heavy social media and video | Short videos, daily video calls, streaming | 1 to 1.5 GB | 7 to 10 GB | 15 to 20 GB |
| Remote work or laptop hotspot | Video meetings, cloud files, laptop sync | 2 GB or more | 15 GB or more | 30 GB or more |
These are estimates, not measurements of your phone. If you are not sure which row you fit, look at last month’s mobile data in your phone’s settings, divide by 30 and compare it with the “about per day” column.
A worked example: a day in a city
Say you spend a day walking around Lisbon. You use maps for directions and look up 40 web pages (about 90 MB), listen to an hour of Spotify at Normal (about 43 MB) and make a 20-minute standard-quality video call home on Zoom (about 180 MB). Add messages and a handful of photos and you land at roughly 0.4 GB.
Swap the video call for an hour of Netflix on its default mobile setting and you add another quarter of a gigabyte. Watch an episode at Maximum Data instead and a single episode can use more than the rest of your day combined. That is why video decides your plan size.
Tip: Before you leave, reset your phone’s data counter, then use your phone normally for a couple of days at home. The total tells you more about your habits than any table.
How to use less data when travelling
You do not need to ration your phone. A few settings, changed once before you fly, cut most of the data travellers use without noticing.
Turn on Low Data Mode on iPhone
Apple’s guide to Low Data Mode explains that it pauses automatic updates and background tasks such as iCloud Photos syncing, turns off Background App Refresh and lowers streaming quality. On iPhone, go to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options and turn on Low Data Mode; on a 5G iPhone it sits under Data Mode. With Dual SIM, you set it separately for each line, so switch it on for your travel eSIM.
Turn on Data Saver on Android
Google’s guide to Data Saver explains that it limits most apps to background data over Wi-Fi only, while apps you are actively using can still use mobile data. On a Pixel, go to Settings > Network & internet > Data Saver. Menus vary on Samsung and other brands. If a messaging app needs background data to deliver messages, add it under Unrestricted data.
Check which apps use the most
Apple’s guide to using cellular data on iPhone shows how to see usage per app under Settings > Cellular and how to turn off mobile data for apps you do not need on the road. Android has a similar per-app list in its network or data usage settings. Reset the counter when you land, and check it after the first day.
More ways to save data
- Download maps on Wi-Fi. Save each city or region in Google Maps before you go, as described above.
- Download music and shows. Spotify playlists and Netflix episodes downloaded on hotel Wi-Fi use no mobile data later.
- Set streaming apps to save data. Netflix’s Save Data setting uses about a third less than its default, and YouTube’s Data saver option lowers quality on mobile networks.
- Keep WhatsApp media on Wi-Fi. Set auto-download to Wi-Fi only and turn on Use less data for calls.
- Pause backups. Low Data Mode does this on iPhone; on Android, check your photo app’s backup settings for a Wi-Fi only option.
Do you need more data if you share a hotspot?
Yes, often a lot more. A laptop on your phone’s hotspot behaves like it is at home: it syncs cloud folders, downloads system updates and loads full desktop websites. A single video meeting at 720p on Zoom uses about 1.1 GB an hour, based on Zoom’s published bandwidth.
Most of our plans allow hotspot, and the plan page shows it under “Coverage & networks”. If two or three people will share one connection, our guide to sharing mobile data with family abroad compares hotspot with giving each phone its own eSIM. You can buy up to 10 eSIMs in one order, and each installs on one phone.
Is it better to buy more data than you need?
Usually, yes. Running short on the last days of a trip, when you need maps to find the airport or a message from your airline, is worse than having a few gigabytes left over. If you are between two sizes, choose the larger one, especially for a long trip or if you plan to use hotspot.
Compare that with roaming on your Canadian plan. Bell charges $16 a day and Rogers and Telus $18 a day for international roaming in October 2026, per phone, so a two-week trip can cost more than $220 before tax for a single line. Our Bell, Rogers and Telus roaming vs eSIM guide has the full breakdown.
How much data do you need by destination?
Your destination changes how much you use as much as your habits do. A beach week with resort Wi-Fi needs little, while a city trip with lots of walking directions needs more. These guides cover data, networks and setup for popular trips from Canada:
- United States: our USA eSIM guide for Canadians covers road trips and long weekends.
- Mexico and the Caribbean: see Mexico, Punta Cana, Jamaica and Costa Rica.
- Europe: start with which network to choose in Europe, then read our guides to the UK, France, Italy and Portugal.
- Asia: see Japan and Thailand.
Your next step
Look up last month’s data use on your phone, pick the row in the table that matches your trip, and round up. Then choose your country from our destinations list, check your phone with our compatibility checker and install the eSIM at home on Wi-Fi. Its days only start when it first connects at your destination. Our guide to installing an eSIM before you fly walks through every step.
Frequently asked questions
How many GB do I need for a week abroad?
Most travellers who use hotel Wi-Fi in the evenings need about 3 to 5 GB for a week of maps, messaging, social media and photos. Plan on 7 GB or more if you stream video, make daily video calls or use your phone as a hotspot.
Is 1 GB enough for a week of travel?
Only if you mostly use Wi-Fi and keep mobile data for messages and a little navigation with offline maps. One hour of Netflix on its default mobile setting uses about a quarter of a gigabyte, so video eats 1 GB quickly.
How much data does Google Maps use?
Google does not publish a per-hour figure for Google Maps. You can avoid most of it by downloading offline maps on Wi-Fi, which lets you get driving directions without a connection as long as the route stays inside the saved area.
How much data does a WhatsApp call use?
WhatsApp does not publish a per-minute figure for calls. Voice calls are light compared with video, and the app has a Use less data for calls setting under Settings and Storage and data that lowers usage further.
Does streaming music use a lot of data?
Less than video. Spotify's Normal quality is about 96 kbit/s, which works out to roughly 43 MB an hour, and High quality at about 160 kbit/s is roughly 72 MB an hour. Downloading playlists on Wi-Fi before you leave uses no travel data at all.
What uses the most data when travelling?
Video, by a wide margin: streaming, video calls, and short videos that autoplay on social media. Background activity such as photo backups and app updates can also use a lot if you do not switch on Low Data Mode or Data Saver.
