SIM card France: options and recommendations | April 2024

Internet in France: the best options

Nowadays we use our smartphone for everything, we are constantly connected, so having mobile internet in France is very important. You can use your France SIM card to see how to get to your hotel, send photos and videos or search for something on the map so you don't get lost.

In addition to the SIM Card France, there are different options you can count on to have data on your mobile. Depending on the type of trip you want to make, we recommend several options. For example, if you are a digital nomad or Erasmus student, roaming may not be included and you can choose the Holafly eSIM for France.

France is a European country, so depending on your operator, roaming may not be included. Therefore, be careful when using the roaming tariff in Europe, as there have been changes after Brexit.

Whether you are an Erasmus student in France or a digital nomad who wants to live in France for a while, Holafly's France SIM card or eSIM France has many advantages so you don't have to worry about your data consumption.

During the trip to France you have different options to get internet, in the following table you can see the options to compare which one suits your needs.

Internet cost in France
Service	Cost/Days	Data
eSIM France	From £19/5 days	Unlimited
SIM Card France	from £14/30 days	10Gb
Wifi in France Portable Public	From £5,9/day Free	500MB/day Unlimited
Roaming in France O2 Three Mobile Vodafone	Included £2 £2	Included Day Day

When to buy a SIM card in France?

Having mobile data while traveling is very easy with the France SIM card. Purchasing such cards is usually relatively easy and you can be connected to the internet in no time at all. You just have to decide whether to buy before or after you arrive in the country.

In France SIM cards can be bought in different places, depending on the duration of your trip and your needs you can buy one type of card or another. You can find this card at:

• Airports
• Company sales points
• Online

Some of the options to have internet in the French country and enjoy calls and data without worrying about anything but enjoying your trip are:

• Orange Holiday Europe: is one of the best-selling cards online. With it you can enjoy calls and data so you won't miss a thing.
• My European SIM: Bouyague Telecom offers national coverage and card top-up facilities.
• O2 Go Card: This prepaid SIM card France fits all mobile phones and is very easy to recharge.

Other options for mobile data in France

The eSIM card France is another option you have to be able to get an internet connection during your holidays. This type of virtual card allows you to use the tariff at the time of contracting it.

One of the best virtual card options is the Holafly eSIM card, with which you don't need to change your mobile number as you can continue to use your regular SIM card.

France is a country that is included in the free roaming of almost all UK carriers. So, as a general rule, you can continue to use the usual tariff.

Signing up for the Holafly France eSIM card is very easy and with just a few simple steps you can enjoy a worry-free internet connection during your trip.

1. Choose the days you want to have an internet connection in France.
2. Read the QR code that you receive by email when you sign up for the Holafly card.
3. Install the data plan by following the steps that appear on the screen.
4. Use the data an enjoy during your trip.

One of the benefits of the Holafly card is technical support every day of the week at all hours of the day. In this way they solve any problems that may arise during the trip.

eSIM Holafly France: all plans
Plan	Cost	Gigas
5 days	£19	Unlimited
10 days	£29	Unlimited
15 days	£44	Unlimited
20 days	£49	Unlimited
30 days	£59	Unlimited
60 days	£77	Unlimited
90 days	£87	Unlimited

Before buying this card you should know that not all mobile phones are compatible with this technology. So we recommend that you check before deciding on one type of card or another.

There are also other companies with which you can contract this type of card and which may be better adapted to your travel needs. Here are a few that you can check out:

• Dent eSIM
• Airalo
• Yesim
• Truphone

Using wifi in France

Wifi is the last of the options we suggest for using the internet in France. You can use pocket wifi, which is the safest but not the cheapest option. Or you can opt for public wifi, France has many public networks throughout the country, although it is not the safest option.

Pocket wifi in France

Portable wifi is one of the options you can choose to have internet while traveling in France. This small router is portable and can always be carried with you, so you can connect several devices at the same time and have an internet connection.

One of the best advantages of this device is its security. You have a unique password to avoid cyber-attacks and have a good connection speed.

Using public wifi in France

France is a tourist country with many free wifi hotspots for tourists to connect to when traveling around the country. Paris has the largest number of free hotspots, so you can connect in parks, museums or stations.

Finding these hotspots is relatively easy. There are several applications that make it easy to find free wifi hotspots on a map.

One of them is WifiMap, which contains one of the largest databases of open networks so you can connect to the internet in France.

How does roaming in France work?

Although after Brexit, the United Kingdom no longer belongs to the European Union, the different companies that operate in the country continue to maintain free roaming as they did before.

Therefore, during your trip in France you can roam free of charge, but please check with the company you have contracted the usual rate as, depending on the situation, surcharges may apply.

Quality of coverage in France

Internet coverage in France is generally good and there are no major differences between different parts of the country.

However, bear in mind that coverage will not be the same if you go to Paris, which has a large telephone infrastructure, as if you go to mountainous areas far from large population centers.

Little by little, the French government is trying to reduce the number of areas with poor internet connections. The big companies operating in the country such as Orange and SFR are also helping to make this possible.

You can find 4G speed almost everywhere in France as it is the most widespread network. If you go to big cities like Paris, Marseille or Lyon you can also find 5G.

Advantages of internet in France

Having the internet when traveling has become a must. Having access to the internet when in France has become one of the most important things to have on any trip.

Some of the advantages of having internet in France are:

• Talk to family and friends to tell them how your trip is going, send pictures of the Eiffel Tower or a video of wine tasting in the French countryside.
• If you are a digital nomad you need to be constantly connected so you don't miss anything at work.
• Find out how to get to the hotel or the meeting point of the Paris excursion and not get lost.

Recommendations on your trip to France

In France you can enjoy a variety of different activities. You can go and see the wonderful villages of Alsace, drink some wine and stroll through the vineyards or enjoy the Louvre.

It is important to know that in Paris you can drink the water from the fountains without any problems as these fountains have drinking water so you can refill your bottle whenever you need it.

The sockets in France are different to those used in the UK, so you will need to buy an adaptor so that you can charge your devices without any problems.

For the best experience and ease of travel, we recommend that you purchase a SIM card in France or Holafly's eSIM card, with unlimited data so you always have internet access.