Tourist sim card for France

Is your phone unlocked? Do you need a Sim card or esim? Do you need phone service and data or just data?

Airalo is a good esim - I used it in England.

I'm using an Airalo eSIM in France right now. It has generslly been solid since June 25, tbough the signal sometimes drops when I'm on a train passing through a rural area.

I've never used an eSIM in the French Alps.

whichever vendor you choose, do some google to see if you can find a discount code. Travel vloggers often have these companies as sponsors and you can save a few dollars. Note that they rarely include phone service, just data.

If you need the ability to call French numbers, look into Free. I'm very pleased with my service. They're the only bricks-and-mortar French cell service provider I've found that sells to Americans and gives them French phone numbers. They accept US credit cards for payment.

I used an Orange esim while in Eastern France in May. We went as far as the Dauphiné but not into the Alps. I mainly picked Orange since it is a major provider in France. No problems with connectivity. As mentioned above, your phone has to be unlocked to use an esim.

• Phones unlocked
• looking primarily for data and very limited local number calling
• is it best to do an esim through the mobile operators you have suggested int he us or do it in france once we land.
• if i do free - any suggestions where to get the physical sim in paris

TIA

I also have used an Orange "Holiday" eSIM on multiple trips on my UNLOCKED iPhone 11.

Pretty inexpensive. A local number with data for the length of time I'm there (they offer various lengths like 2 weeks or 1 month). Don't make many phone calls, but that was useful several times over the years. Otherwise, a "data" only plan is cheaper and more are on offer.

The Orange eSIM "requires" registration, but only really if you're going to keep it and top it off for longer than your vacation. I don't bother.

Borivlikar, any Free bricks-and-mortar store should be able to sell you an eSIM with a French phone number. And it will be substantially cheaper than buying a holiday plan from Orange if you're going to be in France for awhile.

Wow, that Free deal seems good too!

I bought Orange last year (saved my BUTT during the microsoft meltdown!) for 50 euro and it was pretty awesome, better and cheaper than using my AT&T international plan (did you see it went up?) but that Free price (can I tell you how unsure I was typing "free french esim" into google? hahaha) is even better! Thanks for the tip!

@jphbucks - i have read that cancelling the FREE plan is very difficult and you need to go into a store to cancel.
If you have any insight , please let me know.

@acraven
liked the airalo options as well. can you "top up" if you run out of the data or do you have to start all over again?

i have read that cancelling the FREE plan is very difficult and you need to go into a store to cancel.
If you have any insight, please let me know.

Hmm, interesting. I need to use my plan until late October, but I'm going to need to cancel it before leaving France. Thanks for the info. I will say that cancelation of the giffgaff plan I was using in the UK was a confusing process, and I ended up paying for 2 months rather than the single month I needed. But it was only 10 GBP that I wasted.

Travel writer in WSJ just used and approves Orange

Airalo top-ups are very easy. The options are listed in the app. You choose the one you want and pay for it. Your plan is then extended. No installation required for any of the top-ups I've done.

On a related question, will Orange or Bouygues work in both France and Italy on the same trip on a single SIM purchase? I will need a 30 day term.

On a related question, will Orange or Bouygues work in both France and Italy on the same trip on a single SIM purchase?

Orange (and I'd assume most options) work across most of Europe. We cross borders with no issues (it does often choose a different partner carrier). Just check the list of countries to be sure, but 100%, France and Italy are on the Orange list.

Keep in mind, there are often a variety of "flavors" available - around data, time length, prices, and potentially regions. We've bought the Holiday Europe option, but they may have more limited (but fine for you) options.