Staying Connected in Paris: eSIMs, SIM Cards and Wi-Fi

There is a moment at Charles de Gaulle, somewhere between the passport queue and the RER platform, when you take the phone off airplane mode and find out what you decided weeks ago without really deciding it. Either a French network appears and everything works, or you get a text from your operator quoting a daily charge, or nothing happens at all and you are standing in a terminal with no map, no ride-hail app and no way to tell your accommodation you have landed. Type france esim sim card tourists into any forum search and you will get a decade of contradictory advice, most of it written before eSIMs became standard on every phone worth carrying.

Here is the current position. There are three options and only three: roam on your existing contract, install a travel eSIM before you fly, or buy a French SIM or eSIM when you arrive. Which is best depends almost entirely on where you live and whether you need a French phone number. Below: what each costs, how much data you actually need, how the Wi-Fi works, and the settings that stop a phone quietly running up a bill. Prices were checked in September 2026 and move often, so treat them as the right order of magnitude.

The three options, compared

Option 1: roaming on the plan you already have

If you live in the EU or EEA, you are covered. Roam Like At Home means your domestic allowance works in France at no extra charge, with a fair-use ceiling that no ordinary holiday will hit. Change nothing, do nothing, and enjoy it.

If you live in the UK, check before you fly, because operators diverged after Brexit. Some still include European roaming; several reintroduced daily charges of a few pounds; a few offer it only on certain tariffs. This is the single most common unpleasant surprise for British visitors to Paris, and it is a two-minute check in your account.

If you live in the United States, Canada or Australia, your operator almost certainly offers an international day pass — typically around €9–12 a day, sometimes with a monthly cap. It is convenient and it is the most expensive option on this page by a wide margin: a week costs more than a month of French data. Worth it only if you are here for two or three nights and cannot face any setup.

Turn this off if you are not using it

If you are buying a local SIM or eSIM, disable data roaming on your home line before you land. Dual-SIM phones are perfectly happy to keep both active, and a phone that quietly falls back to the expensive line while you sleep is a bill nobody enjoys.

Option 2: a travel eSIM

For most visitors from outside Europe this is now the right answer, and it has become dramatically simpler in the last two years.

An eSIM is a SIM profile downloaded to your phone rather than a plastic card. You buy it online before you travel, scan a QR code, and it sits alongside your normal line — your own number still receives calls and texts over the network, while data runs over the French one. Nothing physical arrives, nothing has to be swapped in an airport, and nothing has to be given back.

What it costs

Orange’s own France data eSIM, to give a concrete anchor, runs from about €3.99 for 1 GB over seven days up to €35.99 for 100 GB over thirty days. The independent travel-eSIM marketplaces sit in a similar band, sometimes cheaper for small bundles.

The catches

• Most travel eSIMs are data-only. No French number, no ability to receive an SMS at a French number. This matters less than it used to, because almost everything runs over data now — but it matters if a restaurant or a driver wants to call you.
• Your phone must be unlocked and eSIM-capable. Essentially every iPhone since the XS and most flagship Android handsets since about 2020. Check in settings before you buy: look for “Add eSIM” or “Add mobile plan”.
• Install before you fly, activate on arrival. You need Wi-Fi to download the profile, so do it at home. Most let you set the activation to begin on first connection in France.
• Check which network it uses. Orange and SFR have the best coverage in and around Paris; any of the four is fine in the city itself.

Option 3: a French SIM or eSIM bought when you arrive

Worth it if you are staying longer than about a week, if you want a French number, or if you simply prefer dealing with an actual operator. Prices checked September 2026:

The one thing that catches people out

France requires identification to register a SIM. Bring your passport to the shop. This is a legal requirement rather than a formality and there is no way round it — which is also a reason not to plan on buying one at eleven at night.

Where to buy

• Operator shops — Orange, SFR, Bouygues and Free all have stores across central Paris, including large ones on the Boulevard Haussmann and around Les Halles. Staff generally speak English and will set the SIM up for you.
• Airport shops — Relay newsagents and phone kiosks in both CDG and Orly sell tourist SIMs. Convenient, marginally more expensive, and a queue after a long flight.
• Tabacs and supermarkets — for the cheaper MVNO cards. Less hand-holding, so know what you are buying.

Which should you actually choose?

How much data do you actually need?

Visitors routinely over-buy. Ordinary Paris use is light, because the heavy things — video, downloads, backups — can wait for hotel Wi-Fi.

Which means 3–5 GB covers a normal week comfortably. Buy 20 GB only if you are tethering a laptop or streaming video on the Metro. Two things that cut it further: download offline maps of Paris before you go, and turn off automatic photo backup until you are on Wi-Fi. Our roundup of the Paris apps worth having covers which ones work offline.

Wi-Fi in Paris

Paris is unusually well covered, and a good deal of it is free.

• The municipal network. The City of Paris runs free Wi-Fi at several hundred public sites — parks and gardens, libraries, municipal museums, town halls and some squares. Connect to the network named for the city’s service, accept the terms, and you are on. Sessions are time-limited but reconnectable.
• Cafés and restaurants. Nearly universal, and the password is usually printed on the receipt or chalked behind the bar. Ask: “le code wifi, s’il vous plaît ?” — see our French phrases guide.
• Hotels. Free essentially everywhere now, including budget places. Quality varies a great deal in older buildings with thick stone walls.
• Airports and stations. Free at Charles de Gaulle, Orly and the mainline stations, generally after a short registration.
• Museums and department stores. The Louvre, the Pompidou, Galeries Lafayette and the other big names all offer it.
• The Metro. Mobile coverage now reaches most of the network, including in tunnels on the busier lines, though it is not universal and there are dead sections. Station platforms are better than moving trains.

A word on public Wi-Fi safety

Open networks are open. Do not do your banking on café Wi-Fi, use a VPN if you have one, and prefer your mobile data for anything sensitive. The realistic risk in Paris is low, but it costs nothing to be sensible — and the far more likely problem with your phone here is that somebody takes it, which our guide to pickpockets in Paris deals with at length.

Setting up an eSIM, step by step

The process is genuinely simple, but it is easier done on your own sofa than in an airport, so here is the whole thing in order.

1. Check your phone supports eSIM. On iPhone, Settings › Mobile Service, and look for “Add eSIM”. On Android, Settings › Network & Internet › SIMs, and look for “Download a SIM instead”. If neither appears, buy a physical SIM in Paris instead.
2. Check the phone is unlocked. A carrier-locked handset will refuse any other network’s profile. If you bought it on contract and have not asked for an unlock, do that first — it usually takes a day or two.
3. Buy the bundle before you fly and download the profile over your home Wi-Fi. You will be sent a QR code, or the provider’s app will install it directly.
4. Label the lines. Name your home line something obvious and the travel line something else, so the settings screens make sense at a glance.
5. Set the travel line as your default for mobile data, keep your home line on for calls and texts, and switch data roaming off on the home line. This combination is what stops surprise charges while keeping your own number reachable.
6. Turn the travel line on when you land, or set it to activate on first connection. Most plans start their clock on first use rather than at purchase, but check — a few start on the date you choose at checkout.
7. Test it before you leave the terminal. Load a map, send a message. If nothing happens, toggle airplane mode on and off, then check that the travel line is selected for data.

The one failure mode worth anticipating: a phone that connects but has no data because the APN did not configure itself. Every provider publishes the manual APN settings, so screenshot them before you travel and you will never need them.

Calls, emergencies and the practical settings

• Emergency numbers work without a SIM. 112, 15, 17 and 18 can be dialled from any phone with any signal, whether or not it has a working plan. 112 is answered in English.
• Calling a French number from a foreign phone needs the international format: +33 followed by the number without its leading zero.
• WhatsApp, FaceTime, Signal and the rest work over data and cost nothing beyond it, which is how most visitors now handle calls entirely.
• Set your data-only eSIM as the default for mobile data and leave your home line for calls and texts, with its own data roaming switched off. On both iOS and Android this is a single settings screen.
• Bring a power bank. Navigation, photography and tickets in one device drains a battery faster than you expect, and a dead phone in Paris means no Metro ticket, no map and no way home. This is the most common connectivity failure of all, and it has nothing to do with networks.
• Plugs are type E, 230V. A standard European adapter fits. Our packing list has the rest.

What your phone is actually for in Paris

It is worth being concrete about why any of this matters, because “you might want internet” is not an argument and the real dependencies are more specific than people expect.

• Transport. You can now load a Navigo Easy pass onto a compatible handset and tap through the barriers with it, and the journey planners depend on live data to route you round the closures and strikes that are a permanent feature of the network. Our Navigo and tickets guide covers what can and cannot be done by phone.
• Timed entry tickets. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs and Sainte-Chapelle all issue QR codes to your phone. A dead battery at the barrier is a genuine problem, and printing a backup is not a bad old-fashioned habit.
• Getting home late. After the Metro stops, a ride-hailing app or a taxi app is the realistic option, and both need data. This is the moment at which connectivity stops being a convenience.
• Translation. The camera-translate function on a menu, a pharmacy label or a station notice is one of the genuinely transformative travel technologies of the last decade.
• Your bank. Freezing a stolen card, approving a payment, or clearing a fraud block all happen in an app. Which is precisely why the recommendation above is to keep your home line active for texts even while data runs over a French one.

Set against that list, the difference between a €10 eSIM and no plan at all is not really about data. It is about whether the evening your card gets blocked, or the museum ticket fails to load, is a five-minute problem or a ruined afternoon.

What we would actually do

For a week in Paris from outside Europe: buy a 5 GB travel eSIM before flying, for somewhere between €10 and €15. Install it at home, set it to activate on arrival, switch your home line’s data roaming off, and keep the home line active so your own number still receives texts from your bank. Download offline maps and turn off photo backup. Total setup time, about ten minutes; total cost, less than two days of a carrier day pass.

For a month or more, or if a French number matters: walk into an Orange or Free shop with your passport on the first morning and take a monthly plan.

For EU residents: put the phone on and go and look at something. Our guide to the forty practical things to know before you go covers the rest of the arrival admin.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a SIM card for France, or is Wi-Fi enough?

You can just about survive on Wi-Fi if you download offline maps and plan your days in advance, and people do. But tickets, ride-hailing, live transport information and restaurant bookings all want a live connection, and a €10 eSIM removes a great deal of friction for very little money.

Is an eSIM better than a physical SIM for France?

For a short trip, yes — nothing to swap, nothing to lose, and you keep your own number active alongside it. A physical SIM is better if your phone does not support eSIM, if it is carrier-locked, or if you want a French number for a longer stay.

Where can I buy a SIM card at Charles de Gaulle airport?

Relay newsagents and the phone kiosks in the arrivals areas of the main terminals sell tourist packages. Bring your passport. It is convenient rather than cheap, and after a long-haul flight the queue may be the deciding factor.

Will my phone work in France?

Any unlocked modern handset will. France uses standard European 4G and 5G bands, so a phone bought in the UK, the EU, North America or Australia will connect without trouble. Carrier-locked phones are the exception, and they will not accept a French SIM at all.

How much does a French SIM card cost for tourists?

Around €20 for a two-week tourist package with a French number and a reasonable data allowance, or €30–35 for a larger monthly bundle. Data-only eSIMs start below €5.

Is there free Wi-Fi in Paris?

Yes, at several hundred municipal sites including parks, libraries and city museums, plus effectively every café, hotel, station and airport. It is one of the better-covered cities in Europe.

Does mobile data work on the Paris Metro?

Mostly. Coverage now extends through much of the network including many tunnels, but there are gaps, and a train in motion is less reliable than a platform. Download what you need rather than depending on it.

Can I use my UK phone in Paris without charges?

It depends entirely on your operator. Several UK networks reinstated European roaming charges after Brexit and several did not, and it can vary by tariff within the same operator. Check your account before you travel rather than after.

Related Paris Guides

• Paris Travel Tips: 40 Things to Know Before You Go
• The Paris Apps Worth Downloading
• Money in Paris: Cards, Cash and ATMs
• What to Pack for Paris
• 50 French Phrases for Travellers
• The Paris Metro: A Complete Guide
• Pickpockets in Paris: Where They Work
• First Time in Paris: What Nobody Tells You