The best SIM Cards for your trip to France
Your dream trip to France is finally here. You’ve gotten your airline tickets booked, your hotel sorted out, and made a list of all the fun places you want to visit in Paris. But don’t forget to take care of the little details — like your cell phone plan! Figuring out how to navigate SIM Cards in France can save you money and hassle.
Before you start dialing in France, remember that your phone plan from home can add up quickly when you make calls from overseas. In order to avoid a huge phone bill once you return to the States, we suggest buying a French SIM Card and using your phone like a local. Just make sure that you bring along an unlocked phone!
(A little confused? No worries, read this first: Buying a SIM Card in Europe: The cheapest way to use a smartphone)
Remember, when you buy a SIM Card from a French carrier, you’re actually buying a small chip that contains a French phone number. You’ll then insert that chip into your unlocked phone, and then buy credits to “top it off”, which will give you some combination of minutes for telephone calls, text messages, and data for internet on your phone.
Confusingly, the French telephone carriers all offer different deals when buying a SIM Card. Most will throw in some credits to sweeten the deal. Others, meanwhile, don’t offer SIM Cards for “pay as you go” use — they’ll only sell you a SIM Card when you sign on to a monthly plan (or “forfait”). Still others, like Orange and SFR (see below), offer affordable packages made just for tourists.
We’ve combed through the options and came up with three budget-friendly SIM Cards to help you save during your trip to France.
This article was updated in April 2024 with new information and prices.
The best SIM Cards for your trip to France
An Orange SIM Card in France. Photo: Mayowa Ige
1. Orange Prepaid Holiday SIM Card
Cost: €40 (or $49.90 when bought in the U.S. before your trip)
Pros: Good deal. Reliable. Great coverage. The card can be purchased in advance.
Cons: The initial credit is only good for 14 days. (Top it off to use it for longer.)
Orange is the French equivalent of Verizon or AT&T. It’s the largest and oldest French telecommunication company in the country, and it has coverage extending to other European nations as well. Orange’s cellular coverage and internet 4G speed is unmatched because its coverage is so widespread in France.
For tourists, Orange offers a prepaid holiday SIM Card plan that costs €40/$49.90. This SIM Card gives you a French phone number and includes a credit for 120 minutes of international calls and 1,000 SMS texts (to anywhere in the world). Calls and texts within Europe are unlimited. Also, you get 30 GB of data that can be used anywhere in Europe.
Because Orange is an established company, you will find Orange stores all over Paris. If you ever run into problems with your SIM Card, you can always pop in to speak to someone — they speak English!
The only drawback? By default, the credits are only good for 14 days after your first use. To keep using your number, head to a newsstand or Orange store (“La Boutique”) and reload it to “top-up” the credits.
Note: The Orange Holiday SIM Card can be purchased in advance online for $49.90. This is a distinct advantage, as you won’t need to hunt around for a newsstand or telephone shop upon arrival.
2. SFR Prepaid SIM Card
Cost: €9.99-€24.99
Pros: Two pass options are good for up to 30 days. These SIM Cards are easy to purchase from tobacco shops and newsstands.
Cons: Limited, if any, calls and texts outside of Europe depending on the package you purchase.
SFR, known as the Société française du radiotéléphone, is the second largest telecommunication provider in France. Much like Orange, SFR is a very well-known and well-respected company.
SFR offers a few options for those who need SIM Cards in France. A basic pass offers 1 GB of data, two hours of calling and 300 SMS texts for just €9.99. More practical options include a 10 GB kit with unlimited calls and texts in France and 10 GB of 4G internet for €14.99, a plan with unlimited texts and calls within France and 80 GB of 4G internet for €19.99, or a 5G-compatible SIM Card with unlimited calls in France and 140 GB of internet for €24.99.
Additionally, if you need to make calls to another country, you can buy a SFR Travel Sim with 60 GB of internet, 2.5 hours of international calling minutes and unlimited texting in Europe for €29.99.
All plans are valid for 30 days.
The SFR SIM Cards can be purchased in tobacco stores and “Relay” newsstands.
A Free SIM Card in France. Photo: Mayowa Ige
3. Free Mobile SIM Card
Cost: €20 for unlimited calls, texts and Internet.
Pros: Super cheap! Great for long-term visitors.
Cons: You’ll need to cancel service when finished.
Free is a new player in French telecommunications, and it has shaken up the market with an impressive price: €20 a month for unlimited calls and texts (including internationally) and 250 GB of internet.
The company also has smaller plans, including a €2/month plan with 50 MB of internet, 2 hours of calls within France and unlimited texts; or a €10.99/month plan with 140 MB of internet, unlimited calls within France and unlimited texts.
If you’re just getting the SIM Card, it takes about 10 minutes because Free has SIM card vending machines that you can order like a Twix bar at its shop and terminal locations. Free will send you a user identification number and password to your email, and you can pay for the SIM Card and service by just swiping your credit card in the “SIM-vending” machine.
Keep in mind that when you sign up for Free, you are technically signing up for a monthly subscription that you can cancel anytime with no fees or questions asked. Unless you’re staying in France or Europe for longer than a month, your bill should be €25 to €30 total; this includes €20 for the service and €10 for an activation fee. (Free usually has a €5 euro discount for new customers.) Just remember to cancel the subscription before you head home, or you’ll face recurring charges.
Use a SIM Card to test to your heart’s delight in Paris! Photo: facemepls
This is the best deal while traveling in France and Europe. You get unlimited calling within France, the U.S. and Canada, plus nearly unlimited data within France. You also get to enjoy 35 GB of data within Europe and abroad; this means you will still be connected if you’re traveling to other European countries during your vacation.
Keep in mind that you will ultimately have to return to a Free Paris store and request to cancel your service before you return back to the States. The agents will fill out a cancellation form for you. Then, you will have to take the form to a French post office and mail it to Free’s headquarters. The process is actually a lot easier than it sounds!
Another thing to keep in mind is that the levels of English vary within the Free offices. Still, I’ve been to the flagship location a couple of times, and I was able to cancel my mobile service with an agent who didn’t speak English just by showing him the English to French Google translation of “I’d like to cancel my mobile service” on my phone. Aside from having to wait one hour for my turn, the whole process took five minutes for him to fill out the cancellation form for me. Wait times may not be quite as long now that Free has expanded to multiple store locations. (The post office is also self-explanatory. Just make sure you have an envelope with you because, for some reason, French post offices don’t have envelopes for sale.)
Now, you’re all set to cruise the Seine and bring along Auntie Jenny in California with FaceTime!
More on SIM cards in Europe
The subject of using your smartphone while traveling abroad can be a tricky one. You can read much more about it here:
• How to use a SIM card in Europe
• How to set up your American iPhone for a European vacation
• Tips to keep your iPhone safe in Paris
• The top SIM cards for your trip to Spain
• Germany: The best SIM cards for tourists
Have you used a SIM Card in Europe? Share your favorites and tips for saving while traveling with your smartphone.
About the author
I bought a SIM card and received very good service at the Orange store 10 rue Halévy just east of the Opéra last September for the €40 mentioned above. After two weeks I re-upped, and it was well worth it to be able to stay in touch with family who stayed in a different area and with local friends.
And FYI, the Free store at 8 rue de la Ville-l’Eveque is now, according to Google Maps, temporarily closed.
We got a FREE Sim card in Paris and trying to cancel it has been a nightmare. So far we have paid for two extra months of service and it looks like we will have to pay a third month. If you get one of these, get it cancelled in person before you leave France.
Are you looking to rent a sim card for Israel? GroupSim is one of the best company that provides you with unlimited calls and data at a very affordable price. We provide the best network of sim card.
Orange France sells prepaid cards for visitors at an exorbitant price. On top of that, you are required to register your sim card within 4 to 5 days on their web site. The problem is that their web application does not work. We asked the staff in the Orange shop where we bought the air time to help us and also they were unable to register the sim card. Without registering, Orange cuts the service without compensating your outstanding credit. When we requested a refund on the purchase of air time but the shop replied that they do not do refunds.
Basically, we were swindled at Orange.
Don’t buy SFR prepaid sim card. Look at Trustpilot for comments. Looks cheap but when you get no service it’s expensive. The small print says expires in 7 days! Lycamobile looks the best but you must apply with a computer not tablet or smartphone. Lebarra let’s you apply with phone or tab. You need an address to mail the sim to. Don’t know if you need a french address. I used the hotel address.
Great article with good information. I am interested in the free mobile plan for 25 Euro… this is one of the best deals in Europe. Could anyone maybe confirm that you don’t need a French mailing address nor a French bank account to apply? Thanks in advance for your feedback
Hi Mayowa, your article was great. It was very helpful and much needed information. Your article was clear, consistent, and well-researched. Thanks.
Reading some of the comments, even the absurd ones. I have been to France 6 times in the past for 2-4 weeks each. I used Orange Holiday Prepaid card 5 of 6 times and Bouygues once, so here are my views.
Orange – It is perhaps the most expensive option but works seamlessly even in Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland. They initially give you 14 days of usage with 40 Euros and you can top up for 14 more days with another 20 Euros, data carries over. I fail to see how this is an inconvenience(?) Your number remains valid for 6 months or so, which is useful if you are travelling twice a year. And getting the SIM, why even go to an Orange store when you can directly get it at Relay store in the airport itself. Topping up is easy. I do it online and it takes hardly a few minutes to get active. Still in my opinion this is very expensive and I am looking for an alternative.
SFR – SFR seems cheaper and I have seen some people using SFR there. I will probably give it a try next time.
Bouygues – I used Bouygues only once, that is in the last trip. It was a decent option. For same 40 Euros you get same data and perhaps 24 Euro of calls but for 30 days validity. It was cheaper as I did not need a second top up. Works pretty well for me in France, but the coverage is not as great compared to Orange, still okay.
Free – Looking at the reviews its scary. Then ignoring the reviews, there seems to be a big red flag for me if the service requires cancellation else it automatically renews. No matter whether the cancellation process is simple or hard, it is definitely an hassle for any traveller.
And as a footnote to the one person attacking anyone posting their views against ‘Free’, yes, I have studied geography enough to know “France is not America” and FYI I am not an American either…
I wanted to contribute my experience with Free. It is a decent deal for what you get. I was able to make calls the US but I can’t remember if that is when I started with their contract-free sim card that needs to be reloaded every month or when I switched to contract subscription. The people in the store speak varying levels of English. I took my phone with Google Translate downloaded in French. I had to compete with a lot of people for attention because people could not figure out how to use the kiosks. About the automated kiosks- at the time, the instructions were only in French. I used Google Translate to figure some of it out but ended up asking for help. If you have to use the online services for any reason, it is only in French (obviously, just be prepared for that). I tried to email for help but only received automated responses that did not actually address my questions and did not provide another way to contact them. The phone help is also in French (again obviously, but just know that). I mailed in my cancellation form that I picked up from the store and they did so in a somewhat timely manner.
Hi Lani,
Thanks so much for the detailed information on Free, especially about the customer service situation. This is very helpful!
Tourist TRAP, I traveled 2 weeks in Paris, bought the $20 Unlimited Call and Text and Internet FREE mobile SIM card. After 5 days my 4G internet drop to 3G and stay with 3G for the rest of the trip, very annoying that I used the internet to navigate while driving. I called them to cancel the plan and here the step to cancel the plan
– Fill out the form in paper all in French that I don’t understand.
– Send Register mail to them (cost me 6 Euro) and how long dose it goto thei office ? don’t know.
– Then they start the process cancelation the plan, how long soed it take ? don’t know .
– After completed the cancelation process, it will take 10 days for the cancellation. How do I know it will take 10 days?
– In the meantime they WILL CHARGE YOU THE SECONS MONTH ON YOUR CREDIT CARD. and if they do not cancel your plan they will charge you the third month and so on even you throw away their fricking SIM card after you leaving France.
I am a victim and I have to cancel me credit card to avoid them to charge me the third month, a lot of hassle. Again Free Mobil is a TOURIST TRAP.
Disagree with you. EUROPE is strict on policy and that is because too many tourists think it is AMERICA system. Stop complaining- ADAPT- If you are stressed then stay HOME.
You should rent a car with a NAVIGATION System or buy a GARMIN EUROPE GPS. it is the best way to navigate in EUROPE.. ADAPT..
I just came back from Paris. The SFR card you buy at the Bureau de Tabac for 10 Euros lasted 1/2 day and it was only to obtain a French phone # and a little of minutes. Then I had to go to a retail store, paid 20 Euros for 1 month with unlimited calls and SMS and a little of internet. The internet worked only when WiFi was available. Some numbers, called surcharged, starting with 08 & 09, very expensive, didn’t work. Good luck if you are lost, you can’t access Google maps or Whatsapp, you have to find a McDonalds or similar. Skype worked always. Next to the SFR store there was a Bouygues wireless. I will try it next time. BTW I speak perfect French, so no language problems, but it was tough, especially the SFR website.
I just returned from a 10 day trip to South Western France. I read this article before traveling and decided to get a SIM card from Orange upon arrival in Toulouse. It was a bad decision from the start. First, the Orange boutiques do not sell SIM cards, nor do they speak much English. You have to buy from a Tobac shop, which happened to have an English speaker to help us set up the phone. However, when I got to my hotel, I discovered I could not use the internet service I had purchased.
Since the Tobac shop simply sold the card and “top up” services, we went to two different Orange boutiques trying to find out why it wasn’t working. Despite their limited English, I believe they understood the problem, but were unable to help me resolve it. I tried the English customer service line, but that was ONLY for their internet/landline services, not for pay as you go mobile. There was no English help line for mobile services.
A few days later I received an SMS saying I needed to submit my identification or my plan would be terminated! I followed the link to their varification page and filled in the info. The confirmation message was that I would receive verification in 2-5 days–the last day of my trip. 2 days later I received a message saying something was wrong with the verification and to resubmit. By that time it was too late and I ignored all subsequent messages.
Unfortunately, I have no means of resolving this issue or getting a refund, especially since I paid cash. I am not sure what went wrong, but it was not as simple as swapping out one SIM for another.
We have a 14 day European sojourn scheduled with 3 days in Wales, UK (wedding) via Manchester, 3 days in Paris, 1 day in Barcelona and 2 in Ibiza, then return to Manchester to fly back. What sims card would you recommend?
A couple of other notes on Orange Holiday… it only activates once you make an outgoing call. Then you have 14 days from that first call. It can be difficult to track when you first actually activate it, especially if you think its when you start using data. You can use the data from the get go and it does not “start” the period, only a call. Also the data will roll over to the next period if you haven’t used it all. This can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere with no phone service if you aren’t careful! Confusing, I know. And when you got to “Top Off” by adding another 2 weeks, it can take a long time for them to “approve” your transaction. I’ve waited over twelve hours in the past. Again, this can really leave you in the lurch when you are counting on your phone service. Lastly, when I have tried to “Top Up” my account, my US credit card gets immediately declined. With a dead phone, you can’t even call the US 800 number for your credit card company and get it approved! I’ve texted my husband in a panic and he’s had to get up in the middle of the night and call the credit card company for me. This has happened the first time I’ve topped up (2016 & 2017) but then works fine afterwards. Be sure you’ve got someone at home who is on the account and/or can access your credit card company from home if you plan to keep your plan longer than 2 weeks. (You could also put your US SIM card back in and make a call at your carrier’s international rate if you were desperate.) I need a French phone number when my kids are in school so I need the same number the whole time and can’t just get a new SIM card.
I hope this saves at least one person the frustration of navigating the Orange Holiday Card. Good luck!
Hi
Great article! Cell phone service is always the top of my list for “why can’t this be easier???!!!” But then its France we’re talking about so….
Can you tell me where I can get more information about Free mobile? I will be in France for several months on a yearly basis going forward. I’d like to get french phone number and keep it long term, even if it means paying a small fee each month. (This is why, among other reasons, I don’t like the Orange Holiday Card as it deactivates the number after 6 mos) From your article, it looks like not only do I have to go to their office to buy the SIM card but that I have to return to Paris to the store to disconnect the service? Can that be right? This is not possible for me as I will not be in Paris more than a couple of days and then in rural Brittany. I cannot find anything on their website (I speak/read/write french fluently) where I can ask any questions short of an international call form the US which will likely offset any cost savings I might gain by purchasing their product. I know, French customer service is an oxymoron!
Because of the name, Free Mobile, its pretty much impossible to google so I’m having trouble finding any other article/blogs that discuss these things. Any advice, resources or other info?
Thanks again for the great article. I’m sure it will help pretty much anyone who runs across it. 🙂
Hi Tamara,
Thanks for reading and your feedback. It can get very complicated when it comes to SIM cards, but I think this site should be helpful for Free Mobile: http://mobile.free.fr/ Also, we wrote this article that is more European wide when it comes to buying SIM Cards: https://www.eurocheapo.com/blog/buying-a-sim-card-in-europe.html
I hope this helps and let us know if you have any more questions.
Get the Free Mobile 19€ 99 plan and switch it to the minimal 2 euro plan when you are leaving France for any period of time. You can switch back at any time to the higher priced plan with its unlimited calls to USA and elsewhere plus its 4g unlimited data. Note 10 euro service charge for each switch in plans. Far and away the best deal. Keeping it active saves the hassle of both starting a new operator and cancelling one you have.
Get the Free Mobile 19€ 99 plan and switch it to the minimal 2 euro plan when you are leaving France for any period of time. You can switch back at any time to the higher priced plan with its unlimited calls to USA and elsewhere plus its 4g unlimited data. Note 10 euro service charge for each switch in plans. Far and away the best deal. Keeping it active saves the hassle of both starting a new operator and cancelling one you have.
One wrInkle on the Free plans that I just discovered is that you must keep the current plan 3 months before a change is allowed. Irritating but still a good deal for many frequent travelers to the continent.
Here is what I got from Google.fr re: free mobile:
https://www.google.fr/search?source=hp&ei=YO7cXLXMDIH0-gSw-o_wCw&q=free+mobile+france&oq=freemobile+france&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i10l10.2161.31357..36356…0.0..0.124.1753.15j4……0….1..gws-wiz…..0..0i131j0j0i7i30.7nIOnf9zHUc
I hope it helps. I case you can’t open it, I googled free mobile france
Stop complaining, read, read to be well prepared.
France is not AMERICA.. so get used to it.
You’ll be fine
(I lived in 16 countries and don’t speak 16 languages and I did not have a U.S> English or French phone and I was just Fine.
Hi, Does anyone have thoughts on the best phone plan for a 6 week stay in Nice?
Or…join T Mobile and get worldwide roaming included for free in the plan. Save on calls by using WiFi.
Use your home number everywhere!
We just did it in St. Martin and it worked great.
Hi!
I could easily not know what I’m talking about, but I’d thought the EU parliament had forbidden roaming charges within EU countries? So how is it legal for LeFrenchMobile to have different rates for domestic and EU-wide? I know when I’m in London later this month I plan to use my German SIM with just my usual German data package.
Yes, it is.
Operators are allowed to propose better prices for their local packages, only if the package can not be used whilst roaming (and then you can not have a bad surprise whilst roaming).