Prepaid SIM/eSIM in Peru: How to Buy a 4G Internet Chip?

Roaming fees

Planning a trip to Peru and thinking of using your French mobile plan there? Very bad idea, it will cost you a fortune! Carriers charge ridiculous roaming rates. roaming, at exorbitant prices.

Find out how much 1 MB of internet costs in Peru with SFR, Bouygues, Free, and Orange.

Carrier	Prices
Free Mobile	€9.70 / MB
Orange	€13.31/MB
Bouygues Telecom	€10.24 / MB
SFR	€13.20 / MB

SMS received from Free upon entering Peru

So using a French SIM card in Peru is out of the question; luckily, there are alternatives.

Buy a SIM card before you leave

The most obvious solution is to buy a specialized SIM card for Peru before you leave. You’ll receive the SIM card at your home before departure. Once you arrive in Peru, simply replace your French SIM with the new one, and you can enjoy internet during your stay without worrying about the bill.

With Holafly

Holafly is a specialized company offering prepaid SIM cards for travelers.

Click here to see Holafly’s offers in Peru and get a PROMO CODE.

Holafly offers two different plans for Peru depending on the amount of internet data you want.

Both plans are valid for 30 days.

4G data	Rate
8 GB	34 €
12 GB	44 €

Note that this SIM card will also work in other American countries: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. Handy if you’re on a road trip.

On Amazon

From time to time, Amazon offers prepaid chips for Peru, but unfortunately not currently.

Buying an eSIM valid in Peru

If you have a compatible phone, it’s even easier to order an eSIM; delivery is instant without waiting for mail.

Holafly also offers this service (read our review on the subject).

See Holafly eSIM offers for Peru. Feel free to use the promo code NOMADBENTO

However, the eSIM offer is less attractive than Holafly’s physical SIM card. Your eSIM is only valid for 15 days with 6 GB of internet for 47 €.

Buying a 4G SIM at the airport

If you have no alternative, you can buy a SIM card at the airport.

However, these are very expensive tourist offers!

After collecting your luggage and clearing customs, you arrive at an area with car rental stands, taxi booking desks, and a “Peru SIM” stand.

They offer both physical SIM cards and eSIMs.

The offers are unlimited, but that’s their only advantage – the prices are outrageous!

Since we’re staying three weeks, we would have had to take the 150 S/ plus 15 S/ activation fee. That’s over 40 €!

Buying a SIM card in town

There are 4 mobile operators in Peru:

Movistar
Claro
Entel
Bitel

Movistar is known for having the best network coverage.

For example, here are the prices for internet data packs with Claro.

Data volume	Rate	Validity
Unlimited	S/ 6	Until midnight
200 MB	S/ 3	2 days
650 MB	S/ 5	5 days
1.5 GB	S/ 10	10 days
2 GB	S/ 20	20 days
3 GB	S/ 30	30 days
14 GB	S/ 100	30 days
40 GB	S/ 200	30 days

At supermarket exits (after the checkouts), you’ll often find small phone stands.

Ask for a prepaid plan prepago (prepaid, the opposite of a subscription).

I bought my SIM card at Wong supermarket. They had offers from different carriers. Since I wanted a 30-day plan, the saleswoman spontaneously offered me a Bitel plan for 39.90 S/. At another supermarket, they only offered me an 80 S/ plan, so that suited me fine. That’s four times cheaper than at the airport!

For 39.90 S/, I get:

Unlimited calls
Unlimited texts
Unlimited internet (with reduced speed after 30 GB of usage)

And if I understood correctly (not sure…), the plan works for a whole year!

To sign up for the plan, you need to present your passport (I didn’t have it on me, but the photo on my phone did the trick).

The saleswoman gave me a ticket to pay at the checkout (a bit annoying, there was a queue…), you can pay by card without any problem.

My SIM card was working instantly, with no specific setup required. However, think about testing it on the spot so you can get help if it doesn’t work.