Does anyone have recent experience with prepaid data and phone sim cards in Europe? Will be touring in France and Portugal shortly and looking for advice.

I just got back last night - I used an Orange data sim card which had a lot of data available in Spain but much less for Portugal (and most parts of Europe) , but it was still plenty.  I have to admit I barely used any data since almost everywhere  had decent wifi so having 100 GB/20 GB valid for 28 days was way more than I needed.

Just make sure that when you sign up on some of the automatic machines that you select 1 month and not monthly. Some french machines are french only (so ok if you speak french) so ask for help if youre not sure.

I'm rambling here, but there are many decent options for tourists.

Brent, Thank you for the post on sim cards....ok, where are these automatic machines?.that's a new one for me. I'm flying into Marseille airport.

Stuart 

in Madrid they were right in the Orange store though the employee guided me. In France I'm not sure if you get them at a phone specific store or tobacco shop, but my guess is that the phone stores will have the kiosks. 

Brent,  Thanks so much for that...its really good news about the automatic machines. Remember sitting in line for 45 minutes for service?

Stuart 

Hi Stuart,

We bought Orange e-sims from the Travel Orange website :https://travel.orange.com/en/

It’s a little more expensive than getting a SIM on arrival, but the convenience and simplicity is priceless IMO. We’ve used e-sims on our last four international trips (Australia, Peru, Austria and now France/Spain) from different vendors each time. All have been good and you have everything set up before you get on a plane. When you arrive at your destination you just turn on the e-sim line and turn off the data roaming on your primary line, and you’re good to go. No searching around for kiosk or waiting in line while you are jet lagged and working in a foreign language, unless you like doing that stuff ;).

Every e-sim vendor that we’ve used (Hola, Airola, Optus and now Orange) have had excellent websites and instructions. For our current France/Spain trip, Orange seems to be the best fit for our needs. We are four weeks in with one recharge and everything has been seamless.

Thank you so much for the good news on e-sim cards.....wow, now that's progress! Just one question...is the e-sim card valid in more than one European country. I'm planning France and Portugal.  Thanks again,

Stuart 

Oops,  I guess what I was asking, is.....if I purchase an e-sim card for France, do I need to purchase another e-sim card when flying to Portugal.  Thanks again, 

Stuart 

you can buy an Orange Europe Travellet esim that is good in all EU countries (and the Orange one we have is even good in Switzerland and Andora). The EU passed legislation several years ago that eliminated roaming charges between EU members. In general a French phone, or German, Italian, Croatian etc etc will work everywhere in the EU.  It works!

Also the Orange card is a full service  SIM card with a phone number so you can make unlimited calls and texts within the EU and you even get a few hours of international calls. This is very useful for contacting hotels and restaurants, although many places use WhatsApp and you only need a data pan for that.

Bottom line, we are very happy with the Orange plan we got and yes, e-sims are a huge step forward. Scan a QR code ad you’re 90% done, from the comfort of your own home!

Stuart,

Short addendum to my previous lengthly posts. We just rode into Spain today, from France. Absolutely seamless mobile service. The phone provider changed from Orange France to Orange Spain, and we got a text to notify us of this, and that was it. The fact you're getting  this note is testament that the system works. You can focus on more important stuff like where you’re going to get your post ride bevy, and not your next ISP.

Safe travels.