Buenos Aires eSIM — plans from ₹399.00

Two airports serve the city and they behave very differently. Ezeiza (EZE) sits about 35 kilometres south-west and takes almost all intercontinental flights; Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP), hard against the river in Palermo, handles regional and domestic services and is a short taxi ride from the centre. Prepaid SIM kiosks operate in the Ezeiza arrivals area, but stock, staffing and activation waits are unpredictable, especially on the overnight bank of arrivals.

You want data before you reach the kerb. Uber, Cabify and DiDi all operate in Buenos Aires, the Tienda León coach runs from Ezeiza to the Retiro area, and remise counters inside the terminal quote by destination. Once in town the Subte lines A to E and H cover most of what visitors need, but the SUBE travel card and the porteño habit of shifting meeting points by message both assume you are online.

Install the eSIM at home; it starts when your phone first finds an Argentine network. See Argentina plans.

Personal, Claro and Movistar are the three national operators, and 5G has reached the central and northern barrios, with Palermo, Recoleta, Puerto Madero and the Microcentro the most consistent. Everywhere else runs on capable 4G.

Subte stations are generally covered; deep tunnel sections on the older lines can drop for a stop or two. Expect congestion around Plaza de Mayo during demonstrations and in the San Telmo market crowds on Sundays. Out of town, the Mitre line to Tigre and the delta launches keep signal near the channels but lose it among the wooded islands, and the pampas towns of San Antonio de Areco and Luján stay connected along the main routes.

Download offline maps covering the Microcentro, San Telmo, Palermo and Belgrano, plus the Tigre delta if you head north. Ride-hailing, restaurant bookings and QR-based payment at cafés all need data; the SUBE card itself is a physical card topped up at kiosks, so that one works without a connection.

Café Wi-Fi is genuinely good in Buenos Aires and widely offered, but it rarely reaches the street where you actually need directions. Hotspot for a laptop works on most plans. One local quirk worth planning around: the fast ferry across the River Plate to Colonia and Montevideo leaves Argentine coverage mid-river, so an Argentina plan will not follow you into Uruguay. Check South America destinations if your trip crosses borders.