Nice eSIM — plans from ₹299.00

Nice Côte d'Azur (NCE) sits on the seafront at the western end of the Promenade des Anglais, with T1 and T2 a short shuttle apart, which makes it one of the easiest arrivals in Europe. That convenience does not extend to a French prepaid SIM, which means a shop, identity documents and registration, usually after the airport retail has closed. An eSIM installed at home on Wi-Fi is a better fit: it stays inactive until your phone registers on a French network after landing, and the validity period starts from that connection.

Getting into town is genuinely simple. Tram line 2 runs from both terminals along to Nice-Ville and the port in around half an hour, and buses fan out along the coast to Cannes, Antibes and Monaco. Uber, Bolt and FreeNow operate here too. With data live you can choose between tram and car while still airside, and check the coastal TER times that make the Riviera work. Plans are on the France eSIM page.

Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free Mobile all cover the Côte d'Azur, and your eSIM picks the strongest partner signal. Nice itself has 5G across the city centre, the Promenade, the port and the airport corridor, with reliable 4G along the coastal strip through Antibes and Cannes. The tram is entirely above ground apart from short covered sections, so there is no metro problem here.

The coastal TER holds signal well, with brief drops in the tunnels east of Villefranche. Inland is where it thins: the hill villages above Vence, the Gorges du Verdon and the mountain roads towards the Mercantour national park all lose coverage for long stretches, and on boat trips towards the Lérins islands.

Download offline maps for the coast from Cannes to Menton and any inland route, because the corniche roads and the Verdon gorge are where live routing gives up. Data covers TER and Lignes d'Azur ticketing, restaurant bookings on the port and beach club reservations in summer.

Café and hotel Wi-Fi along the Promenade is good, but for a laptop the phone hotspot is more predictable and works on most plans. The local quirk is the border: near Menton or on a day trip to Ventimiglia your phone can register on a Monegasque or Italian network, which a France-only plan does not cover. Watch your status bar there, and carry a power bank for long beach days.