Forum: travel.stackexchange.com
Tags: <france><cellphones><data-plans>
Title: Can I buy a prepaid mobile data plan while on route in France?
Question: I will be driving through France soon and would like to have a local prepaid sim with data capabilities. I found a very interesting sollution in the  French Connection , but I need a French delivery address. I don't have that on such a short notice, so I am looking for a plan that I could buy while on route (gas station, shopping malls, etc)

Answers:
sents: text: My name is Olivier, from FrenchConnection.
text: The thing we usually do is deliver in advance in the hotel or camping where you will be staying overnight.
text: As mentioned by someone earlier, we can still organize a collection in Paris gare du nord (it does not appear anymore on the website, but if you ask politely, we will of course do it).
text: Also a very useful solution if you do not have a delivery address:
text: Poste RestanteYou give the address of a post office, and specify "POSTE RESTANTE"The device will be waiting for you there.
text: To collect it, show your ID, pay the 0,60€ fee (sorry we cannot pay it from our side) and here you are :-)
text: To find the most convenient post office, check their website (in French)
text: La Poste or get in touch with us!
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/2895/Olivier
score: 13
sents: text: Sure you can.
text: There's a number of options.
text: Here's the most basic one.
text: If you just need to have a french number for a week and then throw it away, just go to any post office ( La Poste ), which you can find literally everywhere and they sell both only sim-cards (10 Euros cost, 5 Euros credit included) or with the basic phone (30 euros cost, 10 or 15 euros credit included).
text: The recharge cards are sold there as well.
text: Actually prepaid cards are sold everywhere (in all the Tabac stores, all the major mobile providers sell them as well), but La Poste Mobile is really easy to find and it looks like it's a bit cheaper ( the page with the details in French).
text: If you need something more long-term, then you need to find any mall of the Leclerc network and buy the card from their virtual provider ( here 's the page with the cost in French).
text: The difference between these two is that La Poste Mobile sim-card has a really short expiration period.
text: I.e. if you recharge your card with 10 euro credit it will expire in a week even if you don't use it 100%.
text: But the Leclerc card will expire in a year no matter how much credit you recharge it with.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/2145/Nikita G.
score: 6
sents: text: According to their website, there is an option to collect the device yourself.
text: The only possible place is Gare du Nord (Northern Paris mainline station).
text: This is a solution if your itinerary goes through Paris.
text: Another solution is abroadband.
text: More expensive per megabyte, but works all over the world.
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/75/DavGin
score: 3
sents: text: I am heading to France again.
text: Before ordering a frenchconnection device, I did yet another google search on the topic.
text: Tripadvisor had the answer.. ...
text: Print off the following page from the SFR website before you travel ( sfr.fr/mobile/… ) which shows details of the prepaid iPad 3G data micro SIM ...
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 3
sents: text: The major prepaid carriers have SIMs and their stores are everywhere in Paris.
text: You can even get a prepaid SIM in the post office.
text: SFR, Bouyges, and Orange are all decent options.
text: You'll need to show your passport and fill out some paperwork to get the card, which means you can't get it till you arrive.
text: I suppose you can try creating a Google Voice number and have it forward to the SIM once you know the number.
text: I don't know if that's actually feasible
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/4516/ced
score: 3
sents: text: I am from LeFrenchMobile, if you are looking for a cheap data prepaid option you can choose our DataSIM, we deliver anywhere you want or you can find our SIM cards in shops in Paris or the Alps for now, the list of distributors is here .
answer_details: author: travel.stackexchange.com/users/27613/Sophie
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
Basic SIM cards for all major providers are available in post offices and Tabacs, and can be purchased in person after showing your passport and filling in a form. Longer-term options can be purchased from Leclerc's virtual provider at any mall on their network.
Buying a pre-paid sim in France is not considered a problem Short-term sims can be purchased from the Poste, Tabac stores or Leclerc. Moreover, all the major carriers offer pre-paid sims, you just need your ID to buy one.