Nice on mobile data: tram 2, the Monaco gap and the line to Italy
Nice is easy to reach and well covered. The trouble starts a short train ride along the coast: Monaco has its own mobile network that neither a France nor a Europe pack includes, and a few stops further on the train is in Italy.
At a glance
- Does an eSIM work in France?
- Yes. It connects to Orange (5G).
- Price
- From 4,79 € (3 GB, 15 days).
- For a one-week trip
- 5 GB for 30 days: 7,49 €.
- Does an EU phone plan work there?
- Yes: France is in EU roaming, so a plan from an EU country usually works at no extra cost, within your operator's fair-use limit. If your plan is from outside the EU, it charges international roaming.
- When does the plan start?
- When your phone first connects to a network in France. The QR code arrives by email within minutes.
Tram 2 from Terminal 1 and Terminal 2
Tram line 2 leaves from both terminals and runs to the city centre at Jean Médecin and on to the port at Port Lympia, in under half an hour. Riding between Terminal 2, Terminal 1 and Grand Arénas is free. Taxis and ride apps wait outside the terminals.
On Lignes d'Azur buses and trams, paper tickets were replaced by a rechargeable card, and the Lignes d'Azur Tickets app tops that card up when you hold it against the back of an NFC phone. If you would rather not set up an app on the first evening, buy the ticket at the machine at the tram stop and leave the phone for the map to the hotel.
eSIM for France
Data on your phone the moment you land in France. No account, no app, no shop.
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For one to two weeks of maps, messaging and the odd video.
Buy up to 180 days before you fly: the plan only starts when the eSIM connects at your destination.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
Not sure about your model? Ask us before you pay and we will tell you — a person answers within 24 hours.
How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Monaco: one more country, one more network
Monaco is a separate country with its own operator, Monaco Telecom. When you arrive, phones switch to it, and the screen shows Monaco Telecom instead of the French network. Neither the France pack nor the Europe pack covers Monaco, so on that network the eSIM gives no data.
The train makes it easy to miss the moment: Monaco-Monte-Carlo station is underground, and part of it lies in Beausoleil, in France. Before the day trip, save the trains back to Nice, any tickets and a map of Monaco on the phone. Inside the principality, use the Wi-Fi in cafés and museums, or your own plan if it includes Monaco. Back on the French side, if the phone still shows Monaco Telecom, pick Orange by hand in the network settings.
Menton, Ventimiglia and the Italian side
The TER coastal line from Nice runs through Monaco and Menton to Ventimiglia, roughly every half hour, and Menton-Garavan is the last French stop. Ventimiglia is in Italy, and from there Italian trains carry on along the Riviera towards San Remo.
Once the phone joins an Italian network, the France pack stops giving data. If Italy is a single day of the trip, prepare that day offline: train times, the market or restaurant address, the way back. If the holiday goes on into Liguria, the Europe pack covers France and Italy on the same eSIM, although it still has nothing in Monaco.
Corsica by ferry from the port
Ferries leave Nice for Bastia, Ajaccio and L'Île-Rousse, and the crossing takes several hours, with long stretches out of reach of any mast. Corsica is France, so the France pack works again as soon as you land. At sea, some ships run their own mobile network by satellite, which no land eSIM covers and which your home SIM pays for at the ship's rates: keep data roaming off, or the phone in airplane mode, until the island's coast is close.
Download the ferry ticket and the directions from the port on the island before you board, while the phone still has the Nice network.
How much data for Nice
France packs come in 3, 5, 10 and 20 GB. Three or four days in Nice, with the old town, the Promenade and a trip up to Èze, fit in 3 GB, valid for 15 days. A week of coastal trains to Antibes, Cannes and Villefranche is a 5 GB trip. If one of those days is Italy, look at the Europe pack: 3, 10 or 20 GB, valid in France, Italy and 31 more countries. The plan starts at the first connection in the destination, the hotspot is included, and a top-up adds data without reinstalling.
Does my eSIM work in Monaco?
Not a France or a Europe pack. Monaco runs on its own network, Monaco Telecom, which neither includes, so plan the Monaco day around Wi-Fi or your own plan's roaming.
How do I get from Nice airport to the centre?
Tram line 2 runs from both terminals to Jean Médecin and the port. Rides between the terminals and Grand Arénas are free.
Does the France eSIM work in Ventimiglia or San Remo?
No. They are in Italy, and the France pack stops at the border. The Europe pack covers France and Italy together.
Will I have data on the ferry to Corsica?
Near the coasts, yes; in the middle of the crossing no land network reaches. On the island the France pack works as on the mainland.
Get your eSIM before you fly: the QR arrives by email in minutes and the plan only starts when you connect at your destination.
See eSIMs for France