1 GB
Valid for 7 days
$5.99
$5.99 per GB
eSIM for Peru
Peru runs on your phone more than you expect. Machu Picchu entry tickets are timed and bought online in advance, PeruRail and Inca Rail send QR codes by email, long-distance buses issue mobile tickets, and in Lima you call a car with an app rather than flagging one on the street. Add a domestic flight to Cusco or Arequipa, a lodge transfer on the Madre de Dios river and a guide who confirms everything on WhatsApp, and a dead phone becomes a real problem.
A FairSIM eSIM connects to Movistar, Claro or Entel, the three networks on the coverage sheet for Peru. That covers Lima, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and Lake Titicaca, Ica and Huacachina, Trujillo and the main highland and coastal roads on 4G, with Claro 5G in parts of Lima and some larger cities. You install it at home over Wi-Fi and switch the line on when you land at Jorge Chávez, before you even reach the taxi rank.
The local rule that matters: prepaid SIMs in Peru are sold under identity registration, and shops take your passport and a fingerprint scan before the line is activated. It works, but it means a counter visit and a queue, and shops outside the airport keep normal retail hours. A travel eSIM skips the paperwork entirely because the line is registered to the provider, not to you.
Peru eSIM plans
Wholesale rates in US dollars, with nothing added at checkout. Buy in the FairSIM app and the plan is on your phone in seconds.
How long is your trip?
All plans. Pick a trip length to narrow the list.
- Get it in the app for Peru
3 GB
Valid for 30 days
Get it in the app for Peru$11.99
$4.00 per GB
- Best value
10 GB
Valid for 30 days
Get it in the app for Peru$29.99
$3.00 per GB
Unlimited
Valid for 15 days
Get it in the app for Peru$49.99
Speed policy shown in the app
Coverage in Peru
- 4G LTE
- 5G
- MovistarTelefónica's Peruvian network, with wide 4G along the coast and through the Andean cities. Long-standing coverage in smaller highland towns.
- ClaroAmérica Móvil's network and the only host here with 5G live, concentrated in parts of Lima and a few large cities. Strong 4G on the main tourist routes.
- EntelThe third national operator, competitive 4G in Lima, Cusco and Arequipa and along the Panamericana.
Typical speed: Expect comfortable 4G speeds in Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Puno. Speeds drop on mountain roads, in narrow valleys and on the Amazon rivers, where a single 3G or weak 4G signal is normal.
Aguas Calientes, Ollantaytambo and the Sacred Valley towns have signal; the ruins themselves and the Inca Trail do not, in stretches. Colca Canyon, the Cordillera Blanca trails and the jungle beyond Puerto Maldonado or Iquitos are effectively offline.
How much data do you need in Peru?
It depends on how you travel. Find your trip below, then pick the plan that matches. You can always top up in the app.
Classic Machu Picchu trip, 8 to 12 days
Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and the train to Aguas Calientes.
Why data matters: Timed entry tickets and circuit codes on your phone, PeruRail or Inca Rail QR codes, Consettur bus queues, hotel and guide messages on WhatsApp, and maps in Cusco's unnumbered lanes.
- 7 days
- 5 GB
- 14 days
- 10 GB
- 30 days
- 20 GB
Trekking: Inca Trail, Salkantay, Ausangate
Four or five days on foot at altitude with a guided group.
Why data matters: Almost no signal on the trail, so you download offline maps, permits and tickets beforehand and upload everything in Ollantaytambo or Cusco afterwards.
- 7 days
- 3 GB
- 14 days
- 5 GB
- 30 days
- 10 GB
Gringo Trail backpacking
Lima, Huacachina, Arequipa, Cusco, Puno and on to Bolivia or Chile.
Why data matters: Night buses booked on your phone, hostel check-ins, ride apps in every city, and constant rerouting. Long days on 4G add up.
- 7 days
- 10 GB
- 14 days
- 20 GB
- 30 days
- Unlimited
Amazon lodge, 3 to 5 nights
Puerto Maldonado or Iquitos, then a boat upriver.
Why data matters: Confirm the transfer and flight before you leave town, then expect no coverage at the lodge. Data matters on the city end of the trip.
- 7 days
- 3 GB
- 14 days
- 5 GB
- 30 days
- 10 GB
Lima food trip or remote work stay
Miraflores and Barranco for a week or a month, restaurants and a laptop.
Why data matters: Restaurant bookings, Uber and delivery apps, video calls that hotel Wi-Fi drops, and Personal Hotspot when the coworking connection stalls.
- 7 days
- 10 GB
- 14 days
- 20 GB
- 30 days
- Unlimited
What your home carrier charges in Peru
Daily roaming passes look small until you multiply them by the length of the trip. FairSIM plans for Peru start at $5.99 and never bill per day.
These are published daily pass rates and they change. Check your own carrier's Peru rate before you fly, and confirm whether a pass applies at all outside Europe.
| Carrier | Roaming charge | FairSIM |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T International Day Pass (US) | $12 per day per line, $6 for additional lines | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| Verizon TravelPass (US) | $12 per day, high-speed data then slowed | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| T-Mobile International Pass (US) | $5 for 1 day and 512 MB, $35 for 10 days and 5 GB | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| EE (UK) | Peru is outside EE's inclusive roaming zones on most plans, so standard worldwide rates or a worldwide add-on apply rather than the cheap European daily pass | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| Vodafone UK | Peru sits in Vodafone's non-Europe zone; you need a worldwide roaming day charge or add-on, priced well above the European rate | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| Telekom (Germany) | Peru falls outside the EU roam-like-at-home zone; a Travel & Surf style world day pass is required | from $5.99, no daily fee |
| Telstra International Day Pass (Australia) | A$10 per day for 2 GB where the destination is on the day pass list; confirm Peru is included on your plan | from $5.99, no daily fee |
Carrier prices as published on their roaming pages at the time of writing. They change often; check your own plan before you fly.
How FairSIM works
- 1
Pick a destination and a plan
Choose the country or region and the data you need. The price you see is the price you pay.
- 2
Tap install
On iPhone (iOS 17.4+) the eSIM installs in one tap, no QR code. Do it at home while you still have Wi-Fi.
- 3
Land and connect
Turn on data roaming for the FairSIM line when you arrive. Your plan starts when it first connects.
Connectivity tips for Peru
Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi and switch the line on after landing. Validity normally starts at the first connection to a Peruvian network.
Buy Machu Picchu tickets in advance on the official Ministry of Culture site. Entry is capped daily, tied to a circuit and a time slot, and your passport name must match.
Download Google Maps for Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and any trek region. Signal disappears in the valleys and on the trails.
Use Uber, Cabify or inDrive rather than street taxis, especially in Lima and at night. The fare and the driver are recorded.
Cusco sits around 3,400 m. Take the first day slow, and keep data on so you can find a pharmacy or call your hotel if altitude hits you.
Carry a power bank. Night buses, long train days and cold Andean mornings drain batteries fast, and plugs are 220 V with Type A, B or C sockets.
Keep your home SIM in the phone with its data roaming switched off, so bank verification codes still arrive by SMS.
Crossing to Bolivia at Copacabana or Desaguadero, or flying on to Chile or Colombia? Buy the next plan in the app before you leave signal.
Apps you will actually use
- Uber the most reliable way to get a car in Lima and Cusco, with the fare fixed before you ride.
- Cabify and inDrive alternatives when Uber is surging; inDrive lets you name a price, common in smaller cities.
- Google Maps good in Lima, Cusco and Arequipa. Download the Cusco region and the Sacred Valley offline before you go.
- Waze what locals use for Lima traffic, which is heavy and unforgiving at rush hour.
- WhatsApp how hotels, guides, drivers and tour operators talk to you. Calls and messages both work.
- Rappi or PedidosYa food, pharmacy and grocery delivery in Lima and the bigger cities.
- Google Translate download Spanish offline; useful in markets and in highland villages where Quechua is the first language.
- AllTrails or Organic Maps offline trail maps for Salkantay, Colca and the Cordillera Blanca, where there is no signal at all.
Yape and Plin QR payments are everywhere in Peru, but both need a Peruvian bank account, so visitors still use cards and cash. Carry small sol notes for markets, colectivos and the Aguas Calientes bus, and buy Machu Picchu tickets on the official Ministry of Culture site rather than a resale page.
Can you rely on free Wi-Fi?
Hotels, hostels and cafés in Lima, Cusco and Arequipa nearly all have free Wi-Fi, and in Miraflores or Barranco it is usually fast enough for a video call. Outside that, treat it as a bonus: highland guesthouses share one thin connection, the Machu Picchu trains and long-distance buses advertise Wi-Fi that rarely holds, and Amazon lodges are honest about having none. Public networks in busy tourist areas are also the wrong place for banking, so use your own line for anything with a password.
Local SIM card or eSIM in Peru?
Claro, Movistar, Entel and Bitel all sell prepaid chips in Peru, typically for around S/10 for the SIM plus a recharge, and mall shops carry tourist-friendly packs with a few gigabytes over 7 to 30 days. Coverage from a local chip is the same as from a roaming eSIM on the same operator. Jorge Chávez airport has operator counters and phone shops, though hours and stock vary and the queue after a red-eye arrival is not fun. Bitel is a local-SIM option only; a FairSIM eSIM connects to Movistar, Claro or Entel.
The friction is registration. Peru requires prepaid lines to be tied to verified identity, so the clerk scans your passport and takes a fingerprint before the line activates, and staff sometimes struggle with foreign documents. You also lose the first hour of your trip to it. A FairSIM eSIM is installed at home over Wi-Fi, roams onto the same Movistar, Claro or Entel towers, and works the moment you turn on data roaming at the gate. If your trip continues to Bolivia, Chile or Ecuador, you buy the next plan in the app instead of hunting for another shop.
Good to know before you land in Peru
- Currency
- Peruvian sol (PEN), often written S/
- Plug type
- Type A and B (US flat pins) and Type C (European round pins); many sockets accept both
- Voltage
- 220 V, 60 Hz
- Emergency number
- 105 police, 106 ambulance (SAMU), 116 fire
- Language
- Spanish, with Quechua and Aymara co-official in the regions where they are spoken
- Time zone
- UTC-5, no daylight saving
- Capital
- Lima
Peru eSIM questions
Does eSIM work in Peru?
Yes. An unlocked eSIM phone connects to Movistar, Claro or Entel with a travel eSIM. On iPhone that means XS, XR or newer; most recent Samsung, Google Pixel and other flagship Android phones support it too.
Which network will my Peru eSIM use?
Movistar, Claro or Entel. The app shows the network for each plan, and the phone will pick the strongest available signal where the plan allows more than one.
Is there 5G in Peru?
Claro has 5G live, mainly in parts of Lima and some larger cities. Movistar and Entel are 4G on this coverage sheet. Across the country as a whole, plan on 4G.
Will I have signal at Machu Picchu?
Aguas Calientes and Ollantaytambo have coverage. The citadel and the bus road are patchy, and the Inca Trail is largely without signal. Download your ticket and maps before you go up.
Do I need to register my passport for a Peru eSIM?
No. Peru's identity registration rules apply to prepaid SIMs sold locally, where shops scan your passport and take a fingerprint. A travel eSIM roams on a foreign line, so there is no counter visit.
Can I use Personal Hotspot in Peru?
Yes. Every FairSIM plan supports Personal Hotspot, with no separate cap on tethered data.
How much data do I need for a week or two in Peru?
A standard Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu week runs about 4 to 8 GB. Two weeks with buses, ride apps and photo uploads is closer to 10 to 20 GB. Streaming on night buses pushes it higher.
Can I call and text on the eSIM?
FairSIM plans are data only, so there is no local phone number. WhatsApp, FaceTime, Telegram and Zoom calls all work over the data connection, which is how hotels, guides and drivers in Peru communicate anyway.
Local SIM or travel eSIM for Peru?
A local chip is cheap but needs a shop visit, your passport and a fingerprint scan, and it ties you to one operator. A travel eSIM is installed before you fly, roams on the same Movistar, Claro or Entel towers, and can be topped up or replaced from the app.
What is an eSIM?
A SIM card built into your phone. Instead of a plastic chip, you download a profile. Every iPhone since the XS has one next to the physical SIM slot, so your home number stays put while FairSIM supplies the data.
Is my phone compatible?
FairSIM works with eSIM-compatible, carrier-unlocked iPhones: the XS, XR and everything newer, on iOS 17.4 or later for the one-tap install with no QR code. iPhones bought in mainland China do not support eSIM at all, even when unlocked. Not sure yours is unlocked? Check Settings, General, About, Carrier Lock, or ask your carrier. The full list is on the How it works page.
When should I install my eSIM?
Before you travel, while you still have Wi-Fi. Installing does not start your plan; the validity typically starts when the eSIM first connects to a network at your destination.
Do FairSIM eSIMs come with a phone number?
No. FairSIM eSIMs are data-only by design, which keeps costs low. For calls and texts, your physical SIM stays active so you keep your existing number, and WhatsApp, FaceTime and iMessage work over data.
Traveling beyond Peru?
Get your Peru eSIM in the app
Plans from $5.99. Install before you fly, track your data live, and top up in seconds if you need more.
Download on theApp Store
iPhone XS or later · iOS 17.4+ for one-tap install
