Tunisia eSIM

Staying connected in Tunisia

Many trips to Tunisia combine Tunis and Carthage with a beach stay in Hammamet, Sousse, Monastir or on Djerba, and some add a Sahara excursion. Install a travel eSIM at home and switch it on when you land or step off the ferry. AirOva sells Tunisia plans from $1.49, with a fixed amount of data or unlimited, all data only, with no call minutes, SMS or local phone number.

Which Tunisia plan to choose

GB plans suit most holidays, since maps and messaging take little data, and run on Ooredoo. Unlimited plans give unlimited data with no data cap and no fair-usage limit, priced by the number of days, and run on Ooredoo and Tunisie Telecom. Each plan card shows whether it is listed as 4G or 5G; on a 5G plan, expect 4G, with 5G where available.

Ooredoo, Tunisie Telecom and 5G

Tunisia has three mobile operators, Tunisie Telecom, Ooredoo and Orange Tunisie; our plans run on Ooredoo and Tunisie Telecom, and Orange is not on our plans. The three launched commercial 5G on 14 February 2025 and are still extending it, so expect 4G in many places. Since August 2024, a local SIM is activated only after an ID check, which a travel eSIM skips.

Arriving by air or by ferry

Tunis-Carthage (TUN) lies 8 km northeast of Tunis. Holiday flights also use Enfidha-Hammamet (NBE), about 40 km southwest of Hammamet; Monastir (MIR), which serves Monastir and Sousse; and Djerba-Zarzis (DJE), 9 km west of Houmt Souk. CTN ferries from Marseille and Genoa arrive at La Goulette, the port of Tunis, 12 km east of the city. After arrival, switch the eSIM line on, choose it for mobile data and enable Data Roaming for that line.

The Sahara and EU roaming

Douz, known as the gateway to the Sahara, is about 475 km south of Tunis by road, and the oasis of Ksar Ghilane lies 80 km further south. We cannot confirm coverage out in the dunes, so download offline maps before a desert trip. Tunisia is outside the EU, so Roam Like at Home does not apply to French, German or other EU SIMs, and the European Commission warns that roaming outside the EU can be expensive, especially for data.

Tip: on the ferry, switch data roaming off on your home SIM, because at sea your phone may connect to a satellite network, where EU price rules no longer apply. UK travel advice notes that power cuts can briefly hit mobile networks, so keep bookings offline; more in our Tunisia eSIM guide.