A Vietnam tourist SIM is a prepaid local SIM card, including as a physical card or an eSIM. SIM is used to connect mobile data, text, or calls for a fixed time from 7 to 30 days. You only pay 60.000 and 250.000 VND for enough data during your journey. If you buy a SIM card in Vietnam, you need to offer a passport at the point of sale. 

What is a Vietnam tourist SIM?

A Vietnam tourist SIM is a prepaid SIM, which is sold for foreign visitors with travel-sized data. Tourists registered to buy a SIM card, choose a package priced to suit your schedule in Vietnam, and ensure an activities SIM. 

There are two SIM formats, such as

• A physical SIM card: A plastic chip to insert into the phone. 
• An eSIM: Download to a phone with an embedded SIM chip through a QR code. 

Vietnam eSIM products need to come to an in-store visit with your passport. However, international travel eSIMs sell data-only profiles. You can buy and install before departure. So, when landing at the airport, you can connect to the internet right now. 

Tourist packages in Vietnam have a running time that includes 7, 15, or 30 days, starting at activation. If you don't use it to untouch, the data still stops. Tourists stay in Vietnam for a few days (about 48 hours), you can't use a Vietam tourist SIM. 

SIM card in Vietnam

Do tourists need a SIM card in Vietnam?

You can connect to the network easily in Vietnam due to public and hotel networks existing everywhere. However, it limits the end of the door. 

Using a SIM card in Vietnam helps you navigate. Street numbering in Vietnamese cities follows a logic. The addresses have carry slashes and sub-numbers, and offline maps will not update. 

If you can connect to the internet, you can use the Grab, Be, Xanh SM apps to book a car. We need a live connection to book, to track the driver, and to receive the call or message. 

Do tourists need a SIM card in Vietnam

Besides, you can use translation apps to communicate with another person or translate a menu or a bus timetable that needs data. 

Most homestays and tour operators in Vietnam use the Zalo app, which is a domestic messaging app, and increasingly WhatsApp for international guests. When connecting to the internet well, you can confirm the booking or receive it quickly. 

Best mobile networks for tourists in Vietnam

Nowadays, there are three operators dominating the Vietnam mobile network landscape for visitors, such as Vietnam, Vinaphone, and Mobifone, running 5G nationwide.

Viettel is the largest and biggest operation, with a total past 30,000 and reports roughly 90% outdoor and 70% indoor coverage nationwide. If your journey comes to the Ha Giang loop, Sapa, the Central Highlands, or another mountain route, you should choose a Viettel SIM. 

Viettel SIM

Vinaphone is the second SIM card operation, but the quality service is limited and weakens in remote terrain. Vinaphone covers 16,000 stations, covering 50 to 60% population coverage for centers, highways, industrial zones, seaports, and airports. The package includes call minutes and SMS.

Vinaphone SIM

Mobifone has a coverage in the rural areas, concentrating in industrial parks, urban and major cities during 2026. Tourists can connect through the Hi Vietnam app. This app bundles an eSIM with passport eKYC. You can use mobile data in a short free trial before deciding to buy an official SIM card.

Mobifone SIM

Vietnam tourist SIM prices

Vietnam tourist eSIM

A Vietnam eSIM is a SIM profile written directly to a chip already inside the phone, with no physical card involved. For a visitor, the practical consequence is that the whole purchase can happen before the flight.

Vietnam eSIM is installed with a chip inside the phone without a physical card. Nowadays, eSIM works on smartphones such as the iPhone XR, XS, and later, and the Samsung Galaxy S20. Besides, there are a few phones that carry with eSIM disabled.

You can check your phone, for example, an iPhone. Setting → General → About  → See an EID if eSIM is supported. 

Vietnam tourist eSIM

eSIM uses 100% online. You receive a QR code by email and scan it under the mobile to download the profile. The line is switched on and data roaming is enabled. If you are the first connection to a Vietnamese network, the activation will connect travel eSIMs quickly. 

eSIM Vietnam offers data, not a Vietnamese phone number. If you want to change a physical SIM to an eSIM, let's come to the official Viettel or Vinapone stores. You lost a small fee, about 25.000 VND. Remember to provide you registered passport and card in hand. 

Where to buy a Vietnam tourist SIM

How to buy a SIM card in Vietnam?

The sequence below covers the standard counter purchase, whether at an airport or a city store.

To get an owner's Vietnam tourist SIM, you can buy it at an airport or a city store.

• Step 1: Choose network first. 
  • Viettel: Rural or mountain sections
  • Vinaphone: For cities and coastal resorts
  • Mobifone: Ubran areas.
• Step 2: Package selection to suit your trip length and habits 
• Step 3: You need to offer a passport & pay at the counter by VND, USD, or card. The staff registers and handles at the desk in most cases. 
• Step 4: Switch and turn on for the new line 
• Step 5: Check connection before walking away. 

How to buy a SIM card in Vietnam

Vietnam SIM and eSIM comparing

Tips for buying a tourist SIM in Vietnam

• Consider daily allowance and validity to compare these packages. 
• Check an activated SIM and the loading of the data package.
• Storing the original SIM carefully. 
• Check at purchase to support hotspot and tethering. 
• Deny extra service. 
• Avoid some counters if you don't ask for your passport 

If you travel backpacers or save money, you should buy a physical prepaid SIM card for Vietnam travel at Viettel or Vinaphone. With short-term days, eSIM is the best choice. Remember to install before departure for the least effort of any option instead of the queue disappearing after a long flight and the home SIM staying in the phone.

>>> See more: How To Use Grab in Vietnam