Best eSIM for Vietnam

Activate dual SIM mode on your phone before landing in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Keep your home SIM active on a secondary line to receive banking verification codes and two-factor authentication SMS, while your eSIM Asia plan handles all data. This setup avoids the frustration of being locked out of financial apps while abroad, which happens more often than you might think in a cash-heavy economy that uses the Vietnamese đồng (₫).

Vietnam operates on UTC+07:00, which means it is 6 hours ahead of Paris, 12 hours ahead of New York, and 3 hours behind Sydney. Use your phone's world clock to schedule video calls home at reasonable hours on both ends. The country code is +84, so save local emergency contacts and hotel numbers in international format before you arrive.

Vietnamese is the sole official language, and very few signs outside tourist districts include English translations. Download Google Translate's offline Vietnamese language pack — it supports camera-based translation, perfect for reading menus and street signs. For navigation, grab offline maps of Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City through Google Maps or Maps.me. Vietnam drives on the right side, but traffic in major cities is notoriously chaotic, so most travelers rely on Grab, the dominant ride-hailing app, rather than renting vehicles.

Buying a physical SIM card at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi or Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City is straightforward, with Viettel, MobiFone, and VinaPhone booths located in the arrivals hall. However, Vietnamese regulations require you to present your passport for SIM registration, and queues after long-haul flights can stretch to 30 minutes or more. Outside airports, operator shops in cities like Da Nang or Hue often have Vietnamese-only signage, making plan selection difficult without a translator.

Free Wi-Fi is widely available in Vietnamese cafés, phở restaurants, and most hotels — but speeds drop sharply in crowded tourist areas like Hanoi's Old Quarter or Hội An's Ancient Town. Pocket Wi-Fi rental is offered at major airports for around 100,000–150,000 ₫ per day, though carrying an extra device becomes inconvenient during motorbike tours or boat trips in Ha Long Bay. International roaming from your home carrier typically costs several euros per megabyte, making it impractical for a multi-week trip across Vietnam — or onward travel requiring an eSIM for China.

An eSIM eliminates these friction points entirely. You activate your plan before landing, skip passport verification lines, and connect the moment you touch down — ideal for navigating Vietnam's sprawling cities from your very first minute.