eSIM Paraguay

Greater Asunción, including Luque (home to the airport), San Lorenzo, Lambaré and Fernando de la Mora; the lake towns of San Bernardino and Areguá; Encarnación and the Ruta 6 corridor north toward Ciudad del Este; Ciudad del Este, Hernandarias and Presidente Franco along the Paraná; and regional centres such as Coronel Oviedo, Villarrica, Concepción and Pedro Juan Caballero. In the Chaco, signal clusters around Filadelfia, Loma Plata and Neuland and along parts of the Transchaco highway, with long empty gaps in between.

Connects to Personal (Núcleo S.A.) on 4G/LTE. That’s a single network, so where Personal is weak there’s nothing to fall back on. The eastern half of Paraguay, where most people live, is well served. The Chaco is the big exception. Away from the Mennonite towns and the main highway you can drive for a long time with no bars at all, and the far north-west toward Bolivia is emptier still. Signal can also be thin on remote estancias and along quieter stretches of river. We don’t throttle; signal, location and your phone set the speed.

• 1–3 GB: three or four days in Asunción, a shopping run to Ciudad del Este, or a stopover on the way between Brazil and Argentina
• 5–10 GB: two weeks taking in Encarnación, the missions and Itaipú, with photos, video calls and ride apps
• 20 GB: a month or more, remote work from Asunción, or a laptop running off your phone

In Asunción, the Panteón Nacional de los Héroes, the Palacio de López, the painted lanes of Loma San Jerónimo and the riverside Costanera; Areguá’s pottery and strawberries, and the lakeshore at San Bernardino on Ypacaraí; the Jesuit reductions of Santísima Trinidad del Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue near Encarnación, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites; Encarnación’s river beaches and its summer carnival; the Itaipú Dam at Hernandarias and the Saltos del Monday outside Ciudad del Este; and the Mennonite colonies of the central Chaco around Filadelfia.

Bolt, Uber and the local app MUV for rides in Asunción; PedidosYa for food delivery; Google Maps or Waze for driving; and WhatsApp, which almost everyone uses, from hotel desks to market traders. Cards work in malls, hotels and larger restaurants in Asunción and Ciudad del Este. Carry guaraníes in cash for buses, small shops and anywhere in the countryside.

A lot of visitors arrive overland: across the Friendship Bridge from Foz do Iguaçu, over the San Roque González de Santa Cruz bridge from Posadas into Encarnación, or by bus from Bolivia through the Chaco. Near those bridges your phone can latch onto a Brazilian or Argentine network, and this plan covers Paraguay only, so pick the right eSIM for mobile data as you cross. In Pedro Juan Caballero the avenue separating it from Ponta Porã is the border itself. Once you’re in Paraguay, put Data Roaming on for the Esimy line and off for your home SIM, which keeps handling calls and texts.

• Connects to Personal’s 4G/LTE network in Asunción, Encarnación and Ciudad del Este
• Ready at Silvio Pettirossi Airport, with no registration counter to find
• Fits alongside a Brazil or Argentina eSIM if you’re crossing at Foz do Iguaçu or Posadas
• Validity starts at your first connection inside Paraguay
• Hotspot allowed, and top-ups go onto the eSIM you already have

• May to September: the cooler, drier months, best for the Chaco and long days at the missions
• December to February: very hot, with Encarnación’s beaches and carnival at their busiest, and tereré (cold-brewed yerba mate) passed around everywhere
• Semana Santa (Holy Week): families head out of the cities and chipa is on every table

24/7 support via live chat, email and WhatsApp.