Internet in Peru: where it really works, from Machu Picchu to the Amazon

Peru is the kind of trip where you go from Lima at sea level to Cusco at 3,400 metres, then on to Machu Picchu, the altiplano and sometimes into the Amazon. So many stunning backdrops, and just as many places where the network behaves completely differently. The day you’re on the Inca Trail without a single bar, you realise your choice of connection wasn’t a detail.

Add a local SIM that’s become genuinely hard for foreigners to buy, and you’ve got Peru’s two real issues: where it works, and how to get data without a fight in the shop. We’ve dug through all three options, and where UK roaming stands.

Why you need data in Peru (and how much)

On the ground your phone does everything: booking the train to Aguas Calientes, tracking bus times between Cusco, Puno and Arequipa, WhatsApp for the trek agencies and guides, Google Maps in Lima, and a translation app when the Andean Spanish tangles. Without data, the logistics of a Peru circuit get complicated fast.

Hotel and café Wi-Fi in Cusco helps, but it doesn’t follow you into the Sacred Valley, up the heights, or on the long transfers. Good mobile data keeps you self-sufficient on an itinerary that moves a lot and climbs high. For a normal trip that’s a few hundred MB a day; the real question is how to get it without paying £60 a gigabyte.

Solution 1: will your UK phone work in Peru, and what does it cost?

Your phone connects, and Peru is actually one of the better-covered long-haul destinations for UK roaming, though the days add up.

• Three: Peru is in Go Roam Around the World at about £5/day off your allowance, the simplest UK option.
• EE: reachable via a Roam Abroad add-on at roughly £5/day for the rest-of-world zone.
• Vodafone: a Rest of World pass at around £6/day covers Peru.
• O2: Peru isn’t in O2 Travel, so it’s expensive pay-as-you-go.
• Budget MVNOs (Giffgaff, Smarty, Voxi): usually PAYG only, at £100-a-gigabyte rates.

The catch is the total. Three days is fine, but a three-week Peru circuit at £5/day is roughly £105, versus an unlimited Holafly eSIM at about £62 for a whole month. And roaming still leaves you at the mercy of the same dead zones as everyone else on the trek.

You’ll find exactly what each UK network charges for Peru just below.

Bottom line on roaming: fine on Three, EE or Vodafone for a few days, but it mounts up over a longer circuit, and it doesn’t fix the trek dead zones. The two options below usually make more sense.

Claro, Movistar, Bitel: the local operators

Four networks, but two really matter to a traveller. Claro is the hero: number one for speed and coverage, and above all the most reliable at Andean altitude, in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. It’s also one of Holafly’s two networks. Movistar, the Telefónica incumbent, covers broadly in town and country and complements Claro well: it’s Holafly’s second network.

Bitel, from the Viettel group, is strongest in deep rural areas thanks to heavy investment in masts, handy if you really leave the beaten track. Entel brings up the rear, decent but a notch behind. The takeaway: for the classic tourist circuit and altitude, aim for Claro, and with Holafly you’re on Claro and Movistar.

Pros and cons of SIM cards for Peru

How much does a Peruvian SIM cost in September 2026

Local plans are cheap in theory, a few dozen soles for several gigabytes. The problem, as so often, isn’t the price but the access: since the regulations tightened, a tourist struggles to get a prepaid SIM registered in an official shop. So the low price stays largely theoretical, unless you go through a pricier tourist kiosk at the airport.

Here’s an up-to-date snapshot of the local SIM options you can buy on the ground in Peru:

Buy your SIM on arrival, or set it up before you fly?

Three approaches, but in Peru the SIM registration rules change the maths.

Holafly Peru: who it’s really for

For most travellers, this is our pick, precisely because it dodges the registration hassle. In Peru Holafly switches between Claro and Movistar, giving you the best available signal, Claro leading at Andean altitude. You install it before you go, activate on arrival, the data is unlimited with 500 MB of hotspot a day. Reckon on roughly £26 for 7 days, £35 for 15 days and £62 for 30 days.

Network coverage in Peru: where it’s strong, where it struggles

The real test: staying connected from Machu Picchu to the altiplano

This is the bit the comparison sites always skip, and in Peru it’s decisive. No eSIM and no operator can promise you signal everywhere, because the country climbs very high and crosses empty stretches. Cusco and the village of Aguas Calientes have good coverage, but the Machu Picchu citadel itself only has an intermittent signal, and over the four days of the classic Inca Trail you’re simply off-grid.

Same at Rainbow Mountain, on the altiplano between Puno and Cusco, and in the Amazon jungle: these are coverage holes nobody fills. So the right approach isn’t to chase a “magic everywhere” solution, but to have the best available network where there is one, Claro first, and to plan for offline for the rest. Download your maps and tickets before the trek, note the meeting points, and you travel with a clear head. An honest eSIM is exactly that: the best signal when it exists, and zero nasty surprise on the bill.

The rest of the continent, network by network

Peru is one of the better-covered long-haul destinations for a UK phone, with Three, EE and Vodafone all selling a £5 to £6 daily pass. Brazil narrows that to Three alone if you want it affordable, and stacks the CPF hurdle on top at the shop counter. Colombia brings O2 back in. And Mexico takes all four networks at a slightly higher daily rate, with OXXO top-ups as the compensation.

Our honest take

Three cases, by traveller type. If you’re on Three, EE or Vodafone for a short stretch, a day pass works, budget around £5-6 a day. If you want simplicity without a fight in the shop, get the Holafly eSIM with code LAPLANETEDECARO (-5% off): unlimited on Claro and Movistar, activated in three minutes, and it works out cheaper than daily roaming over a three-week circuit. If you’re staying a long time, a Lima airport kiosk will sort you out, at a marked-up price.

Either way, keep the offline reflex for Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail and the altiplano. The best of Peru is often exactly where the network stops, and that’s just fine.

PS: don’t count on buying a cheap local SIM in town on the day you arrive, the 2026 registration rules turn that into a wasted afternoon. Sort your data before you fly, and look up towards the peaks.