What Are the Best SIM Cards for Short Stays and Tourists in Portugal? (2026)
The verdict for stays under 3 months
Updated August 2026. Buy NOS 15-day data card at EUR 15 per month for Unlimited on the NOS network. The whole decision is one number: how many days you are here. Under about two weeks, a travel eSIM like Airalo at roughly EUR 9.50 for 10 GB wins because there is nothing to set up and nothing to cancel. Beyond two weeks a local prepaid line at EUR 5 a month wins outright, and it gives you a Portuguese number, which is what MB WAY and SNS 24 need.
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Which SIM plan is the best for stays under 3 months?
★ Short stay pick
NOS 15-day data card
Short stay fit 5 of 5. Perfect holiday hotspot: €10 for 15 unlimited days.
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Coverage
- NOS network, its own
- Support
- Portuguese-only support
Plans(4)
- NOS LivresEUR 0
Pay per use / per month
- NOS KidsEUR 7.49
50 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes · EUR 0.15 per GB
- NOS Like 55GBEUR 10
55 GB / per month · 1,000 minutes · EUR 0.18 per GB
- NOS 15-day data cardOur pick hereEUR 15
Unlimited / per month
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
More details
- Physical network
- NOS
- eSIM
- Not offered
- NIF required
- No, prepaid
- Minimum term
- None
Best for short stays who want the most data per euro.
Also great
Ready 55GB
Short stay fit 5 of 5. The default tourist SIM: airport stock, 4 weeks, no contract.
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- 1,000 minutes, 1,000 SMS
- Support
- Portuguese-only support
Plans(4)
- EasyGoEUR 0
Pay per use / per month
- Vodafone YouEUR 9.90
5 GB / per month · 500 minutes · EUR 1.98 per GB
- Ready 55GBOur pick hereEUR 10
55 GB / per month · 1,000 minutes, 1,000 SMS · EUR 0.18 per GB
- Vodafone Travel eSIM Portugal 10 GB / 7 daysEUR 10
10 GB / per month · EUR 1.00 per GB
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
More details
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.18
- Physical network
- Vodafone Portugal
- eSIM
- Yes
- NIF required
- No, prepaid
- Minimum term
- None
Best for short stays who need a different physical network.
Best value
DIGI 50GB
Short stay fit 4 of 5. No lock-in: cancel when you leave Portugal
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes
- Support
- English support is limited
Plans(4)
- DIGI 50GBOur pick hereEUR 4
50 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes · EUR 0.08 per GB
- DIGI 150GBEUR 5
150 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes · EUR 0.03 per GB
- DIGI eSIM Móvel 150GBEUR 5
150 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes · EUR 0.03 per GB
- DIGI IlimitadoEUR 6
Unlimited / per month · Unlimited minutes
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
More details
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.08
- Physical network
- DIGI
- eSIM
- Yes
- NIF required
- No, prepaid
- Minimum term
- None
Best for short stays who need a different physical network.
One page covers both short stays and tourists here. The catalogue scores the two readers identically for Portugal, and shipping two pages with the same winner would be the same page published twice.
Compare two providers
Already down to two? Each comparison declares a winner on every criterion that decides the purchase.
How we ranked this for short stays5 criteria, weights published
A reader we describe as short stays is not the average reader, so this page does not use the average weights. Coverage carries 10% here against 25% on the general ranking, and Ease of buying carries 40% here against 30% on the general ranking. The weights were fixed on 17 August 2026, before the prices were collected.
Criteria weighting
Fixed 17 August 2026, before pricing was collectedWhat is ruled out, and why
A blocker is not a drawback. It is something that makes the product unbuyable for this reader, and it caps the score at 1.0 however good the tariff is otherwise.
Blocked for this reader
Where the crossover actually falls
A travel eSIM costs roughly EUR 9.50 for 10 GB and carries no Portuguese number. A local prepaid eSIM from UZO or WOO costs EUR 5 a month for 100 GB and does. So a ten day trip is genuinely cheaper on a travel eSIM once you count the effort, and a 90 day stay is not close: three months of travel eSIM runs about EUR 28 for 30 GB against EUR 15 for 300 GB with a number. The crossover sits at roughly day 12 to 15.
The number matters more than the data for anything administrative. MB WAY, the payment app most Portuguese businesses use, and SNS 24, the health line, both send one-time codes to a Portuguese mobile. A travel eSIM cannot receive them.
Buying on arrival is easy: Portugal did not require identification for a prepaid SIM as of August 2026. A law making registration mandatory was proposed in May 2026 and was not in force at that date.
The same tariffs, ranked for other readers
View all 54 plansThe plan picker is the full market overview: every named tier from every provider with its allowance, price and EUR per GB, filterable by situation and re-rankable.Every persona page ranks the same catalogue. Only the weights differ, and each page states its own. If you are already down to two providers, the comparison pages put them side by side and declare a winner on every row.
How we compared these
Five criteria, weighted for this reader and published above, fixed on 17 August 2026 before the prices were collected. Every price comes from the provider's own page, dated in the catalogue. A blocker caps a product at 1.0. Unlimited allowances are capped at 200 GB when calculating EUR per GB, or every unlimited plan would win that column automatically.
One limit worth stating: the catalogue carries one fit score per persona, not a score per criterion, so the ordering reflects that score and the editorial reasoning behind it rather than an arithmetic weighted total. Per-criterion scoring is the next data pass; until it lands, the weights explain the ranking rather than compute it.
Of the 54 plans in the catalogue, 22 score 4 or 5 for this reader, across 6 providers. Where fewer than three providers clear that line, the third card is still the next best option available and is labelled for what it wins on, not presented as a strong fit.
Sources: provider tariff pages and ANACOM, accessed 17 August 2026. Some links earn a commission at the same rate for every provider, so no weighting favours a payer.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need ID to buy a prepaid SIM card in Portugal?
No, not as of August 2026. Portugal did not require identification to buy or activate a prepaid SIM, so a visitor can have a Portuguese number within minutes of landing. A law making registration mandatory was approved in the Council of Ministers in May 2026 but had not entered into force.
Is a travel eSIM or a Portuguese SIM better for a two week trip?
Two weeks is the crossover. Below it a travel eSIM at roughly EUR 9.50 for 10 GB wins on convenience. Above it a local prepaid eSIM from UZO or WOO at EUR 5 a month for 100 GB wins on both price and function, because it includes a Portuguese number that MB WAY and SNS 24 can send codes to.
Where can you buy a SIM card at Lisbon airport?
The Vodafone store in arrivals is open roughly 07:00 to 23:00 and sells the Vodafone You plan at about EUR 9.90. NOS vending machines sell a 15 EUR tourist card with only 2 GB, which is poor value. Activating a WOO or UZO eSIM online before landing is cheaper than both.