Florence Survival Guide
Using Telephones In Tuscany |
| There are plenty of public phones throughout Tuscany but telephoning, especially abroad, can at times be frustrating. Do not be surprised if you get a crossed line or if you get cut off in mid-conversation. There are phone kiosks on the streets of all main towns, and public phones can be found in bars, tobacconists and post offices. |
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The growing use of mobile phones in Italy has caused a cutback in certain public telephone services. Florence has a single telephone office (Telefono) centre run by Telecom Italia at via Cavour 21/r. Here you can buy phonecards from a machine and use the directories covering the whole of Italy. The centre is open daily until 11pm, and there is no attendant on duty. Similar services are at Pisa train station, open until 9:45pm, and at Pisa airport. The Telecom Italia office in Siena is at Via dei Termini 40. Telecom Italia phone boxes can still be found in train stations, airports, and in restaurants and bars displaying a telephone sign.
There are several privately operated phone centres offering economical rates, especially around Florence's train station. These centres also sell international phone cards that can be used with any telephone. Faxes can be sent from post offices, copy centres and Internet points. |
Calls within Italy are cheapest between 10pm and 8am from Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday. They are also cheap between 6:30pm and 10pm weekdays and after 1pm on Saturdays. Calls within Europe are cheapest between 10pm and 8am and all day Sunday. Calls to Canada and the US are cheapest from 11pm to 8am weekdays, and 11pm to 2pm at weekends. For Australia, call between 11pm and 8am Monday to Saturday and all day Sunday.
Hotels will charge a higher rate to call from your room. Also, calls from Italy cost more than the equivalent call from the US or the UK.
Access to email and the internet is very convenient in Florence. Some hotels allow guests to check their emails at the front desk, while others offer in-room modem connections. Privately run internet points can be found in the most popular areas of the city. These services offer particularly good deals for tourists, selling internet time in 15 and 30 minute segments. The most widely established is Internet Train, which has 13 centres in Florence. After producing some form of ID, clients are issued with a magnetic card on which they place credit. The card can be used in any Internet Train centre in any of the 22 Italian cities in which the company is located.
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| You can make long distance and international calls from Telecom Italia telephones. When making long distance calls, have plenty of change ready. If you don't put enough coins in to start with, the telephone disconnects you and retains your money. Coin operated telephones are being phased out and replaced with phones that take pre-paid phonecards (carta or scheda telefonica). You can buy these from bars, newsagents and tobacconists displaying the black-and-white T sign. Some older style phones in remote villages only accept tokens (gettoni), which are now being withdrawn from circulation. Find a metered phone for long-distance calls; ask a bar owner if you can use the phone and the meter will be set. You pay when you have finished your call. |
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When dialling local numbers always remember to include the area code, such as 055 for Florence.
Reaching The Right Numbers |
| Dialling codes are: |
| Florence- 055 |
Siena- 0577 |
Pisa- 050 |
| Viareggio- 0584 |
Arezzo- 0575 |
Lucca- 0583 |
| Pistoia- 0573 |
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• For international directory enquires, dial 4176 followed by 187 upon reply.
• For international operator assistance is 170. You can place reverse charge and credit card calls on this number.
| For direct access to operators in other countries, dial: |
| UK- 800 172 440 |
AT&T, US- 800 172 444 |
| MCI, US- 800 172 401 |
US Sprint- 800 172 405 |
| Canada- 800 172 213 |
Telstra, Australia- 800 172 610 |
| Optus, Australia- 800 172 611 |
New Zealand- 800 172 641 |
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