Post offices
Opening hours of main post offices are usually Monday-Saturday 8.30am-7.30pm; others are likely to be open Monday-Friday 8.30am-5pm and Saturday 8.30am-noon, and offices in smaller towns may close altogether on Saturday. Note too that offices may close an hour earlier on the last working day of the month. Stamps (francobolli), are sold in tabacchi too, as well as in some gift shops in the tourist resorts; they will often also weigh your letter. The Italian postal system is one of the worst in Europe, but if you're determined to write, airmail letter rates are around £800/0.41 anywhere within the European Union, and around £1500/0.77 to North America, Australia and New Zealand. Letters can be sent poste restante to any Italian post office, by addressing them "Fermo Posta" followed by the name of the town. When picking something up take your passport, and make sure they check under middle names and initials - and every other letter when all else fails - as filing is often diabolical.

Telephones
Public telephones , run by Telecom Italia , come in various forms, usually with clear instructions in English. At the time of writing, coin-operated phones take £100, £200 and £500 coins; you need at least £200 to start a call, even to toll-free numbers (the money is refunded at the end of the call). Most phones will only accept telephone cards (carte or schede telefoniche), available from tabacchi and newsstands for £5000, £10,000 or £15,000, but there's sometimes one nearby that takes coins. Note that the perforated corner of these cards must be torn off before they can be used. If you can't find a phone box, bars will often have a phone you can use - look for the red phone symbol.

Telephone numbers change with amazing frequency in Italy, a practice which has resulted in numbers having anything between four and eight digits, not including the code which is usually somewhere between two and four digits long. The codes are now an integral part of the number and always need to dialled, regardless of whether or not you are in the zone you are telephoning. If in doubt, consult the local directory - there's a copy in most Italian bars, hotels and, of course, telephone offices. Numbers beginning phone 800, phone 147 and phone 167 are free; phone 170 will get you through to an English speaking operator, phone 176 to international directory enquiries.

You can make international calls from any booth that accepts cards or any other booth labeled interurbano ; put in at least £2000 to be sure of getting through. Alternatively, use a special international phone card (carta telefonica internazionale) available from post offices for £12,500, £25,000, £50,000 and £100,000; all cardphones accept them, but before each call you need to dial phone 1740 and the PIN number on the back of the card. One of the cheapest ways to make international calls, however, is to get hold of a phone card before you leave: in the UK, from British Telecom (phone 0800/345144) or Cable & Wireless (phone 0500/100505); in the US, from AT&T (phone 1-800/543-3117) or MCI (phone 1-800/444-3333); in Australia, from Telstra (phone 1800/038 000) or Optus (phone 1300/300 937); and in New Zealand, from Telecom NZ (phone 04/801 9000). Simple user instructions are supplied with the cards and the cost of the connected call is added to your domestic bill or a credit card account. You can also make international reversed charge or collect calls (cárico al destinatario) by dialing phone 172 followed by the country code , which will connect you to an operator in your home country.

Phone tariffs are among the most expensive in Europe, though prices drop to a reduced rate off peak. For domestic calls a reduced rate is charged on weekday nights (6.30pm-8am) and at weekends (from 1pm on Saturday through to 8am Monday morning); it's cheaper to dial internationally between 10pm and 8am Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sunday. Unusually, it's often less expensive to make calls from your hotel than to use the pricey public telephones, whether for domestic or international calls.

Mobile phones work on the GSM European standard. You will hardly see an Italian without his or her telefonino , but if you are going to join them make sure you have made the necessary "roaming" arrangements before you leave home - which may involve paying a hefty (refundable) deposit.

Fax and email
Nearly every Italian town has a fax office , but the cost of faxing from these places is usually fairly high: for faxes within Italy, expect to pay at least £5000/?2.58 for the first page and £2500/?1.29 for each subsequent page, plus the cost of the call; for international faxes it's about £10,000/?5.16 for the first and £5000/?2.58 for subsequent pages, plus the cost of the call. A cheaper, fiddlier alternative is to use one of Telecom Italia's Pubblifax machines, found in the larger phone offices where you'll find groups of public telephones; these only charge the cost of the call plus £2000/?1.03 per page.

Internet cafés , often a simple Internet point without café facilities, are now common in cities and even in smaller towns, allowing you to log on for between £10,000/?5.16 and £15,000/?7.75 an hour. We've detailed options in all the major cities under "Listings", and most tourist offices will print out a sheet of likely places. Organizing a free Internet mail address at sites like www.gmail.com (Google),  www.hotmail.com and www.yahoo.com is a handy, reliable way of keeping in contact with home. Traveling with a laptop and a modem enables you to log in to your own service provider - and many provide local-access numbers - but many travelers find this isn't as glitch-free as it should be. Note that lower-grade hotels tend to have the non-standard chunky Italian four-pin phone-plug whereas more expensive places almost always use the standard US-style RJ11 phone-plug.

TV and radio
If you get the chance, try to watch some Italian TV , if only to size up the pros and cons of deregulation. Although the much-vaunted programmes with stripping housewives and the like do exist, the output is otherwise pretty bland, with the accent on ghastly quiz shows, shopping channels, cathartic chat shows in which the famous and not-so-famous air their dirty linen, and soaps, plus a heavy smattering of American imports. Nevertheless, the three national channels, RAI 1, 2 and 3, have the odd worthy programme; RAI 3 remains broadly left-wing, with its output leaning more towards the cultural and intellectual, and is the outlet for local news and features. Satellite television is fairly widely distributed, and three-star hotels and above almost always offer the usual mix of BBC World, CNN and French-, German- and Spanish-language news channels, as well as MTV and Eurosport.

The situation in radio is if anything even more anarchic, with the FM waves crowded to the extent that you continually pick up new stations whether you want to or not. This means there are generally some good stations if you search hard enough, but on the whole the RAI stations are again the more professional - though even with them daytime listening is virtually undiluted Europop.

Italy guide

Getting there
When to go
Where to go
Italy general info
Italy
Average costs
Credit and debit cards
Cost, money, banks
The euro
Insurance, health cover
Embassies, consulates
Red tapes, visas
Banks and exchange
Travelers with disabilities
North-South divide

Getting around
Ø Trains
Ø Flights
Ø Driving
Ø Cycling, motorbiking
Ø Ferries, hydrofoils
Ø Hitchhiking
 

Festivals:
Ø Religious, traditional
Ø Diary festivals
Ø Food festivals
Ø Arts Festivals
Ø Ferragosto

Italy food and drink
Ø Italian cuisine
Ø Italian pizza
Ø Lunch and dinner
Ø Drinking

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