How to Call To and From Italy

Before we go into the nitty-gritty details of how to call to and from Italy, let’s just briefly talk about the use of Public Phones in Italy. They are by far the best choice for making local calls. The vast majority of them do not accept coins but phone cards instead.

You can purchase a phone card - ‘una scheda telefonica’ – from any news stand or tobacco shop. They come in different face values, expressed in euro, and indicated on the card. Before using the card to call to and from Italy make sure to snap off the perforated corner of the card or it will not otherwise work.

Italy uses a direct-dial system which means that you dial the same number whether you are calling across the country or across the street. All phone numbers start with "0" except those for cell phones, which never have a "0" and usually start with "3".

International phone cards – ‘una scheda telefonica internazionale ‘ - are also available for purchase from some tobacco shops. Just remember that they are only worth using if you call from a fixed phone rather than a cell phone. When used with a cell phone, the minutes cost much more and you will run out of time very quickly.

So how do you call to and from Italy ?

Making International Calls to Italy

Here are the steps in making an international call to Italy:

• Always start with the international access code :
  011 - if you are calling from America or Canada
  00 - if you are calling from anywhere in Europe
  
  Note: If you see a telephone number that begins with +, then just replace the + with the international access code.

• The international access code is followed by Italy's country code which is :
  39
  

• The country code is then followed by the telephone number :
  0187 801 409

For example, to call the La Spezia hotel (tel. 0187 801 409) from US, you dial :

• 011 39 0187 801 409

To call the same number from UK, you dial :

• 00 39 0187 801 409

Making International Calls from Italy

To Call home from Italy, you :

• dial the international access code :
  00

• which is followed by your country code :
  For example, 44 for the U.K.
  
  Note: You can easily find the international country code number for your counry via the PagineBianche search .

• The country code is then followed by the telephone number . How exactly you dial the telephone number will depend on the phone system of the country you are calling. If the country uses area codes, drop the initial zero of the area code, then dial the rest of the number. Examples of countries that use area codes as : Austria, U.K. , Croatia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden.
  
  If the country does not use area codes, just dial the local number. To complicate matters, there are a few exceptions where you still need to drop the initial zero from the local number. This applies for France, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland for example.

So to call the UK (tel. 0207 920 4567) from Italy, you dial :

• 00 44 207 920 4467 ( Note that you have dropped the leading zero of the area code)

To call the US from Italy, you dial :

• 00 1 425 897 8404

Thank you for visiting our guide… we look forward to welcoming you to Liguria and hope you will love it as much as we do !

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