Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Republic Day
(Festa della Repubblica) 2 June
Feast of the Assumption
(Assunzione or Ferragosto) 15 August
All Saints' Day
(Ognissanti) 1 November
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
(Immaculata Concezione) 8 December
Christmas Day
(Natale) 25 December
Boxing Day
(Festa di Santo Stefano) 26 December
Telephone
Domestic Calls
Italian telephone area codes all begin with 0 and consist of up to four digits. The area code is followed by a
number of anything from four to nine digits. The area code is an integral part of the telephone number and
must always be dialled, even when calling from next door. Mobile-phone numbers begin with a three-digit
prefix such as 330. Toll-free (free-phone) numbers are known as
numeri verdi
and usually start with 800.
Nongeographical numbers start with 840, 841, 848, 892, 899, 163, 166 or 199. Some six-digit national rate
numbers are also in use (such as those for Alitalia, and rail and postal information).
As elsewhere in Europe, Italians choose from a host of providers of phone plans and rates, making it diffi-
cult to make generalisations about costs.
International Calls
The cheapest options for calling internationally are free or low-cost computer programs such as Skype, cut-
rate call centres or international calling cards, which are sold at newsstands and
tabacchi
. Cut-price call
centres can be found in all of the main cities, and rates can be considerably lower than from Telecom Italia
payphones for international calls. You simply place your call from a private booth inside the centre and pay
for it when you've finished. Direct international calls can also easily be made from public telephones with a
phonecard. Dial
00 to get out of Italy, then the relevant country and area codes, followed by the tele-
phone number.
To call Italy from abroad, call the international access number ( 011 in the USA, 00 from most
other countries), Italy's country code (39) and then the area code of the location you want, including the
leading 0.
Mobile Phones
Italy uses GSM 900/1800, which is compatible with the rest of Europe and Australia but not with North
American GSM 1900 or the totally different Japanese system (though some GSM 1900/900 phones do work
here). If you have a GSM phone, check with your service provider about using it in Italy and beware of calls
being routed internationally (very expensive for a 'local' call).
