Telephones
Coin-operated telephones have become almost obsolete in Italy. You can still find a few of these old-world contraptions here and there, but you'll have much more luck finding public phones that take the scheda telefonica. These plastic cards are sold in denominations of € 5, and € 10, and are available in tabacchis, post offices, most newsstands, and some bars. You'll need to break off the perforated corner of the card before you can use it. Remember that even the local calls are timed, so if you are using coins, be sure to put enough money in. A short local call is usually c. € 0.20.

Note: Phone calls to land lines within Italy are quite inexpensive, but if you have a number which starts with 329, 338, 335, 339, 349, 347, 368, etc. If you dial one of these, you are calling a cell phone (telefonino), credit disappears much faster!

International Calls
International calls can be made at any public telephone box, either using an Italian card or your own calling/credit card.
To place direct international calls you must dial the following sequence:
00 + country code + area code + local number

Here is a list of some country codes:

Argentina	54		France	33		Netherlands	31
Australia	61		Germany	49		New Zealand	64
Austria	43		Greece	30		Norway	47
Belgium	32		Hong Kong	852		South Africa	27
Brazil	55		Hungary	36		South Korea	82
Canada	1		Ireland	353		Spain	34
Czech Rep	42		India	91		Sweden	46
Denmark	45		Israel	972		Switzerland	41
Egypt	20		Japan	81		Turkey	90
Estonia	372		Mexico	52		UK	44
Finland	358		Morocco	212		USA	1

Collect call numbers
You can also place collect or credit card calls by calling the operator in your own country:

Argentina	1721054		Germany	1720049		South Korea	1721082
Australia	1721061		Hong Kong	1721852		Spain	1720034
Brazil	1721055		Israel	1721972		Sweden	1720046
Canada	1721001		Japan	1721081		UK	1720044
Denmark	1720045		Netherlands	1720031		USA (AT&T)	1721011
Finland	1720358		New Zealand	1721064		USA (MCI)	1721022
France	1720033		Norway	1720047		USA (Sprint)	1721877

Postal services
Letters and postcards
Postage costs depend on the country of destination and weight. Postage for standard weight international postcards and letters varies between € 0.65 and € 1.
Stamps can be bought at post offices as well as at tabacchis, which have longer opening hours and are much more numerous than post offices. Letters can be posted in any of the red post boxes mounted on walls around the city. Unless you are sending something to an address within Rome, use the slot marked "Per tutte le altre destinazioni."

Parcels
If you want to send an uninsured parcel, go to the post office at Via Cavour, 277, near the Forum (open Mon-Fri 8:30am-2pm, Sat 8:30-1pm) or Via Milano, 10, off Via Nazionale (same hours). If you want to send an uninsured parcel go to th post office at Via Monterone, 1, near Piazza Venezia (open Mon-Fri 8:20am-12:20pm) or the office at Piazza San Silvestro, 12, in the historical center (open Mon-Fri 8:30-6:30, Sat 8:30-1pm).

If instead you want to send your parcel insured, go to the post office in Via Monterone, 1b (Mon-Fri 8:20am-3:20pm, Sat 8:20am-12:20pm), near Piazza Venezia.

Vatican Post
Frustrated by the sometimes leisurely pace of the Italian post, some Romans have turned their allegiance to the Vatican postal system. It costs the same as the Italian mail, but you must buy Vatican City stamps and send your letters, postcards, or parcels from the Vatican post offices located, logically enough, only within the Vatican City. There are two locations in Piazza San Pietro; one is behind the semicircular colonnade (on the right side as you face St. Peter's basilica), and another is along the orange wall between the colonnade and St. Peter's (on the left side as you face the church)--look for the blue boxes outside.

Faxes
If you need to send a fax try one of the reasonably-priced call centres in the Termini and Vatican areas, many tabacchi also send faxes for c. € 1.