Visitor Information

Telephones

Until the late 1990s in Greece, most foreigners went to the offices of the Telecommunications Organization of Greece (OTE, pronounced oh-tay, or Organismos Tilepikinonion tis Ellados) to place most of their phone calls, especially overseas. But because phone cards are now so widespread throughout Greece, this is no longer necessary, once you get the hang of using them. You must first purchase a phone card at an OTE office or at most kiosks. (If you expect to make any phone calls while in Greece, buy one at the airport's OTE office upon arrival.) The cards come in various denominations, from 3€ ($3.90) to 25€ ($33). The more costly the card, the cheaper the units.

The cost of a call with a phone card varies greatly depending on local, domestic, and international rates. A local call of up to 3 minutes to a fixed phone costs about .10€ (13¢), which is 3 units from a phone card; for each minute beyond that, it costs another .06€ (10¢) or 2 units off the card (so that a 10-min. local call costs 17 units or .52€/.68¢).

All calls, even to the house next door, cost Greeks something, so if you use someone's telephone even for a local call, offer to pay the charges.

In cities and larger towns, kiosks have telephones from which you can make local calls for .10€ (13¢) for 3 minutes. (In remote areas, you can make long-distance calls from these phones.) A few of the older public pay phones that required coins are still around, but it's better to buy a phone card. If you must use an older pay phone, deposit the required coin and listen for a dial tone, an irregular beep. A regular beep indicates that the line is busy.

Note: As of November 2002, all phone numbers in Greece have 10 digits. All (except for mobile phones -- see below) also precede the city/area code with a 2 and end that with a 0. For example, since the Athens city code was originally 1, it is now 210, followed by a seven-digit number, but most other numbers in Greece are six digits. In all cases, even if you are calling someone in the same building, you must dial all 10 digits.

Calling a mobile (cell) phone in Greece requires substituting a 6 for the 2 that precedes the area code.

Long-distance calls, both domestic and international, can be quite expensive in Greece, especially at hotels, which may add a surcharge of up to 100%, unless you have a telephone credit card from a major long-distance provider such as AT&T, MCI, or Sprint.

If you prefer to make your call from an OTE office, these are centrally and conveniently located. At OTE offices, a clerk will assign you a booth with a metered phone. You can pay with a phone card, international credit card, or cash. Collect calls take much longer.

To call Greece from the United States or Canada:

1. Dial the international access code: 011 from the U.S.; 00 from the U.K., Ireland, or New Zealand; or 0011 from Australia

2. Dial the country code 30

3. Dial the city code -- three to five digits -- and then the number. (Note: All numbers in Greece must have 10 digits, including the city code.)

If you are calling Greece from other countries, dial one of the following international access codes. From the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand, 00; from Australia, 0011. Then follow steps 2 and 3 above to complete the call.

To make international calls from within Greece: The easiest and cheapest way is to call your long-distance service provider before leaving home to determine the access number that you must dial in Greece. The principal access codes in Greece are: AT&T, tel. 00800-1311; MCI, tel. 00800-1211; and Sprint, tel. 00800-1411. Most companies also offer a voice-mail service in case the number you call is busy or there's no answer.

If you must use the Greek phone system to make a direct call abroad -- whether using an OTE office, a phone that takes cards, or a phone that takes coins -- dial the country code plus the area code (omitting the initial zero, if any), then dial the number. Some country codes are: Australia, 0061; Canada, 001; Ireland, 00353; New Zealand, 0064; United Kingdom, 0044; and United States, 001. Thus if you wanted to call the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., you would dial 00-1-202-588-7800.

Note that if you are going to put all the charges on your phone card (that is, not on your long-distance provider), you will be charged at a high rate per minute (at least 3€/$3.90 to North America), so you should not make a call unless your phone card's remaining value can cover it.

For operator assistance: If you need operator assistance in making a call, dial 131 if you're trying to make an international call and 169 if you want to call a number in Greece.

Toll-free numbers: Numbers beginning with 080 within Greece are toll-free, but calling a 1-800 number in North America from Greece is not toll-free. In fact, it costs the same as an overseas call.

Rechargeable Phone Cards

One of the newest, easiest, and cheapest ways to make calls while abroad is to sign on for a phone card that can be used in most countries and can be re-charged (that is, money and so minutes added from your charge card account). To learn more about this card and its various other features, see www.lonelyplanet.ekit.com.

Cellphones

For many, renting a phone is a good idea. While you can rent a phone from any number of places in Greece -- including kiosks at major airports, OTE offices, and cellphone stores -- we suggest renting the phone before you leave home. North Americans can rent one before leaving home from InTouch USA (tel. 800/872-7626; www.intouchglobal.com) or RoadPost (tel. 888/290-1606 or 905/272-5665; www.roadpost.com). Give them your itinerary, and they'll tell you what wireless products you need. Both support wireless phones in Greece -- and both RoadPost and InTouch support BlackBerry. InTouch will also, for free, advise you on whether your existing phone will work overseas; simply call tel. 703/222-7161 between 9am and 4pm EST, or go to http://intouchglobal.com/travel.htm.

Internet/E-Mail

With Your own Computer -- More and more hotels, resorts, airports, cafes, and retailers are going Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity), becoming "hot spots" that offer free high-speed Wi-Fi access or charge a small fee for usage. Most laptops sold today have built-in wireless capability. To find public Wi-Fi hot spots at your destination, go to www.jiwire.com; its Hotspot Finder holds the world's largest directory of public wireless hot spots.

For dial-up access, most business-class hotels throughout the world offer dataports for laptop modems, and a few thousand hotels in Europe now offer free high-speed Internet access.

Wherever you go, bring a connection kit of the right power and phone adapters, a spare phone cord, and a spare Ethernet network cable -- or find out whether your hotel supplies them to guests. In Greece, too, you need a transformer to convert from 220 volts to 110 (although some laptops now allow for this with a switch) as well as the plug with the two round prongs that fit into Greek outlets.

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Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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				Frommer's Greece, 6th Edition Author: Sherry Marker Pub Date: February 11, 2008 Price: $21.99				Related Titles: Europe For Dummies, 4th Edition Frommer's Amsterdam Day by Day, 1st Edition Frommer's Amsterdam, 14th Edition