Phone Cards

Phone cards are very useful devices and are used all over Europe. They’re little, prepaid phone credit cards that you pop into a slot in the phone rather than fumbling with coins. One of the best things you can do upon arrival in a country is to buy a phone card, and use that to make your calls during your stay. Coin phones (instead of card phones) can be irritatingly hard to find in some major cities, and may swallow coins mercilessly (see my story about “The Tent” on p.63).

Phone cards are usually sold through tobacco stands and news kiosks. Some can be quite beautiful and artistic, and when they expire they make neat souvenirs. For some reason, calls made with cards are incredibly cheap in France, and absurdly expensive in Italy, with the rest of Europe somewhere in between. Don’t ask me why.