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Telephones
in Krakow
Pay phones are fairly available throughout
Krakow in street booths, post offices, and other
public places. Once found, a
public phone will easily connect you with any
place on the earth. There is no operator, just dial either zero plus zone
code plus local number for calls to anywhere in Poland including
Krakow or a country code plus
the number abroad for international calls.
Poland's
largest telecom, TP S.A., has practically monopolized payphones,
theirs to be fed with cards on sale at newsstands, some shops,
gas stations, etc. The competition installs coin-operated phones
but they are scarce.
If you
brought a cell phone from abroad it should work
in Krakow as in the rest of Europe outside your
own country as long as your telecom has a roaming deal with any
of Poland's counterparts (most cellular telephony operators have
it). Otherwise, you can buy just
anywhere –
at a gas station,
say –
a prepaid system
of one of this country’s several GSM networks for some 100
euro or less, make it operational in five minutes and let your new
Polish number known to anybody you like. Conversely, you may
purchase only a new SIM card for your phone, i.e. a 'starter'
package, for as little as an equivalent of 5 euro or so.
Note:
When
operational, keep your cellphone off in restaurants,
museums, theaters,
churches, etc
even if it appears others don’t mind.
Poland’s
country code is 48. Krakow’s zone code is 12,
Warsaw’s 22, Poznan’s 61, Gdansk’s 58, Katowice’s 32,
Lublin’s 81, and Szczecin’s is 97.
Internet
Access in Krakow
Internet cafes
probably can be found on every street in downtown Krakow, it
suffice to look for them hard enough, and their rates usually
are equivalent of roughly 0.5 euro per hour.
Most
hotels
in the city provide free Internet access to the guests.
Wireless
internet is available outdoors on Krakow's
central Rynek Glowny square
and on Szeroka street in the Kazimierz
district
as well as several other parts of the city.
Indoor Wi-Fi hotspots are installed in shopping
malls,
hotels,
restaurants,
cafes,
gas stations, etc.
Postal
Services
Krakow's
main office post is situated at 20 Westerplatte street at
Wielopole street, on the
eastern edge of the
central Old Town historic district,
just beyond the Planty
garden ring.
Making
Oneself Understood in Krakow
Never bet
overly on the language skills of Krakow natives,
they speak English only somewhat better than
Frenchmen. Do not guess Polish spelling pronunciation – it’s simple but different (“keep
the rest” is Polish “reszty nie
trzeba” in writing, and something like “raeshty nye chaeba” in an English phonetic
transcription). All Poles are literate: write in
block letters Polish addresses and names you want
to inquire about. When inquiring about directions
ask another person to confirm: people happen to
have better intention than information or better
information than intention.
See
useful Polish words and phrases
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Basic Krakow info for
visitors
Good hotels in Krakow
Lodging
guide to Krakow
There are over 20,000 beds to choose from.
Best
restaurants of Krakow
Travel
to Krakow
Over four million visitors show up
in Krakow every year. Many arrive by air, but
most take advantage of the fact that Krakow lies
at a major European road and rail junction.
Krakow's
Transport
How to move about the city.
Eating
the Krakow way
It is hearty indeed.
Shopping
in Krakow
The city’s central Old Town
historic district, turned into a pedestrian
precinct, teems with stores of all sorts.
Gift
Ideas
Make everybody happy back home with a
souvenir from Krakow.
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