Using the Telephone in Poland

Yes, you guessed it – the Polish telephone system sucks. You will be lucky to find a public telephone that works properly.

As a general rule, use telephones that require phone cards. They are newer, and therefore more likely to work. Of course, you will need to buy a phone card.

Long-distance calls cannot be made from any pay phone. You must go to the post office phone bank. For long distance calls within Poland: dial 0, and then dial the area code and number. For international calls, try AT&T Direct. It’s by far the most reliable way to use a calling card or call collect. Dial 0-0104800111 for an AT&T operator. If you use a phone card, it will cost you two units.

Calling Home

AT&T Direct Dial 0 (wait for tone) 010-480-0111
MCI World Phone 010-480-0222

Operator-assisted calls can be made from the main post office and from US West, on the southwest corner of the intersection of ul. Nowogrodzka and ul. Poznanska. US West also provides telex and fax services.

Important Telephone Numbers

Warsaw

Police emergency 997
Fire emergency 998
Ambulance 999
Police headquarters (022) 26 24 24
PolCard (a 24-hour number for reporting lost or stolen credit cards) (022) 27 45 13 or (02) 611-3060

Krakow

Police emergency 997
Fire emergency 998
Ambulance 999
Police headquarters (012) 21 00 20 or (012) 10 71 15
Directory assistance (all of Poland):  913