Street phones are good for local and international calls. To use them you need a phone card (available in 25, 50, 100, 200, 400 and 1000 units from newspaper kiosks and post offices). Phone booths in airports and major hotels aren't always run by the city phone network, and are much more expensive. You can buy cards for these phones on the spot or use your Amex or Visa card. By far the cheapest option in St Petersburg (with off-peak discounts) is the Telephone Service Card, usable from any tone-dial phone (available in 300, 600, 1200, 3000 and 6000 units). Mobile phones GSM users will have no trouble plugging in to the local system. Email and Internet access is offered cheaply in a number of Internet cafes.

Telephone Code: 7, country code; 812, St.Petersburg city code.

INTERNATIONAL PHONE CALLS

ROM ST.PETERSBURG:

COUNTRY CODES:

TO ST.PETERSBURG:

INTER-CITY PHONE CALLS WITHIN RUSSIA

FROM ST.PETERSBURG:

CITY PHONE CALLS
City calls are free, however the hotels can charge some fee for local outgoing calls. Most public phones (some adapted for international calls as well) are operated with phone cards available from metro stations, some stores and kiosks. Besides there are some running on coins (set at every metro station). The phones have clear diagrams on how to use them and you can select in which language you wish the phone to issue instructions. Be sure to press the button with a receiver on it when the person answers or they will not be able to hear you.

Local Emergency Numbers:

MOBILE TELEPHONE
You should verify that your phone company has an international roaming agreement with St.Petersburg network. Network operators include Megaphone GSM, Bee Line GSM, Mobile Telesystems GSM, Sky Link, Tele2. Handsets can be hired from the companies. Mobile phone shops are widespread around the city. GSM 900/1800 (not GSM 1900), CDMA, AMPS/D-AMPS and NMT-450 standards are supported in St.Petersburg.

INTERNET
There are plenty of Internet cafes and bars, scattered all over the city. They offer direct connection to the Internet with hourly pay (about US$1-2 per hour), scanning, printing, data saving services, etc.

BUSINESS CENTERS
There are also business centers at many large hotels and at some public places that offer international and intercity phone access, Internet and fax services.

DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS
If you travel with your laptop, or would like to connect to the Internet from a hotel or an apartment you should buy an Internet card in one of numerous computer shops or kiosks (at the metro as well). The cards for 3, 5, 10, 20 hours cost about US$1-1.5 an hour. You get a telephone of local ISP, a password and a login name. The best-known Internet providers are Sovintel, CityLine, WebPlus, Comset etc.

POSTAL SERVICE
Airmail to Western Europe takes over ten days. There are postboxes and post offices in every hotel. Post in land surface mail is often slow. Post office hours: 9a.m.-7p.m. Letters or parcels can be sent from the Central Post Office ("Glavpochtamt"), from numerous post offices around the city or through more expensive Courier Services. There are some restrictions on what you can send out and your parcel can be inspected before packing it. It's better not to send anything valuable by post. In the post offices you can find nice postcards with city views. You can also drop mail in the blue mailboxes near post-offices. Usually, delivery time takes about 2-3 weeks depending on the destination. If you have something urgent there is a list of private and express courier services below.

CENTRAL POST OFFICE (ГЛАВПОЧТАМТ - "Glavpochtamt") Address: 9, Pochtamtskaya Street, Metro: Nevskiy Prospekt (then trolleybus No5 or No22 to Konnogvardeisky Bulvar).

EXPRESS MAIL & PARCEL SERVICES

EMS GARANT POST
Delivers mail to 206 countries around the world, couriers within St.Petersburg. Door to door service.
Address: 4, entrance 3a, Konnogvardeiskiy bulvar, Metro: Nevskiy Prospekt (then trolleybus No5 or No22 to Konnogvardeiskiy Bulvar).

POST INTERNATIONAL
Mail boxes, express-mail,worldwide mail courier service, mail forwarding.
Address: 20, Nevskiy pr., Metro: Nevskiy Prospekt.

WEST POST
Address: 86, Nevskiy pr., Metro: Mayakovskaya, Ploshchad Vosstania.

DHL WORLDWIDE EXPRESS
Express deliveries to more than 220 countries.
Address: 4, Izmailovsky pr., Metro: Tekhnologicheskiy Institut.