Country code: 30, followed by 210 for Athens, 2310 for Thessaloniki and 2810 for Heraklion (all area codes are prefixed with 2 and end with 0). Note that the area code is still used even when dialing from within that area, ie, when dialing an Athens number from Athens, the prefix 210 is still necessary.

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone companies. Coverage is excellent.

Internet cafes are available in the main cities, including Athens, Thessaloniki and the islands of Crete, Kos, Mykonos and Rhodes.

All letters, postcards, newspapers and periodicals will automatically be sent by airmail. Airmail to Europe takes five days; six to North America; seven to Australia.

Post office hours: Mon-Fri 0730-1400, Sat 0800-1400.

A free press operates in Greece, although material deemed offensive to the president or religious beliefs can lead to the prosecution of editors and publishers. It was only in the late 1980s that the virtual monopoly of state-run broadcasters came to an end, with the introduction of new commercial TV services. Peak-time TV schedules are dominated by news, domestically made variety programmes, comedies and game shows. The country hosts about 1,700 private radio and TV stations, many of which are unlicensed, since broadcasting in Greece is relatively unregulated by European standards. An attempt made in 2001 to regulate the FM dial in Athens resulted in a political row.

• There are numerous daily newspapers in Athens including Eleftherotypia, Kathimerini and Ta Nea.
• Athens News is published weekly in English.

• Publicly owned ERT operates ET1, NET and ET3.
• Commercial channels include Alpha TV, Antenna TV and Mega TV.

• Publicly owned ERA operates ERA1 (entertainment), ERA2 (culture), ERA3 (sport and music) and ERA4 (regional).
• Commercial stations include Antenna FM, Skai 100.3 and Sfera 102.2.
• Municipal Athens station Athena 98.4 was one of the first non-state radio stations.