Post and telephone
There is a post office in almost every village.
Post offices are much more important in Sardinia than in most other countries.
You can find a post office in almost every village.
The Sardinians pay their bills for electricity, water, telephone, etc. here, and pensions are also often paid at the post office counter.
You should therefore be prepared for longer waiting times from the outset.
Most post offices are also only open in the mornings.
However, you don’t necessarily have to go to the post office to buy stamps (francobolli). You can also buy them at the “tabacchi” and in almost all shops that sell postcards.
You can save the extra charge for airmail because the mail from Sardinia is transported by plane anyway. Nevertheless, it will take about a week for the holiday greetings to arrive at home.
Phone calls without roaming charges
Of course, you can also use your mobile phone in Sardinia. Only in individual mountain regions are there holes in the network coverage.
The roaming charges that used to be so annoying have been abolished within the EU. This means that you don’t have to worry about additional costs when making calls or sending messages.
With most providers, you can simply use your mobile phone at the same conditions as at home, and the flat rate on your contract also applies in Italy.
However, some providers restrict this somewhat and oblige you to choose a specific network provider in the holiday country. In addition, large data volumes for internet use abroad are sometimes restricted.
If you are unsure, it is best to ask your provider before you go on holiday to avoid any nasty surprises.
For tourists from countries outside the EU, the new roaming regulations do not usually apply, although some providers make exceptions here. You should also bear this in mind if you are travelling through Switzerland by car or motorbike.
For all non-EU citizens, it may also be worthwhile to buy an Italian prepaid card. This gives you a number in Italy and then you don’t have to pay any charges for incoming calls from abroad.
To buy a SIM card, all you have to do is show your passport or identity card and give an address in Italy. This can also be a hotel or holiday flat.
When calling home, dial the country code (e.g. Germany 0049, Austria 0043, Switzerland 0041…) – leave out the zero of the area code.
When calling to Italy, after the country code 0039 you must also dial the zero of the area code!
If you are calling within Italy, you must always dial the area code – even if you are in the same local network.
The public phone booths, which used to be found in all towns and villages, were dismantled in 2023, with only very few exceptions remaining.
The establishment of public telephone connections was legally mandated, and Italy had the densest network of phone booths in all of Europe.
Even long after the triumph of mobile phones, these connections were maintained until the legal basis was abolished in 2023, and Telecom Italia (TIM) is no longer obliged to provide phone booths.