Postal Service

If you want to send a postcard or a letter, it is recommended that you visit one of Poczta Polska’s branches. In big cities, however, you will find others, for example – InPost. Priority domestic mail is delivered on the next working day if it has been posted before 3.00 p.m. Priority mail posted after 3.00 p.m. is treated as posted on the next day.

Domestic priority mail is most often delivered by the next working day. Regular domestic mail (so-called economic) usually reaches the recipient within two to three days.

Priority foreign mail is delivered within 3 working days in Europe and 5 working days in other places of the world (although in the case of certain countries, this period might be longer).

Both priority and 2^nd class letters can be posted as registered mail (with a postal receipt). It does happen sometimes, even though not often, that letters are lost; therefore, it is better to register important mail.

Making phone calls

You can buy a pre-paid mobile phone card in the Polish network of one of several mobile phone operators. You can also use phone booths, which are still numerous in Poland. They belong mostly to Telekomunikacja Polska – former monopolist and the largest telephone company in Poland – which recently changed its name to Orange. In order to use them you have to buy a phone card. You can obtain one in kiosks, at newsagents or at petrol stations. The list of area codes to foreign countries (for calls from stationary and mobile phones) is available at https://www.numer-kierunkowy.pl.

You can make a free phone call via the Internet (e.g. with Skype, Tlenofon and many others). Cheap calls from stationary telephones are possible with pre-paid cards (such as Telegrosik or Telerabat), which can be purchased in the same places as traditional phone cards, which you can usually by at places where you can buy traditional telephone cards. 

Local and long-distance calls

The dialling rules differ depending on whether one makes the call from a mobile or stationery phone. You need to remember that regardless of whether you want to make a local or a long-distance call, the area code has to be dialled. Dialling principles:

Example

From a stationary to a mobile phone

recipient's number, for example: 123 456 789

From a stationary to a stationary phone

area code – recipient's number, for example: 58 – 123 45 67

From a mobile to a mobile phone

recipient's number, for example: 123 456 789

From a mobile to a stationary phone

area code – recipient's number, for example: 58 – 123 45 67