Can you purchase phone cards in Europe to call back to the US that will work in any Western European country you are in, or are they good only in one country? Also, how much are they per minute? What are the best ways you have found to call back to the States from Germany, Switzerland and Italy?

Just returned from Germany. We bought our cards in gas station/convenience stores. They're available in 12DM and 50DM cards, we bought the 12DM and they were good for about 10 minutes.We used pay phones(instructions in english with a screen that shows you how much time you have left).Very easy to use, but they are only good for calls from Germany, so only buy what you plan to use.

My experiences in France and Switzerland are very much like what Tom described. <BR>I came home with a few minutes left on my Swiss phone card. I will use it up this September I am sure!

OOPPS. Clicked on the red spot too soon. <BR>I think the phone card is the best way to call the states, in my experience. <BR>However, an earlier poster said that he had at times found hotels that offered time to its guests on wholesale rates that the hotel was able to obtain because of call volume. <BR>The cost of using the phone card depends of course on where you are calling and when. The one I had last year in France supported several calls home and two calls to a friend who was in Europe somewhere using his mobil phone. <BR>If the hotel does not know what its rates are, or if they are fairly high, then go with the phone card. I use it because all I need is a phone. In Switzerland, every post office has telephone facilities. <BR>

We've purchased phone cards at the "tabacs" in France during each of our trips. I think we bought 50ff denomination ones. We used them for local calls ahead to our B&B's, for restaurant reservations, AND to phone back to the US. We were surprised how many minutes we got out of them.

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