There are plenty of telephone booths where you can make local and international phone calls. Pick up phone cards at the post offices, kiosks at major shopping areas and at tobacconists. Phone cards are priced between 10,000 and 30,000 LBP. Locals use their mobile phones a lot, but homes and businesses do have landlines. To dial an international number, first punch in the dialing code "961" followed by the country code of the country you are calling and then the number. Local numbers in Lebanon come with a 2 digit area code preceding the phone number.

Emergency numbers include:

Nationwide Emergency                       112

Police Operation                               160

Tourist Police (01)                            350901/343504

Beirut Information (01)                     427714/5

Jounieh Information (09)                  900000/9301111

Sidon Information (06)                     721221/725811/2

Tripoli Information (07)                    200400/1

Zahle Information (08)                     800169  

Red Cross                                       140

Civil Defense                                   125

Internet connectivity in Lebanon is common as are cyber cafes from where you can check your mail or surf the internet for a small charge. Hotels also offer connectivity, so if you're carrying your laptop you can plug in or use their business center facilities to get connected.

If you need to send a letter by snail mail you'd be well advised to go straight to the post office since letterboxes where you can post your mail are hard to come by. Letters take between a week and a fortnight to be delivered to North America and Europe. Parcel delivery by express mail is also possible.