are new adaptors now necessary for new outlets in Europe?

Ruth,

you don't say where in Europe.

The countries which have a few issues with plugs are the UK (completely different shape and rather clunky), Switzerland (which has slightly different pin spacing and recessed sockets into which the round adapters won't fit - but most hotels have European to Swiss adapters behind the desk) and Italy (some older sockets remain, there are two different sizes of pin spacing, the Italian grounded plug is different to all others -but most places I have visited have universal sockets with the ability to plug in any of the above - this depend on the places you are staying). I've never been there but I understand that some counties further east may have different issues.

Can you say which places you are going?

Ruth,

Could you provide some further details on where you saw the information on "new sockets" being used in Europe? I did a brief search online, but wasn't able to find anything.

AFAIK, the standard two-pin Schuko plug is still the standard in Europe. That's shown on the Magellan's website, (Non Grounding model, $2.85). For appliances which require a grounding (Earth) connection, countries such as France and Germany use a similar model. The Switzerland grounded model has an offset ground pin, while the Italian model has three inline pins, with centre being the ground.

The majority of Chargers for iPhones, iPads, etc. only use two pins, so you'd be fine with the basic Plug Adaptor. The only product I travel with that has a ground pin is my Netbook, and I have appropriate grounded Plug Adaptors in my kit to handle that.

Several of the basic two pin models would be great stocking stuffers, and the cost would only be $5.70 to provide two Adaptors per person, so not a huge investment.

Happy travels!

I was in England and France last month and uses my old adapters. Take some just to be safe.

My wife was just in Italy. No changes there. Still using our old 2-pin.

Ruth, please let us know exactly where you read these comments.

I think it's hokum unless some place changed the whole nation around in short order.

However, you might want to solve the problem once and for all by forking over twenty bucks for a set of five that will get you through most of the world. The things nest, so you can piggy back your way out of a recessed socket or work around an odd-shaped plug on the end of one of your devices.

Hi -- I read about this in the reviews of the adaptors on Amazon. Until recently, nothing but great reviews, but a number of very recent reviews said the adaptors didn't work in the new sockets (I think there was mention of them being recessed). A couple people specifically mentioned new modern hotels, and those would not be the ones we're staying in. We'll be going to the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Austria. It sounds like you think I have nothing to worry about -- great! I just didn't want to be pennywise and pound foolish buying the inexpensive adaptors.

If you plan on purchasing any adaptors for use in Europe, they are on sale elsewhere on this web site. See: "Travel Store > Accessories > Adaptors"

"I really don't want to spend $25 instead of $5 if I can help it.." Where are you seeing those prices? Adaptors usually cost $2-3, at the most.

OK, based on your destinations, the standard Schuko adaptor will probably work everywhere except Switzerland and perhaps Italy. Don't worry about trying to find a Swiss adaptor in the US, just ask the hotel front desk to borrow one or buy it a local grocery store. For Italy, wait to see which type of outlet the hotel uses, and if necessary, do the same as you would in Switzerland.

I have been to a a lot of central and western Europe and except for the UK this adapter has met every need. I once ran into an odd plug in France that would not let me plug a non grounded adapter and I have had trouble with the weight of the transformer pulling out the cheap non grounded adapter out of the wall which is why I upgraded to the grounded model. There may be a place this doesn't work but I haven't found it yet. http://www.amazon.com/CVID-American-European-German-Adapter/dp/B00A674F4E/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1383538477&sr=8-8&keywords=schuko+plug+adapter

Ruth,

It's possible that the people who were having problems with recessed outlets were using those goofy, gargantuan multi-plug Adapters, which use small levers to slide out pins for different styles of outlets. Some of those may not work well with recessed outlets.

I've never had any problems using the cheap $3 Magellan's Plug Adaptors in numerous countries in Europe, including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Czech Republic, etc. I've never noticed whether they have the larger or smaller diameter round pins, but that's never been a problem as they seem to work everywhere. The housing of the plastic case is small enough that they fit inside the recessed outlets.

Be sure not to forget the Adaptors in the hotel room. That's easy to do.

Cheers!

Well, I know that a great many recessed outlets are pretty old; the cure for that is simply to use TWO adapters in order to reach the plug holes. Just plug one into the other to make it longer. Take extras, anyway - you can accidentally leave one behind in a hotel room, drop one behind a heavy piece of furniture, etc. They're cheap - just $1 from this site (limit 5, sadly, and S&H will make this worthwhile only if ordering other items), but you shouldn't pay more than $2.95 anywhere else. Heck, even Magellan's sells them for $2.85, and they typically aren't the cheapest source of anything.

Warning: Sometimes an adapter, even though it's the 'correct' one for that particular country, just won't work in your particular hotel. It'll be too large or too small, or have some other incompatibility issue. It happens, but not often. Check the other outlets in the room; the fit may be better. You can try the hotel front desk for a better adapter, but don't hold your breath. I haven't had adapter incompatibility issues in years, but I wanted to prepare you just in case you do.

I recently bought a six-pack of grounding Schuko adapters from Amazon. They worked. No problems. I read some negative reviews on Amazon. Most claimed the adapters didn't work for US plugs, but that was not my experience. After reading their reviews, my suspicions is these were either competitors bad mouthing the product or people who didn't know "tAfaHitG".

BTW, I don't think there is a "new" socket in Europe. Maybe in some remote country that's switching to the European standard Schuko, but the modified Schuko plug has been used on the western continent for decades, and there is no reason to change it. Anyway, there are hundred of millions of buildings currently wired with Schuko receptacles, and these are not going to go away any time soon.

I have some very old (25 years) "Europlug" adapters, that don't have a wider slot for polarized plugs, but that is actually more correct than the new ones that do. European power is not polarized, so polarized slots just allow people to use appliances with polarized plugs unsafely.

"a great many recessed outlets are pretty old"

Actually, the newer receptacles are more recessed, and the newer plugs have a longer barrel. This is all done to prevent contact with the pins when they are engaged with the receptacle. Some voltage converters have pins that protrude from a flush surface and do not extend far enough into the receptacle to engage the holes. That's a fault of the converter, not the receptacle. Every Europlug adapter I have seen was long enough to span the recess.

BTW, I recently returned from three weeks in Germany, and my grounding Schuko adapter, the one with some bad reviews, worked fine.

"Actually*, the newer receptacles are more recessed..."

Horrors!!! Now I'll have to plug 3 together to reach ;-) Good thing I have approx. 637 of em'.

Ruth, another important point to mention is to be sure the plastic around the adapter plugs isn't any wider than necessary. The recessed 'circle' that the outlet is in can be narrow; if you look at the photos in Lee's reply, that particular grounded plug adapter just fits inside the circle. If there were any 'wings' on the sides, they would be too large to fit inside the circle. Clear as mud?

Could be too wide

Better

One of the reviewers on the first adapter said they had to use a knife to whittle down the sides of it so that it would fit. Been there, done that...

In 2001, I pulled my computer's charger plug out of the wall receptacle, but the adapter, which gripped the receptacle tighter than the US plug, stayed in the wall. I didn't notice this until I got to the Allgäu. I went to a hardware store and bought an "adapter". It wasn't really a US plug to European receptacle adapter, it was an adapter to fit on the shorter barrels of older Schuko plugs to extend them for the "newer", deeper recessed receptacles, but the omega shaped slots in the female end took US plugs, so it worked for me. My point, at one time the recesses were shallower, but they were deepend to prevent shocks. All of the Europlug adapters I've seen recently are long enough to span the recess.

Ruthy,

I stayed last month in:

Stockholm, Sweden
Oslo, Norway
Copenhagen, Denmark
Hamburg & Cologne, Germany
Brussels & Bastogne, Belgium
Luxemburg City, Luxemburg
London & Leeds, UK.
Amsterdam, Neatherlands

All of them used the same adapter that i have used in my previous trip last year. I actually bought 3 more to get one with a USB on it so i could dump my other ones.

happy trails.

I haven't had adapter incompatibility issues in years....

@Eileen: You've had adapter incompatability in the recent past. That's why we moved the venue an didn't tell you. ;)