Converters and Adapters

As the other Frank said, check your current charger for each one. If they say 110-240 Voltage, then that charger can be used in Europe with an adaptor plug. If not, then you have a few choices:

1) Buy a travel charger for the item that will work in Europe and in the US

2)Buy a dual voltage item. (I believe you can get a dual voltage travel compact hairdryer at WalMart for about $10.....but don't quote me on that.)

3) Buy a converter--which I don't recommend

4) Buy a cheap hairdryer in Europe and leave it there when you're done or bring in home for future trips.

5) I know adding "leave the hair dryer home and go without it" is not even an option. (I've learned that the hard way.)

Regarding hair dryers, like the rest have said, get a small, travel size dual voltage one. They are cheap, compact and only need ana adaptor plug. (I think Wal Mart has then for around $10)

First, understand the difference between converters and adaptors. The same adaptor should work for all those countries. England is different. Try to avoid trying to take anything requires a converter. Most modern electronic can handle dual check. Check input tag -- 120 -240 vote -- good to go. Items such as hair dryers that require a lot of watts do not do well with a converter. It will work but performance is poor. Buy a dual voltage travel hair dryer -- or better yet -- leave it home.

The best voltage converter is a transformer, but transformers that can handle high wattage devices, like hairdryers, would be very heavy. Voltage converters for hairdryers use a solid state circuit that just chops the top off the sine wave. Those converters are not suitable for, and can damage, electronic devices and their power supplies. At Radio Shack, you can buy solid state converters for devices over 50 watts and transformers for devices under 50 watts, and they even make converters with both types of circuits inside and a switch to select the power.

Converters usually have U.S. input plugs (two flat blades) so you still need a plug adapter to use them.

However, it's just one more thing, and more weight, to carry around. Frank's advice is best. Just make sure your electronic devices run on dual voltage and leave the big devices, like blow dryers, at home.

I want to get this straight for myself. Do I understand correctly that if we are traveling in Western Europe, but not England, all we need is the little 2 round prong adapter and not the converter for our digital camera and MP3 player chargers. We are not taking a blow dryer or laptop computer.

So sorry this is another question on the same topic instead of an answer.

Almost every electronic device sold today has a dual voltage (100/240VAC) charger. These chargers convert the AC line power to low voltage DC electronically, so it really doesn't matter if the line voltage is 120 or 240. The same holds true for computer power supplies. The power supply will say right on it, 120VAC-240VAC.

There are two pin sizes for continental European plugs. The north (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France) uses slightly larger pins vs Italy, but the northern wall receptacles will accommodate the smaller pins from the south. I don't know if the southern receptacles will take the larger pins from the north, but the "Euro plug" has pins that will fit in all of them.

Gail...an adaptor just changes the plug so it fits in the wall. It has nothing to do with converting electricity. The adaptor plug for most of western Europe is different than the one used in Great Britain.

To put it simply, look at the chargers to the items you want to take. If on them, they say 120-240v then all you will need is the "adaptor."

If it doesn't say 240v....then the charger will not work in Europe and you have to get one that doees.

All of Europe uses 240v while the US and Canada uses 110/120.

The plug for Continental Europe has two round prongs. The plug for Great Britain has three rectangular prongs.

And in some really old British building, the socket, where you plug everything in, may have an on/off switch as well. Very strange the first time you see it.

If you buy a set of adapters (in the travel section of Target or Walmart) they come marked for which countries they work in, and they are stored in a small drawstring bag. I only take the adapters I'm going to need, but it's not a big thing to throw the whole bag in your suitcase just in case.

Pig-tailing on the main question- it looks like 2 adaptors are needed if one is traveling to both Great Britain AND to other countries (for us, Amsterdam & Prague). Which adapters are needed? I see on Rick Steves' travel store he has 2 choices, so I'm assuming those would be the 2 different ones we'd need to be able to plug in everywhere?

A few comments to add to the discussion. First regarding PLUG ADAPTERS. As mentioned, most places on mainland Europe use the two round pins (some that I've encountered have a recessed power point, with a grounding tab on one side, but the two-pin Adapters will still work). The U.K. uses a larger Adapter with three large rectangular pins. One of the pins may be plastic if it's a non-grounding model. The power points in the U.K. equipped with a switch are a bit unusual, but not hard to use; usually there's a Fuse in there as well.

Regarding VOLTAGE CONVERTERS, you may or may not need one? Again as mentioned, if the Chargers for your portable electronics state "Input Voltage 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz" then you WON'T need a Voltage Converter. If these say "115 VAC, 60 Hz" then you WILL need a Converter to use these device in Europe. For solid-state devices, a Transformer Converter is the preferred method to use, as use of electronic converters can cause damage (the electronic converters are best with simple high wattage electric appliances such as Hair Dryers that contain only a simple resistive heating element and a small motor).

Plug Adapters can be obtained at travel & luggage stores, Radio Shack (in the U.S.) and at Magellans (who have a great selection of not only Adapters and Converters, but also dual-voltage appliances such as Hair Dryers). To see which style Plugs may be used in areas you'll be visiting, check this site for specifics.

Cheers!