electric converter

The answer is that it depends. You'll find three different types of outlets in Italy, often all in the same room or apartment. Ron in Rome explains it all, with pictures! here: Power in Italy

First of all, you're probably talking about 'adapters', and not 'converters/transformers' - the terms aren't interchangeable. Do look at Ron In Rome's website! Having said that, I've never needed a 3-prong adapter; if the outlet is 3-prong, a 2-prong adapter fits just fine. (If you're taking something very precious that needs grounding, that's something different...and I've seen grounded outlets that weren't actually grounded, so...) In theory, there are supposed to be countries that use the larger-in-diameter prongs, and ones that use the smaller; in my experience, I've found both all over the place. Most of the time, the difference in diameter doesn't matter that much - the smaller ones fit in the larger outlets, and the larger ones will fit in the smaller outlets. But sometimes, the smaller prongs simply.won't.stay.in.the.outlet, and the larger ones would really need to be forced into the smaller outlet and that's never a good idea. So, generally smaller will work better (I've never had trouble with the prongs not making contact)...but in the occasional hotel, you might need to play around with trying to keep the plug IN the outlet. I'll let you figure out ways to do that with whatever you have on hand. (cont.)

(cont.) Also, bring more than one - they fall under furniture, get left behind, and you may need to plug one adapter into another one to reach a deeply-recessed outlet. Don't spend more than $3 per adapter! They're cheap! They're sold on this site for $1 but you're charged shipping that may make that less of a great deal. Or, may not ;-) Orders under $25 are charged $6 S&H. So, if you bought 5, they'd be $11 ($2.20 each; not too shabby). I can definitely vouch for the ones sold on this site...they are of the the smaller-pronged variety. I've never had trouble with them. I also use some I've picked up over the years...they're all the same. Well, except for the larger ones that wouldn't fit :-( What exactly are you planning on bringing? If the 'devices' and their chargers say '100-250V, 50-60Hz', you only need the cheap adapters. If not, let us know what it is and what the tag/sticker says about the electrical requirements. It may say something like '110-240'; the important thing is the range 100-120 to 230-250. Also, it must say 50-60Hz, not merely either 50Hz or 60Hz. That's very important.

Thank you both..and yes I did mean an adapter