electrical adapters in italy

Go to any good travel store, electronic store, and ask for the European adapter (not the British) Good for all of western Europe except GB.

An adaptor is always a handy thing to have. Not very expensive and convenient to keep for your future travels too. If you don't want to take one I'm sure your hotel will have one you can use during your stay.

I bought an adapter set at Target 10 years ago...it still works perfectly. They still sell them, and they are not expensive. You can find the adapters on line too at www.ebags.com in their travel accessory section. Shopping from home for stuff like this is easy.

I brought an adapter and converter and used both. I bought my through the mail.

I would suggest looking at the the device that you wish to plug in. A particular problem with 2-prong devices in the U.S. is that one prong of the plug is longer than the other. Many U.S. plugs have this configuration to ensure that you can only insert the plug in one way. My wife's hair curler has this configuration. Our European adapter does not have the larger slot and therefore was useless. The hotel (Hilton) had several adapters but none had the larger slot either.

You MAY need two things,

an adaptor (so our US plug will fit in either of the TWO types of Italian sockets),

and a voltage converter, so that your US device (which runs on 110V) can be used on 220 volts that is thruout Europe.

Adaptor. In some places in No. Italy you will need the bigger prongs of the "N. Europe adaptor". In the South you will use "S Europe adaptor" The two prongs on it are smaller.(both look very similar) I always carry a US splitter that allows me to split the power. In many small B&B's & hotels there are not many outlets, and if you plug in your device, then may be without a light in your bedroom.

Convertor. Look at each of your batt. chargers. If the tag on the back says that they can be used on both 110V and 220V, you are in luck. If not, go buy one that does both, or a convertor. My charger for my camera batteries will work anywhere in the world, but I had to buy a convertor, and get the correct one! for a hot plate that I use with my CPAP.

Since you are in Boston just head to your nearest REI and by the duffel bags you will find all the adapters and converters.

For Italy you just need the standard Euro 2 round pin plug.

I say again, as I did above, look at what you want to plug in first. If it has 2 equal prongs, you're fine. If one prong is longer than the other, the adapter will also have to have one slot longer than the other. Our adapter didn't. The bunch that they had at the hotel didn't have them either. My wife could not use her hair curler for this reason. She looked just great anyway.