Need a heating pad for Italy and Switzerland

Rehy not bring one with you, along with an adapter?

I'd be unsure of just using a plug adapter for something that heats up. I know a simple adapter is not sufficient for a hair dryer.

Larger farmacias might have heating pads, but there might be a less expensive source.

I Googled this and found a Trip Advisor thread in which, in addition to farmacias, it was suggested that sanitaris might have heating pads. They are reportedly shops selling braces, crutches, etc.

Another possibility (which sounds potentially cheaper to me), would be an elettrodomestici. Those (again, according to a poster on TripAdvisor) sell household electrical gear.

If your first stop upon arriving will be to head to your hotel, I'd ask there.

I would be interested in buying a heating pad in Luzern. Any ideas?

I'd suggest asking the staff at your hotel when you check-in, as they will know the closest place where you can buy a heating pad. If the plug only has two pins, it should also work in Switzerland.

Good luck with that. Someone i was traveling with back in October had some lower back pain in the middle of the trip. Went into every health/beauty and pharmacy store I came across in Munich and Amsterdam(about 15 stores in all), nobody carried them. Staff kept telling me to order it from Amazon:(

As a low-tech alternative, are hot-water bottles still sold ? Many hotels have kettles for hot water.

I just googled "amazon italy" and got the Italian site, then typed in "heating pad" and got this result.

If you are browsing with Chrome, you can right-click on a page and use "translate to English". I've heard that the Beurer pad is quite good, note that it comes in several sizes.

Check with your hotel if you can order one and have it delivered to them a few days before your arrival.

A hot-water bottle is a good idea if you want to be assured of something the minute you get to your hotel. I will disagree that 'many hotels have kettles', though. In all of our stays in Italy, we've only had one room (Milan) that did; we travel with our own mini version. Hot water from the tap would work, however.

I've also purchased adhesive, self activating disposable heat pads at Target or Walgreens to apply to pulled muscles under my clothing at work. They work really well, and stay very warm for a long time. Something like this;

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/beyond-bodi-heat-pain-relieving-heat-pad/ID=prod6162971-product

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/beyond-bodi-heat-pain-relieving-heat-pads-back/ID=prod6162966-product

I've gotten them for as little as a $1 apiece from the bins of travel-sized products at Target. Those are a bit smaller than the more expensive full-sized back pads but were still big enough to do the trick.

be careful to pack the pads mentioned by Kathy only in hold luggage if they contain a gel or the TSA will keep them......

"Why not bring one with you, along with an adapter?"

Because unless you get one that's designed for 220 volts rather than the US 110 volts, that's a good way to blow a fuse (if you're lucky) or start a fire (if you're not). Not a joke. With the high wattage drawn by a heating pad, you'd need a huge and heavy converter to use a US model safely in Europe.

However, if you pre-order one from a European website, that would work. In addition to Chani's idea of having it delivered to your hotel, you could order from amazon.co.uk and have it sent to the US before your trip. Of course, with a UK model you'd need a plug adapter, but the voltage would be correct. Here's a selection from Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=heating+pad

Be careful to pack the pads mentioned by Kathy only in hold luggage if
they contain a gel or the TSA will keep them......

Oooh, yes. Good catch, Nigel!

Looks like you can order a 220 volt heating pad from Amazon for under $30. I ordered a 220 volt nightlight from them for traveling (since so many bathrooms don't have windows). It cam from China, but works great. It's gone on many trips.

There is a Unieuro electronics shop on Level 1 of Malpensa airport - MXP - map link

http://www.milanomalpensa-airport.com/en/airport/maps?_ptltpl=V3PG_MAPPA

The website shows heating pads
http://www.unieuro.it/online/Altri/CALDUS-pidMCM921

I do not know if you would find one at this shop. Perhaps you could email the company.

There are now large chain stores in Italy. In addition, there are plenty of pharmacies that probably have what you need. I agree that you are best off with a 220v pad. You might pay almost that much for a 100 Watt voltage converter. Now that American heating pads have microchips in them, I wouldn't use the cheap 1000W voltage converter that used to exist.

I agree that the airport will probably have one. Unless you are staying in a rural area with no car, you will be able to buy one, just like back here in the civilized world. Oh, wait ... ...

""Why not bring one with you, along with an adapter?""

I'm assuming the word "adapter" is meant to refer to a Voltage Convertor? If so, I concur with Harold on this point - it's not a good idea!

The typical travel voltage convertors for high wattage appliances are solid-state and produce a very erratic AC as a result of the conversion process. More importantly they are not designed for continuous duty operation, so use for long periods of time is not advisable. The best voltage convertor will be a transformer-based product, however a model with enough capacity for high wattage appliances would be prohibitively difficult to travel with, as transformers consist of copper windings and an iron core, so are inherently heavy.

Using a locally purchased heating pad is much better idea.