gbs

What is your favorite travel iron and hair dryer for European travel? What is your source? Thanks! I blew up the last one I got and am looking for something better......

caroltis

I took both with me on our trip last month and I regretted having added that kind of bulk and weight to my luggage. Almost every place we stayed had a hair dryer and unless you have an ironing board (and if you do then you probably have been provided an iron)...I find the travel iron doesn't do a whole lot of good. Face the fact that you're going to be wearing fairly wrinkled clothes. If you pack carefully and hang up your "wrinkable" clothes as soon as you arrive at your destination - the major wrinkles usually fall out. Just my opinion...our luggage wound up being way too heavy as the trip progressed as we were purchasing little take home treasures along the way and I resented all the needless stuff I brought along.

Christina

I don't iron clothes, so haven't used a travel iron in about 20 years (for some reason, I did then for a couple blouses).

I do have a favorite hair dryer (all hotels I stay in do not have one, so I take one if I can fit it in, but don't worry a lot if I can't). Mine is a Clairol which I've had about 20 years and it still works fine. I only use it when traveling. I like it because it's smaller than the ones they sell nowadays, at least most of them -- that's because they want to make them higher watt now. It works fine since hair dryers are stronger on European currency than US currency, so don't know why they need to make them so many watts, which makes them bigger.

I just bought a new cheap one at CVS drugstore when they were on sale for about $10. It's fairly small, but I don't have a lot of experience with it.

My advice (which you may ignore) is to buy the cheapest one you can, as there isn't much you get from a travel hair dryer by spending more. This is a fairly simple piece of equipment. Also, the more expensive ones will probably be bigger. You can get a cheap one at Target or CVS for about $10 on sale.

If you blew one up, perhaps you weren't using it properly, according to the instructions, as I've had mine over 20 years, as I said, and it is was a cheap one when I bought it. You can't put it on high speed in Europe, if it allows you. My old Clairol one won't even allow you.

crefloors

Trust me, don't bother with the iron. On my first trip, I was a classic. The 30" suitcase, more clothes than I could or would ever wear and all wrong, the curling iron, the travel iron, the steamer, the converter and adapters. I DO want you all to know that I did NOT have shorts OR trainers in there, but I had just about everything else. Thank the lord I was on a tour, I'm sure the guys handling the luggage had hernia surgery after that trip. I never used the iron OR the curling iron.

gbs, I'm not being flippant really, but with the weight limitations these days you just don't need the add on and honestly, there are so many fabrics that don't wrinkle or readily hang out..both winter and summer clothes that you just don't need that iron. Knits are great and they have them is fabrics and weights for all seasons.

natc143

<i would buy one when arriving in europe.... trust me! its easy and it guarantees to work

alanRow

<<< What is your favorite travel iron and hair dryer for European travel? >>>

One that works off 220-250V

enzian

I have a wee little Franzus folding, dual-voltage hair dryer. It doesn't have as much power as my "regular" Conair dryer, but it's fine for travel, very compact and light, and has lasted several (4 or 5) trips to Europe. I think LL Bean carries the same one, $25.

Travelnut

If you're a 'real' traveler, you'll cut your hair instead of adding something else to the suitcase...

mowmow

I dragged a little 110/220 travel hair dryer all around Europe and regretted it. Most of the hotels (even inexpensive little places I can afford) had a hair dryer. If they weren't mounted on the bathroom wall, you could get one at the desk.

I've never taken it anywhere again. Even the hotels in Egypt had them.

And ironing...I don't even do that at home anymore, lol.

BTilke

A side with the "buy a cheap hair dyer in Europe" group. I bought a Babyliss hair dryer in Paris in 1994 and it's STILL working fine. Not bad for a $10 investment. I used it almost daily for over five years when we lived full time in Brussels and I'm taking it with me for an upcoming 6-week stay there. It's been as durable as an old Ma Bell rotary telephone.

I don't like most hotel hair dryer options in Europe. Either they're that wall mounted thingy with a long tube that delivers little more than a slight breeze or the hair dryer makes you hold the "on" button down the entire time you're using it (they even had those in the Meurice hotel in Paris, one of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the country!).

travelatte

I know it is not as good as an iron, but have you tried the Downy spray, it works pretty well and comes in a travel size.

nytraveler

Never carry either - since every hotel I've stayed in has both.

ValCanada

I never iron anything at home so I've certainly never needed one when I travel - when you buy clothes for your trip or when you decide what to take, decide on fabrics that will pack nicely without holding on to wrinkles.

When it comes to hair dryers, I rely on the hotels. I'm actually growing out my hair before my trip so that I can use clips and pins and the good old pony tail holder to scrunch my windblown hair into a stylish do without any fuss!

Apres_Londee

1. 220v Braun hairdryer (1400w- there is also a 1200w and a 1600w available)

2. Oster dual-voltage travel iron

3. Houseof220.com

They have *way* more than what's shown on their website- you can call or email and tell them what you need and where you'll be using it, and they can set you up.

They have just about anything you could thing of at that place

canterbury

Take neither. Buy blow dryer in Europe. Before your trip, take your travel clothes to the cleaners and have them washed, ironed and packed in paper and plastic (just like a man's dress shirt). I did this on my last trip and it was fantastic. No wrinkles. Easy to find everything without messing them up.

Pegontheroad

When I'm staying in Europe for a long time and am facing a lot of washing (even when it's in the sink) I always bring a little folding travel iron which I bought in Germany.

I also have a hair dryer and curling iron which I bought in Germany. I use a round brush and a hair dryer to shape my hair as I dry it, and the dryers in hotels are often awkward for me to use. I keep my hair very short, but it's limp, and without the curling iron it looks awful. I am no fashion plate, so believe me, when I say "awful," I mean "awful." That's why I go to the bother of bringing the dryer & curling iron.

By the way, I use a 22" (carry on size) suitcase, no matter how long the trip, so you can bet these appliances don't add a lot of weight or bulk.

haydeedoll

For my recent trip to Britain I bought a Belle Hop Travel Hairdryer. It was dual voltage. It blew up the first time I used it. Actually I tried to use it a few times. Each time it would start up, and then poof, die out.....I shouldn't have even wasted the money. Every place had one.

Viajero2

ttt

takemealong

I never take a travel iron. I have a dual voltage travel hair dryer that I've had for years and have not had a problem using it through out Europe. Recently, I haven't taken it with me because most hotels have one in the room.

Gina_07

I never take a travel iron. I iron everything at home, fold, and pack with care. No waiste of space or precious vacation time to iron. It works for me.

I do take a small hairdryer because most of the time hotel hair dryers are not powerful enough for my hair.