Electricity Help!
 

I am in a little bit of a bind here. I am traveling to London and Rome this Friday. We were supposed to be given all the electronic adapters/convertors by a friend but we just found out the friend had misplaced them and now we have nothing.

I am essentially clueless with this and I tried to read up a little before posting but I still have no clue what to get/bring with me. I also have no idea where to find it in the Philadelphia area.

It is very important that I get the correct and safe items because I will be charging my iPad, camera and also a few other devices.

Any help on what to buy, where to buy, what I need to do etc would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for all your help this week leading up to my trip!!

The iPad and cameras will almost certainly be dual voltage. Check the plate on them to be sure - it should say something like 120-24V on it.

You can buy adapters at the airport for very little money, either country specific or multi country ones. Otherwise you can get them on arrival from most shops selling either travel goods or electrical goods.

ANything needing a convertor and providing heat - travel iron, hairdryer etc is best left at home. Buy cheap ones on arrival.

The site http://tinyurl.com/2y9zvv can tell you just about everything you need to know about electricity in Europe.

It should say 110-220v and you likely need only adapters. Italy and the UK have different plug interfaces so you need a multi-country adapter or two small ones. If there's a Fry's in your area, or at least a Brookstone, go there.

Hi ab,

As BR says, you will need an adapter plug for the UK and a continental-style adapter plug for Italy. They both operate on 220 Volt power. Your plug in devices should say
"input 110-220 V", or something similar.

Also as noted, for hair dryers and other type devices, you would be wellserved to buy cheap ones overseas.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

I have adapters I got from Target a few years ago - a set including UK, continental, and a couple others for around $10. They were back in the luggage section. Worked just fine for me on several trips. Best Buy should have them too.

I've taken a laptop, iPod, and two different cameras to the UK and Italy over the past several years. The only thing I've ever needed a converter for was my cheapo Motorola flip phone that I got off eBay for international trips. As most others have said, most likely you'll just need adapters.

If you are starting in London and need your own hair dryer/flatiron/whatever, Boots is a good place to get them. They're everywhere.

Radio Shack sells plug converters. As said above, check voltage, most modern elect. appliances that you take traveling, excluding hair straightners and blowers, are 120-220V and you only need plug converter. I also take power strip, so one converter to the power strip allowes 3 or 4 items to be charged at a time.

The Apple store sells a kit for your apple items (ipad, touch etc.). It includes both UK and euro tips. The US tip slips off your charger brick and you replace it with the country needed. Pricey at $40 called Apple World Travel Adapter Kit. It does include the cord with charger brick.
Don't know if you're closer to the Microcenter Store in St. Davids. they carry it also.

Link to Apple product.

http://tinyurl.com/27npp6e

lydialikestotravel, I'm not sure why it would be necessary to spend $40 for Apple's overpriced kit. Wouldn't anyone already have the charger for their iPad or Touch, and just need a standard cheap adapter plug that anyone can get at WalMart in a pack of 6 or so different country plugs for about $10?

Pir: I did state it was pricey in my reply. I was just giving the OP another, albeit, expensive alternative.

I have about 3 adapters for each, Italy, Continental Europe and the UK. I also am a MAC, iPad and iPhone user and have the Apple kit which makes it easier for me to use those items with a dedicated adapter overseas. The other adapter plugs I have, are mostly from the Travel Smart kits.

BTW, Italy for the most part does not use the Continental Europe adapter. They use the Southern Europe adapter.

Adaptors can be purchased at Target, Walmart, Kmart, CVS, Boscovs, Kohls, Radio Shack to name a few in the Philadelphia area.

As said above, you should have several options for where to purchase adaptors. Just be sure to count up how many devices you will want to plug in each night! Don't want dead phone OR camera OR iPad because couldn't charge them all up!

As said above, you should have several options for where to purchase adaptors. Just be sure to count up how many devices you will want to plug in each night! Don't want dead phone OR camera OR iPad because couldn't charge them all up!

And don't be tempted to buy an 'all in one' that has several different plug styles that slide out of a barrel like holder... they are often too big
to fit wall sockets, especially on the continent.