johnmacksood

I thought i had read somewhere on here that the european outlets are different than in U.S. We have (obviously) never been to Europe, and are going to be in hotels in London and Paris and will need to recharge camcorder batteries in an outlet( plus my wife's blow dryer most likely. Do I need a special adapter to do this or should i just email the hotel and ask them? Thanks

isabel

Yes you need both an adapter and a converter. The adapter makes the plug fit their outlets - and it is different in France and England so you'll need both. You definitly need that. The converter converts our 120v electricity to their 220v. You may or may not need that depending on the appliance. Check your recharger because a lot of camera equipment comes ready to fit both European and American electricity. You can buy the adapters and converters in any travel store or even the travel section of WalMart or Staples.

johnmacksood

thank you!

elaine

Hi
check with your hotel to see if they provide hair dryers. Often American heat appliances don't work at their usual capacity in Europe, even with the right plug adapter and current converter.

Also, if you bring your own hair dryer, the bathroom outlet will probably not accommodate it anyway. They are almost always low voltage outlets suitable for electric razors only. So with your own hairdryer converter and adapter, your wife may find herself moving furniture around in the bedroom to get to a full-service outlet.

bob_brown

I use a converter with several adapter plugs in the kit. The package was purchased in the USA. One setting is for low wattage; the other one for high.
I can charge my electric razor on the low setting, and run the hair dryer on the other setting. We have not yet had to move furniture, and we do not always stay in hotels.

Brutforce

We've never had much luck w/appliances in Europe so we no longer take any. Most hotels do have hair dryers but my wife gave up after cooking 2 curling irons. Just too much juice over there.

bigtyke

Check with Magellans. They have a table showing what adapters you need for each country.

Most hotels these days have hair dryers so I would forget taking one. At the least I would email the hotels to see if they have one in the room.

In addition to the adapter, you may need a transformer if your camcorder charger is not dual voltage

mauld

Your camcorder may be dual voltage, in that case you just need an adapter, but yes, France & the UK have different systems so you will near a different one for each country. I would check with your hotel, most major ones can provide hair dryers, irons, etc so need need to bring one along.

Kathybg

Don't bother carting a hairdryer along. Almost all hotels have their own attached to the bathroom walls. If not in the bathroom, it is usually somewhere in the bedroom or you can ask for one at the front desk. In 30 years of Euro traveling, I think I have only had to do without a dryer once.

jor

I have used plug adapters for everything from camcorders to electric razors in the past 20 years. I have never had a problem, and never used an adapter. Just buy the plug adapters and forget the adapters.