Travel Blog

If you live in the United States and plan on traveling internationally and bringing electronics, you need to do some research. Most countries outside of the United States use 220/240 volt electricity. The U.S. uses 110 volt electricity. This may mean that your electronics won’t work in far away places. But, that is not entirely true. Many electronic devices sold today are dual voltage, which means that they will work under 110/120 volts and also 220/240 volts. To determine this, real the label and see the section for input. If it had 220 or 240 volts, then it will work just fine with a plug adapter. If it only has 110 or 120 volts, then you will need a converter.

International Travel Electricity Requirements:

1. Plug Adapters: Bring along plug adapters. They allow your U.S. plug devices to plug into international plugs. Research the countries you are going to, so that you purchase the right adapter. There are a number of good universal plug adapters you can buy that will work for nearly all of the places you could visit. Also it is recommended that your plug adapters have a built-in surge protector. This will protect your electric devices from frying during surges.

2. Electricity Converter (Transformer): This handy little device will convert 220/240 volt electricity to 110/120 volt electricity. This will allow any of your devices that are 110/120 only to work. This will need to be used in conjunction with a plug adapter for the specific country you are in. Get a converter that is powerful enough in watts to support your most power hungry device.

On our European trip, we visited England, France and Italy, and only needed a multi-plug adapter, an Italy plug adapter and a 200 watt electricity converter. This work for all our devices; Portable DVD Player. Laptop Computer, Camcorder Charger, battery charger, hair dryer, electric razor and our Nintendo DS. Out of all those devices, only the battery charger, Nintendo and heating pad required the electricity converter, the rest all had 220 or 240 volt inputs.

I made a little spreadsheet analyzing the devices we were taking to determine our requirements.

Here are a list of the items I bought for our trip.

Italy Plug Adapter at Amazon.com

Samsonite Worldwide Adaptor Plug from Amazon.com

200 WATT Step Down Voltage Transformer 110120volts.com
(They also have smaller and larger watt transformers)

When we decided to go from Paris to Rome, we looked into a number of options, flying, driving or by train. We choose to take the Artesia night train leaving from Bercy Train Station in Paris. The Artesia train trip is 14 hrs and 30 mins long and leaves in the evening and arrives in Rome in the morning. It was a great way to get to Italy. It cost us $260 per person for a 1st class sleeper compartment of our own.

The room consisted of a sink, pull out beds, and plenty of space to store our luggage. The room had electric outlets, which allows you to use a laptop or watch a portable DVD player or anything else you may have with you that requires electricity. The plus with Italian style, so make sure you bring a plug adapter. There was an attendant that looked over the travellers on the train car. At bedtime, he would come and put the beds down and make the room ready to sleep and make the room back up in the morning. The train had a dining car that offered a sit down dinner or breakfast for an additional cost. There was also a snack counter that provided drinks, croissants, snacks and numerous other things to eat. Sleeping on the train was fairly comfortable, considering the small size of the compartments. The train moved fair smooth along the tracks, with minimal shaking or jogging.

One drawback to the trip is that most of the ride is during the night which doesn’t allow alot of time to see the countryside. But during daylight hours, it is nice to watch the views as the train travels along. One thing that there is alot of on the trip are tunnels. There must be alot of hills and mountains that the train needs to navigate on its way to Rome. If you plan on getting to Rome at a specific time, you may want to try alternate routes. Our train arrived at Rome 2 hours later then it was scheduled to and from what I can tell it is normal for the train to not arrive on time., but if you are not in a hurry to get to Rome, it is a great way to travel from Paris.

Paris, considered the city of romance. On our trip to Paris, we wanted to get the most out of the few days we would be staying there. We stayed at the Hotel Du Cadran, it was a nice place that has 42 rooms available. They offered a breakfast every morning and the employees all spoke English. It is located only a few minutes walk from the Eiffel Tower. We walked to the Eiffel Tower and spent the money to go to the top. It was well worth the wait in line. We also visited Disneyland Paris, saw a show at the Moulin Rouge and cruised on the Seine River.

Transportation
We purchased a Paris Visites Pass online before we left for Paris. It is valid for 1, 2 or 5 days and can be used on all the metro and bus systems. It made getting around the city fairly easy. We purchased a pass that went to zone 5 and allowed us to go to Disney Paris. On the metro we have to watch our belongings closely for pick-pockets. Crossing the street in Paris didn’t seem to be a problem, you can just wait for the crossing light to change and safely cross the road. This is in great contrast to trying to cross the street in Rome. We also saw some crazy parking in Paris, it seems with so many cars and scooters on the road that parking is very limited within the city.

Dining
Before we left for Paris, we researched places to eat when we got there. This was to help us to be able to find places without having to wander around. One problem we encountered was that restaurants are closed from about 2PM to 6PM, this makes it hard to find something to eat in the afternoon, but once you realize this, you work around it. The food was definetly not America, so if you are looking for American type food, stick to McDonalds. Portions are smaller and meals usually last much longer. We also got to eat at the Eiffel Tower at the Altitude 95 restaurant. But overall, eating was a good experience.

Sites and Sounds
When you think of Paris, you think of the Eiffel Tower. A trip to Paris is not complete until you go up the tower. Though, I suggest to go early in the morning when they open, the line to wait in can be fairly large in the afternoon and evening. There are elevators in each of the four legs of the tower. They can take you up to levels 1 and 2. If you want to go to the top level, you need to take another elevator from level 2. The top of the Eiffel Tower provides a panoramic view of the city. It is a pretty good view. There are also two restaurants in the Eiffel Tower. We ate at Altitude 95, which was a nice place to eat, with good food and wine. Also, seeing the Eiffel Tower at night is not to be missed. It lights up and sparkles, which is quite a sight.

Disneyland Paris has all of the same attractions as Disneyworld and Disneyland, though there are some differences. Big Thunder Mountain is significantly larger then the US versions. The haunted mansion was also longer. Overall it is a typical Disney experience, though you may miss out on the Funnel Cakes and Peanut Brittle, which they don’t have available at Disney Paris. Also candy apples are coated in a red topping, caramel and other toppings are not to be found.

One good way to see alot of Paris is to take a boat cruise along the Seine River. We took at boat that started at the Eiffel Tower and went up the river and back to the Eiffel Tower. It is about a 45 minute ride and they offer a narration of the city as you cruise along. The narration is available in many languages. The cost is fairly low for the ride, and well worth it.

Our trip to Paris was shorter then we had wished. We need to take another trip back to see things that we missed out on. We want to go and visit Notre Dame and the Louvre.

Happy Travelling
Michael