If you’re driving, the best bet is the car charger. If not…

Look at your charger. Somewhere — maybe on the plug— it will list the acceptable electric "inputs." If it lists 220 volts as an input (maybe says 110 – 220 volts) then all you need is an adapter plug to fit a European wall outlet. Many chargers and electronic things (digital camera, IPOD, laptop) accept 220 volts. Oddly, many cell phone chargers don’t. If your charger doesn’t accept 220 volts, I’d suggest buying a charger after you get to Europe.

Electrical stuff is a crap shoot. A friend bought a phone specifically to use in France — however the charger provided with it did not accept 220 volts = 1 fried charger. The next trip she made sure the charger said it accepted 220 volts — however, she managed to fry the charger on that trip, too.

Old Lady – thx for your reply. My charger lists the volts as "100-240V" – do you think that will work? If not, I think that we’ll just attempt to purchase a charger while we’re in Italy (we’re not driving), and if our phones die, then we’ll just put them away. I really don’t want to have to carry my converter. We are carrying on with a limit of 22 lbs in one small backpack, and my converter weighs at least 1/2 lb and it takes up a lot of room and weight.

Your charger will work as its input range covers the 220 to 240 volt currency in Italy. You do not need your converter — just take the European adapter plug. I would watch it, though. Don’t leave the charger plugged in any longer than necessary and check it to make sure it doesn’t get hot.