Which travel adaptor for Europe? Our picks from Australia

Best overallKorjo USB A+C & Power Adaptor for Europe

For most trips on the continent, we’d reach for this one first. Plug it into the wall and you’ve got one Australian socket and two USB ports, one of each shape. Your laptop or camera charger takes the socket while a phone and a watch top up from the ports, so three things charge from one spot. That’s handy in a room where the one spare socket sits behind the desk.

It takes three-pin Australian plugs as well as two-pin ones, and it’s earthed, so the third pin on your laptop charger stays connected to the earth. That’s the main reason it beats the slim Italy and Switzerland Korjo below for most trips: if your laptop charger has a third pin, this one takes it.

That only works when the wall socket is earthed too. Before a three-pin charger goes in, look inside the round socket for metal clips at the top and bottom, or a metal pin in the middle. If it has neither, use the adaptor for two-pin plugs only.

It won’t do for Italy and Switzerland, though, because many of their sockets need thinner pins. If either is on your list, pack the slim one as well. The two USB ports also share their power, so a phone charges more slowly with both in use. That’s fine for an overnight top-up, but you won’t get a fast charge from it.

Denmark needs extra care. Its own style of socket takes this adaptor’s pins but doesn’t connect the earth, so in Denmark use it for two-pin plugs only and keep three-pin chargers out of it. Our Denmark page in the Plug Finder shows the sockets there.

If London or Dublin is on the way, none of these three will help there. The UK and Ireland use a different socket that none of them fits, and so do Malta and Cyprus. Our UK adaptor guide has three for that socket, and they fit in Ireland too.

Best for Italy and SwitzerlandKorjo Adaptor – Europe (Italy and Switzerland)

This little one has thin round pins, and that’s what gets it into the sockets in Italy and Switzerland. It also goes into the sockets everywhere else on the continent, so it’s the one adaptor here that suits every country on a France-to-Italy loop. It costs less than either of the earthed Korjos, and it slips into a jacket pocket. Our Italy and Switzerland pages in the Plug Finder show the sockets you’ll find there.

The trade-off is that it only takes two-pin plugs. A laptop charger with a third pin won’t go in, because Australian rules don’t allow an adaptor that turns an earthed plug into one with no earth. Look at the plug on each charger before you go, and if your laptop’s has three pins, pair this with one of the earthed adaptors for the rest of the trip. In Italy and Switzerland themselves, none of these three takes a three-pin charger. Italy also has some bigger sockets with three round pins in a row, and this adaptor won’t go into those.

It has no USB ports, so your phone goes in through its own charger. If you already pack a USB charger, you won’t miss them.

Best for two chargersKorjo Adaptor – Europe Double

From one wall socket you get two Australian sockets, and both take three-pin plugs. The earth carries through to the European side, as long as the wall socket has the earth clips or pin described above. It suits a couple sharing a room, or anyone with a laptop and a camera charger that both need plugging in overnight.

It covers the same countries as the USB Korjo, so the same rules apply: it isn’t made for Italy or Switzerland, and in Denmark it’s for two-pin plugs only. Your phone needs its own charger in one of the two sockets, as this one skips USB ports. Compared with the USB Korjo, it has a second Australian socket instead of the USB ports, so it suits you better if your chargers have their own plugs. It’s also the biggest of the three, so it takes a bit more room in a day bag.