Do yourself a favor and under no circumstances bring a U.S.-bought hair dryer (or curler) to Italy. Instead, buy one in an appliance store in your Italian city of arrival. Most run between €30 and €60.
In common with the rest of Europe, Italian wall sockets put out 220 volts, alternating at 50 cycles per second, expressed in Herz. The U.S. runs at 110 volts, alternating at 60 cycles per second.
While a so-called step-down power converter or transformer (which drops 220 to 110) and a plug adapter (for Italian round outlets) solves the problem for small appliances such as mobile phones, computers, alarm clocks, radios, etc., dryers and curling irons are guzzlers. They’re high current devices that tax both voltage and power. Most quickly blow out smaller converters sold in electronics stores in North America. These small converters may work for a few minutes but then overheat fast (you can smell it coming). They’re also first-class fire hazards.
That little transformer your local salesclerks confidently tells you will allow U.S. 60-cycle electronic items to adjust to the European 50-cycle system just won’t deal with hairdryers and their kin (Think Scotty and the Enterprise’s engines on “Star Trek”).
For the stubborn, making powerful appliances work in Italy means lugging along a more costly ($80 and up) and bulky transformer. They work but they’re pointless, at least for a short trip.
If all this annoys you, consider that electricity in Italy is fantastically expensive. People who pay $80 a month in the U.S. can pay four times that much, or more, since Italy imports almost all its power. Better to invest in a locally-manufactured appliance that’s in synch with the local grid than insist on bringing your favorite bathroom appliance and risk destroying it.
Final point: The Italian round wall plugs have different sizes openings. Sockets for major appliances (refrigerators) take larger prongs than those for smaller appliances (lamps). Don’t panic if prongs don’t match up. You can find prong adapters in supermarkets, electronics stores, and hardware stores. Some hotels also have them. Upscale hotels also often have hair dryers in their bathrooms.