diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/Traverson.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/Traverson.java
index 9ba81be4..95a979f8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/Traverson.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/Traverson.java
@@ -83,18 +83,47 @@ public class Traverson {
 	 * @param mediaType must not be {@literal null} or empty.
 	 */
 	public Traverson(URI baseUri, MediaType... mediaTypes) {
+		this(baseUri, Arrays.asList(mediaTypes));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Creates a new {@link Traverson} interacting with the given base URI and using the given {@link MediaType}s to
+	 * interact with the service.
+	 * 
+	 * @param baseUri must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @param mediaType must not be {@literal null} or empty.
+	 */
+	public Traverson(URI baseUri, List<MediaType> mediaTypes) {
 
 		Assert.notNull(baseUri, "Base URI must not be null!");
 		Assert.notEmpty(mediaTypes, "At least one media type must be given!");
 
-		this.mediaTypes = Arrays.asList(mediaTypes);
+		this.mediaTypes = mediaTypes;
 		this.baseUri = baseUri;
 		this.discoverers = DEFAULT_LINK_DISCOVERERS;
 
 		setRestOperations(createDefaultTemplate(this.mediaTypes));
 	}
 
-	private static final RestOperations createDefaultTemplate(List<MediaType> mediaTypes) {
+	/**
+	 * Returns all {@link HttpMessageConverter}s that will be registered for the given {@link MediaType}s by default.
+	 * 
+	 * @param mediaTypes must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> getDefaultMessageConverters(MediaType... mediaTypes) {
+		return getDefaultMessageConverters(Arrays.asList(mediaTypes));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns all {@link HttpMessageConverter}s that will be registered for the given {@link MediaType}s by default.
+	 * 
+	 * @param mediaTypes must not be {@literal null}.
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> getDefaultMessageConverters(List<MediaType> mediaTypes) {
+
+		Assert.notNull(mediaTypes, "Media types must not be null!");
 
 		List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> converters = new ArrayList<HttpMessageConverter<?>>();
 		converters.add(new StringHttpMessageConverter(Charset.forName("UTF-8")));
@@ -103,8 +132,13 @@ public class Traverson {
 			converters.add(getHalConverter());
 		}
 
+		return converters;
+	}
+
+	private static final RestOperations createDefaultTemplate(List<MediaType> mediaTypes) {
+
 		RestTemplate template = new RestTemplate();
-		template.setMessageConverters(converters);
+		template.setMessageConverters(getDefaultMessageConverters(mediaTypes));
 
 		return template;
 	}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/TraversonTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/TraversonTests.java
index 5f78e47c..00c4ab27 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/TraversonTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/hateoas/client/TraversonTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2013-2014 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2013-2015 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@
 package org.springframework.hateoas.client;
 
 import static net.jadler.Jadler.*;
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.*;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
 
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
@@ -38,6 +40,9 @@ import org.springframework.http.MediaType;
 import org.springframework.http.client.ClientHttpRequestExecution;
 import org.springframework.http.client.ClientHttpRequestInterceptor;
 import org.springframework.http.client.ClientHttpResponse;
+import org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.http.converter.StringHttpMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter;
 import org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate;
 
 /**
@@ -229,6 +234,32 @@ public class TraversonTests {
 		assertThat(link.isTemplated(), is(false));
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @see #258
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void returnsDefaultMessageConvertersForHal() {
+
+		List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> converters = Traverson.getDefaultMessageConverters(MediaTypes.HAL_JSON);
+
+		assertThat(converters, hasSize(2));
+		assertThat(converters.get(0), is(instanceOf(StringHttpMessageConverter.class)));
+		assertThat(converters.get(1), is(instanceOf(MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter.class)));
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @see #258
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void returnsDefaultMessageConverters() {
+
+		List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> converters = Traverson.getDefaultMessageConverters(Collections
+				.<MediaType> emptyList());
+
+		assertThat(converters, hasSize(1));
+		assertThat(converters.get(0), is(instanceOf(StringHttpMessageConverter.class)));
+	}
+
 	private void setUpActors() {
 
 		Resource<Actor> actor = new Resource<Actor>(new Actor("Keanu Reaves"));