I used Michelin maps driving around the Loire last year and got lost several times.
I am thinking of buying a GPS but buying the French maps in Australia is very expensive .
Does anyone have experience of buying a GPS in France?
Although my French is OK I would prefer the GPS to %26quot;speak%26quot; English.
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I feel it is better to buy your GPS in advance, so you can get used to using it on home territory. The Navman maps of Europe are only $179.
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On previous trips we have used the 1:200,000 Michelin map book for touring France, including the D roads and rarely felt lost. Last year, we had a GPS in our lease car and this was excellent for nagigating to hotels in towns and cities. However, as we tend to meander from point A to point B, we preferred to have the Michelin maps available and used them frequently and ignored the GPS. The GPS allows you to choose between fastest and shortest route, with the fastest routes not always being the route we wanted to take and the shortest route sometimes using unformed roads.
I agree that it is better to get used to the GPS before you go as they do have a way with verbal instructions that isn%26#39;t always logical. And they vary from unit to unit.
Although I have a Uniden GPS with NZ and Aust maps, the lease car I used had integrated GPS so I didn%26#39;t bother buying a European Map for my GPS. The integrated Peugeot GPS was excellent once I set it up correctly, but it took a few days to get used to its idiosyncrasies as opposed to my Uniden idiosyncrasies.
I found that within or near a city, it was better to have the unit set to %26quot;Heading Up%26quot; for best orientation of the roads but for outside of cities I quickly switched it to North Up or 3D mode to ensure that we were headed in the general direction.
Bottom line, even with a GPS, don%26#39;t throw away your Michelin maps.
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You can buy a GPS quite cheaply in France, but probably no use once you leave. Getting instructions in French is not actually difficult after a few trips. In my experience GPS systems often miss a few tricks such as one way systems that have changed etc, but generally you%26#39;re ok. If you do want a lot of %26quot;indirect%26quot; scenic routes then have paper maps as back up.
darty.com/nav/…index.html
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If you do use a GPS, always check the suggested route on a paper map before you set out. GPS maps have idiosyncracies in that they will suddenly take you 20 miles out of your way just to get you on an Autoroute, and you are rather at the mercy of the company who provides the maps to the GPS makers. Some are better than others.
More useful is to learn the tricks of French roadsign placement. At a junction, a sign on the left pointing right means straight ahead. Likewise, a sign on the right pointing left means straight ahead. That is why you often see directions to a place that appear to contradict each other.
When youre in town, a GPS is more useful, but only if the maps are absolutely current, and I have no advice at all as to how to ensure that.
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Much good advice in the replies above especially the fact that you still need good paper maps, especially for planning and getting an overview.
I also agree that you should get a GPS before you go. One big reason is that any warranty is usually only valid in the country where the item is purchased. Plus having one before you go allows you time to learn and get used to it.
I have a TomTom One I bought on eBay including European maps for $130 US last year. I was online at the TomTom site updating it last night and they sell downloadable maps starting at 39 euros. I imagine the price would be the same for you in Australia.
These things really are brilliant. Go up the range a bit and get a model that tells you the name of the street to turn on... %26#39;text to voice%26#39; it%26#39;s called. My low cost model tells me to turn in so many meters but especially with the small streets you find in Europe sometimes one just has to guess!
Have a great trip!
Rob
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Thank you to everyone.Lots of good points.
Learning French roadsign placement is so true.I learnt that quickly.
I only got lost in big towns eg getting out of Tours TGV station but locals were very helpful.
I won%26#39;t be driving long distances (route des vins in Alsace,around Vaison La Romaine in Provence and Loire again, taking trains for long distances) and won%26#39;t be using autoroutes.I like the scenery of smaller roads.
I am a bit of a technophobe so maybe I can get by with paper maps.
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We use both (a Garmin and Michelin maps). As far as I know, you should be able to set any GPS device to %26quot;speak%26quot; any number of languages. Ours, an entry-level model, offers at least 10 languages, I believe.
More important, I agree with others that one cannot rely on the GPS alone.
If you don%26#39;t study the map first, and orient yourself to the area and surrounding main towns, your GPS (we call ours Madame) may take you, from, let%26#39;s say, Roanne to Julienas in the Beaujolais, on extremely narrow one-lane back-country mountain logging roads, at night, in the fog, with no other light or sign of civilization in evidence for 45 minutes of tense white-knuckle and stomach-churning driving, with my wife grimly offering muted sighs and suggestions, while we fully expected the tin man (and flying monkeys) to jump out from behind the black trees and wave us down. And yes, we were quite late to dinner.
So, GPS, good. But know your hard copy map as well.
-- Jake
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Both Garmin (which I use) and TomTom (which my Australian colleague uses) make good products for Europle. Buy it before you leave so you can understand how it functions beforehand.
Use hardcopy maps or online maps for planning. Due to the relative small size of the GPS screen, it%26#39;s not an ideal tool for planning since it%26#39;s hard to see the whole route.
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Hi,
For my 2c worth..have done a bit of googling on this subject
My wife and I are touring western Europe by leased car later in the year.
All the advice that you have been given above is very sound, maps as a hard copy guide for easy reference and %26quot;big picture%26quot; to assist with a GPS.
I have learnt that Tom Tom is apparently a Dutch company and allegedly have best maps of Europe as opposed to some of the other brands.
Our daughter has an entry level Tom Tom and it works efficiently in Oz.
We have just purchased a mid-range Tom Tom (to go with the bundle of maps) and not being so %26#39;techno minded%26#39; we are practicing using it. I understand that to purchase GPS maps of Europe it costs AUD$149 to upgrade, will get around to that later.
I also note that you can transfer your maps created on Multimap.com and via Michelin.com to your GPS, which may assist.
Hope this rambling is of some assistance!
Safe Travel.
Alan
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We always rent a car that has a GPS in it and then use a detailed map for backup and remote areas. Hertz has better GPS than Avis.
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