Will be renting a car (automatic) in Bath, and around, going to Cotwolds via Blenheim, over to North Wales (Conwy area), on to Lake District, over to Hadrian's Wall, down to Durham and York, where we will return the car.
We think we will need good detail and accuracy on a physical map(s). We'll have our phone with us, but know not to rely on maps.google. Map brand recommendations and what to look for in a maps(s) is appreciated.
M/M Bobbaloo
Easy peasy! A to Z Great Britain Atlas. We bought the A4 spiral, which was great size. It is easy to read, perfect detail and highlighted all the historical sites. We drove the entire length of Great Britain using it. It also has an index of city maps, which was useful when navigating our way in - and helpful with parking, as that is outlined on the maps as well. We used google maps occasionally, when we wanted a quick motorway route from point A to B, especially at night. I'd recommend the atlas over the map because of the level of detail. It's not too bulky either. I packed it in the front pocket of my suitcase.
I lived in London before the days of having GPS on your phone, and my pocket A to Z London was well-worn and always got me where I needed to go, and this atlas did the same on our trip.
ETA: We ordered ours online before our trip. It took several weeks to arrive. If you don't have that sort of time, you can always stop into a Waterstone's in Bath and pick one up.
I agree. The A to Z to show you where you're going and a GPS to get you there.. hopefully.
The Rick Steves Shop sells the Michelin road atlas, which is also good.
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/michelin-atlas
You can find very good road atlases in British supermarkets for around £3.
You could start your research using Google Maps- I have set this link to show you where the traffic jams are at the time you click it. (So, if you click when the Brits are asleep - no jams probably). Drag yellow man to map to see the roads.https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4671879,-2.3868628,11z/data=!5m1!1e1
I purchased a map of Britain on Amazon that is excellent.
We are planning a road trip of Britain this year and having driven in England in the past, I highly recommend having a GPS or a nav system in your rental car. It is so easy to get lost without one, especially in the cities. A map is helpful and a great backup. Also, I found a great book, Back Roads of Britain that is excellent for planning road trip.
If you want a map that will double as a good map while you're out of the car, look at the OS maps.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/support/mapshop/what-map-shall-buy.html
Anybody know if that A to Z Atlas is available at Heathrow?
You might find this post relevant! https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/wales/north-wales-itinerary
Anybody know if that A to Z Atlas is available at Heathrow?
try WH Smith - the AA have a good road atlas as do Collins, don't just look for A-Z
Thx to all. Rick Steves also recommends the OS maps. Interested in as much road detail - tiny, small, large and in between, with easy identification of each - as possible, so we can find our way 'back', when we inevitably get lost. I have gotten the impression, the OS maps do just that. We are staying first three days in Westbury with an old friend. Will look there. Will also take a longer look at the others, too.
the OS maps are for walking - too much detail for driving
for driving you need one of the road atlases
I found the A-Z to be a bit cumbersome as it is huge (11" x 15") and I didn't think it had any more detail than ... AA Road Atlas Britain. The AA is 9" x 12" and fairly thick. When I traveled last year I carefully cut out the pages I needed and made a smaller book. This stood up well and the pages are now taped back into the original book. We were traveling from Edinburgh through the border country and down to Yorkshire, including Durham and Whitby.
This year I will be doing that again, but to get more detail I have added The AA road map Wales, since that is where we are going. This has a scale of 4 miles to the inch and provides more detail than the book maps.
I have used OS maps in the past...I navigated while my husband drove. The scale is huge and in a small car it was a bit of a challenge, on the plus side it showed scads of places like standing stones and neolithic sites, castles and such that the other road maps didn't have. It is meant for walking but since we were doing some of that, too, it worked out well. One drawback of the OS maps is they cover only a small area so you have to buy multiples to cover any distance...and they are not cheap.
My husband and I have little trouble when using this combination and our GPS loaded with the Great Britain maps.
Safe Fun travel to you.
