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Best map for driving in England--and where to get it!

We'll have our GPS with us, but what's the best kind of map to have when driving around England? And where do you get them? Thank you for your help!

Posted by
1084 posts

I am a map person and I love the Ordinance Survey maps of the UK. You can order them on line or any good bookstore in the U.K., Waterstones, for example, will sell them. Great detail makes them good for walkers as well as they show footpaths and trails, monuments, etc.

The Automobile Association also issue road maps which you can get at service stations etc.

Posted by
239 posts

It depends on what sort of driving you are planning. If just sticking to main roads, an AA or Collins atlas will be fine, but if you want to go on smaller roads these will be useless and you'll need an A-Z for cities or the relevant OS map for anywhere else. Sheet maps can be fiddly, but you can now get them in book form for most of the main tourist areas. Any bookshop, including WH Smith, for road atlases. Their range of other maps might be limited so if you don't get what you want there, you can buy from Ordnance Survey online or from outdoor shops like Cotswolds.

Posted by
9058 posts

We have a drive tour of the UK in October and I reserved a rental car with a navigation system. However, as backup, I purchased a map from Amazon.com that is very detailed. Also, I have run map quest routes for every day we travel.

The map that I purchased is quite large, so it requires opening up and folding prior to driving.

Posted by
7830 posts

We've been purchasing maps from Borch for our trips. What we like about them is they are laminated, don't rip or tear after repeated folding, and can be written on with a white board pen. The ISBN number for the UK one we have is 978-3-86609-315-7.