Google Maps or Waze

Waze helped me out instantly when the GPS in my lease was misbehaving. Usually to do with road closures. I doubt there's much difference between Maps and Waze in terms of efficiency, they're both owned by the same company.

Maps will work for hiking as well.

old Garmin fan here, still have 4 of them in a drawer.

Since I found Waze some years ago I have become completely converted. I use it at home in England to warn of potholes, diversions, accidents, police, even on routes I know backwards.

I use it in France, Germany, BeNeLux, Switzerland and Austria. I haven't driven in Italy much since I made the switch but I expect the same level of excellence there too.

I have had zero issues using Waze in France and have done many hundreds of km with it in France.

When it alerts you to a reduced speed, a pothole, any other issue take it seriously.

When I first installed Waze I tried to outsmart it in Germany where there was construction near Köln. I was wrong, with my older local knowledge. It was right.

Another vote for Waze. Its ability to show changing conditions and recommend ways around potential new obstructions is very useful.

Google Maps once was a useful product. I remember using it and Street View nearly two decades ago on a phone call to help a lost college student (my son) find his way back to the train station at night in the dark in an unfamiliar town in Germany; someplace I'd never visited, but Google Maps helped me provide useful guidance.

Now, unfortunately, Google Maps seems more intent on selling advertising and having useless stuff pop up when all I'm trying to do is use it to navigate. Not shop. It's always been terrible at naming hydrographic features. Now it's just plain terrible. I think I deleted that app off my phone around three years ago and I haven't missed it a bit.

I use Waze in France (actually in the whole of Europe.) Personally I find it is better with real time traffic updates and the alternate route suggestions are good (ie: no random suggestions of taking dirt or non-existant roads, etc.)

Keep in mind that Waze is owned by Google, and Google has adopted a lot of the Waze features in the past year or two. I use Google Maps and get the same extra perks that I do from Waze, including police on the road, obstacles ahead, route changes, etc.

Overall, I would use whichever one you feel most comfortable with.

I usually use Apple maps, but sometimes Google. All of my calendar events are in Apple Calendar, so it is a seamless hand-off between Calendar and Maps. And I prefer the screen layout of Apple, but either work fine.

We used Waze. What I loved was how it always offered a parking lot near an attraction we were seeing. Many times the parking lot was very close from the attraction we were seeing. It was straight forward and we had never driven in France before. We got our car in Paris, drove to Bayeaux and spent days seeing Normandy and Mont St. Michel, then after spent the next week seeing everything we could see going as far as Carcassonne and returning our car in Toulouse before flying out. Waze was great and we drove a lot of miles.

I drive 8000-10000 miles a year in Europe. I use Waze. Google maps does not have the same level of situational awareness.

What I really like when I'm touring areas I don't know, is the ability to program the routes, so i can take the roads less traveled (and those with fewer tolls.)

Toll roads are a very big added charge to travel in France. Plan for that.