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.

Here in Australia I love Waze for warnings of potholes, of which we have plenty, plus various other issues on the roads.

I do find its navigation not so good though, and find Google Maps is much better.

We'll be driving in Normandy for the first time in October, so really need good navigation as we aren't used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road.

We'll start with Waze and see how it goes.

I use Waze all the time here at home. I've used a Garmin several times in Europe and years ago on US visits. When I couldn't connect to Waze on a 9-day drive through Tuscany and Umbria, I used Google maps and the Garmin with some bad results on rural roads.

Issues I have with Waze:

• It sometimes takes a couple seconds to reorient after a turn. If there's another turn immediately, that can lead to a mistake
• When highway traffic is bad, it may switch to an alternate route on back roads to save 2-3 minutes - not worth the perils of back roads (poor signage, poor roads, unlit roads after dark . . . )
• It has a lot of good features but it takes time to learn them, especially when you're driving and don't need to be distracted.
• It seems to depend on info from other "wazers" on the route. In places where there aren't many other wazers, real time info on traffic conditions and road perils may not be accurate.
• It's ETA is determined by the actual speed of traffic. If many cars are going 20% over the speed limit and you aren't, it will take you longer (this is true all the time here on the highways where most drivers routinely ignore speed limits).

Given all that, I prefer Waze to anything else I've used.

Whatever you choose, use it at home for some time to learn how to use it best. Another tip I have is to use a paper map too. All the gps systems give you step-by-step guidance. Having a map will give you a much better overview of where you are and where you are headed.

Thank you for all the great advice. Sounds like I will be using Waze. Downloaded it and plan to use it at home just to get use to it. I will have Google maps as a back up but from what I've read, Waze seems to give you much more information about road conditions and speed traps. Thanks again

Raymond, there is a learning curve for sure, so getting familiar with it in a territory you know is great.

Because it is crowd sourced information it is a good idea to learn how to report accidents, blocked lanes, breakdowns, closed roads, weather etc., so that all the other nearby Wazers benefit too.

(just for disclosure I am now a top level Wazer - but not to brag. There is a huge amount of help available on the app and website)

Good idea to try Waze at home and please let us know how you like it.

We tried it at home and didn't like it at all. Google directions has always worked for us in France and I'm not sure what Waze can add that Google doesn't have in the way of up-to-date traffic or road conditions, estimated travel time, or suggesting alternate routes.

I will have Google maps as a back up but from what I've read, Waze seems to give you much more information about road conditions and speed traps.

It actually doesn't. It gives you the same thing. As I mentioned up thread, Google owns Waze and has been pulling all of the extra perks on Waze over to Google Maps so you can now report police, monitor police, receive notifications about potholes, traffic congestion, alternate routes and so on. It's the same information.

Indeed Google does own Waze and has "incorporated" features but in practice they do not operate in the same manner. For example, using Google Maps around Bordeaux, you may be taken down an alternate route that is not really a route at all. Waze has never done that to me. Waze always chooses an actual detour/route that saves time based on current road conditions. Additionally Google Maps in our area doesn't always have the most recent road works Waze always has had these updated in real time. These are strictly anecdotal examples based on my experience. In the US I find both Waze and Google Maps work similarly, just not in France.

Does anyone have first hand experience if Waze or Google Maps is better for walking directions in European cities?

AFAIK Waze is only for driving. If it has a feature for walking or public transportation directions, I've never seen it. Another problem with Waze is that it doesn't give you the option of planning a drive from point A to point B, only from where you physically are to wherever you want to go.

For walking you want the Citymapper app.

Another problem with Waze is that it doesn't give you the option of planning a drive from point A to point B

Not true. You can plan alternate routes also, because depending on the time and date you may want to adjust your route. I use this feature often.

I used Google Maps during a recent drive in France and had no problems… except for the laughably bad way that the English computer voice pronounces French street names.

KGC - Please explain how I plan a drive from point A to point B if I am at neither location at the time? I would love to be able to do that. thanks.

it isn't very hard.

instructions are slightly different for android.

https://support.google.com/waze/answer/6262569

Not available in Carplay or Android auto

For us on iPhones or iPads

• Open Waze
• Tap (or tap on the 3 lines hamburger)
• Tap Plan a drive
• Tap Plan a drive to add a drive
• Enter your destination in the search bar
• Tap the relevant destination
• Tap From and search for your new starting point
• Tap your starting point
• Select the day and time that you want to arrive at your destination
• Tap Save

Thanks, Nigel. I've used that on occasion to force waze to use a specific road. It should be noted that that only works if you can drive from your current location to both points A and B.

It’s probably useless for me to say this since everyone else seems to like Waze, but I am not a fan. I have found (only used it in the US) it constantly warns me of things that aren’t there. I assume they were cleared by the time I got there. Anyway, I was always on edge looking for things that didn’t exist (anymore).

For up to date navigation and accurate information I use organic maps. It's free, very detailed, doesn't track you, and works offline.

I've written about organic maps on my blog. The first link is why I use it, the second is how.

https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/12/mapping-on-go.html

https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/12/using-organic-maps.html