We will be driving quite a bit during our month long stay in France this summer. We will be in Provence, Dordogne, Normandy and Paris. We want to have maps available to us to take that small winding road to discover a new area. What would be the best thing for us? Should we order detailed maps of each area or order one larger atlas of France to have in the car? Of course we'll have GPS, but want maps as well. Thank you!
Posted by
Paris and New York
41 posts
The Michelin maps cover the country of France extensively. While some of the maps cover the entire country, others cover smaller areas. The $25 spiral bound one should cover everything in detail that you need. The disadvantage is that it's heavy to carry.
You can buy them on Amazon, probably more cheaply than you can buy them in France... It's a wonderful world, eh, what?
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
We have a France atlas book, but just use it for planning, not for taking with us. I generally order individual Michelin maps from either Languagequest or Omnimap. You can get regional maps covering a large area (1:250/300,000), but for back roads you might want the more detailed (1:150,000) yellow series. We don't use GPS, so we manage just with these maps..
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7034 posts
I picked up the Michelin maps for Brittany, Normandy, and Provence at Barnes & Noble before my driving trip to France. Probably much cheaper to order from Amazon. They weren't too bulky to carry and they make good souvenirs - the routes I took are marked on them - helps my feeble memory.
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
Before ordering from Amazon, take a look at the Languagequest site. The regional maps are the same or lower than Amazon, and the local maps are about 1/3 the price.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
I also prefer the regional maps for being lighter and able to fold them to the "page view" that I want, instead of having to flip around to different pages of an atlas. Depending on which direction you're driving, the next page you need is not necessarily the next page of the book.
Posted by
841 posts
The Michelin maps are wonderful for detail and come in different colors depending upon size of area covered. We used Orange. Yellow has more detail but covers a smaller area. The maps are easily purchased in France (you see them in every town as you are walking around).
But Michelin maps can be annoying in the car, trying to refold them in a tight place! We used maps but I think an atlas would be a better choice!
Posted by
OP
36 posts
Thank you for all the good tips!! I appreciate it :)
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
1976 posts
As I drive often through the countryside I like to use the yellow Michelin Departements France maps. As little villages can be signposted not so well these maps give just the right level of detail. But for driving around Paris with it´s dense maze of roads I would look for the green Michelin Zoom France maps No 106 “Environs de (of) Paris”. With a scale of 1:100,000 this map gives just a bit more reading comfort than the yellow version and covers the area with places like Chartres, Fontainebleau, Vernon (Monet gardens), further north Chantilly and Senlis. Btw the Vexin region between Paris and Vernon is nice to drive through.
You can use these maps in combination with your GPS or a tablet with Google Maps for a better overview and calculating the distances.
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3163 posts
Jill, don't know if you'll have a tablet with you but another option would be to use an app that allows offliine map usage such as maps.me, HERE, or google maps for offline.
Posted by
4520 posts
It's BIG, but everything you want is in there in great detail. Brought it over twice on a plane.