Which Michelin Map to Drive in Normany/Brittany/Loire?

Which map you want to buy depends if you want to tour the countryside or just drive town to town. I like to use the yellow covered Michelin Departemental maps / €7 for my yearly visit to France as with a 1/150,000 scale are well detailed and have touristic info like a star system for places of interest and suggestions for itineraries. However are limited the area they cover. For driving through the countryside what I often do without GPS this type of map serves me well.

The orange covered Michelin Regional maps with a scale of 1/200,000 cover larger areas, but give lesser touristic info. Speaking for myself find them less comfortable to read, but again that’s my preference. You can also buy a National map (scale 1/1,000,000) and cut out the section you need.

If you have a good idea where to go a few of these maps can do well. In case of Normandy and Brittany and you go no further west than Dinard / St Malo and no further north as Étretat you can use the Departemental map Calvados, Manche no. 303. This is the map I have.
For the Loire region you will need no. 317 and no. 318. Maybe the latter is just enough, but as I haven’t neither of the two can’t say the exact area they cover.

So likely you will need three maps in total and don’t need much space. The maps are easy to get in France in the larger supermarkets and many gas stations. Or at home in the better travel bookstore and have a look before buying them.

I am looking at some michelin maps at the moment!!! planning our next trip.
for a driving holiday, I prefer to buy the 'yellow' maps that are typically 1:150000 scale, as they show the small roads and lots of details.which can be very handy when driving. and they show the tourist spots for trip planning. Unfortunately you need to buy more of them. for the Loire it would be map 311, Brittany maps 308,309,303? normandy would be 304 and 301.
if you want to buy less maps then the 'orange' maps 1cm=2km would be your next choice. but don't show as much detail.( but still very good. for those it would probably be 518, 512,513,511 please check.
IMO anything bigger in scale would not be great for driving, other than just as a rough guide.

while they can take up space. we find they can often fit neatly in the base of the suitcase.( between the handle rails etc.
we also see them as important as taking photos, as a reminder of our trip and hopefully to plan our next trip.

my last michellin map purchase was from a UK book seller, they were very well priced and included postage to australia. they arrived in a few days. very happy.

hope this helps.

Hello Glennlorrainer,

Be carefull with the numbers. No. 301 covers the regions Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie and (almost) nothing about Normandy. No. 311 goes no further south as Orléans and actually shows nothing about the Loire. I have both maps as well. No. 303 shows everything west of Pont-Audemer (Google maps), for most here on the forum enough, see also my earlier post. And if you only stop in Rouen no. 304 is not really needed.

The overview of the Departements of France you can see on the back of each map are not so accurate what they actually cover, more a rough idea. Best is first to look where to go and have a look in a map first at home which will be best to use. You don’t need to take the maps with you as luggage, but once you have a good idea those want to use, just remember the numbers and buy them in France. It will be a french version, but not a problem to use to my opinion.

Good luck with your planning!

In your situation I would recommend looking at a road atlas rather than individual sheet maps. My preference are the ones issues by IGN rather than Michelin but this is a matter of choice. The scale is generally 1 cm = 2.5 km.

I will be picking up the car in Caen, driving from there to Bayeux, then to MSM, Dinan with a day trip to Carnac. Then on to the Loire where I'll turn the car in. These are the areas that I need the maps for.

Thanks for all the help so far.

If you drive town to town I don’t think you really need the detail of the Departemental and even the Regional maps. Michelin has also ¼ France National maps with a scale of 1/500,000 and I think will be fine for you. No. 706 covers North-West France, i.e. everything west of Paris (included) and north of Limoges, so all the places you plan to visit.
http://travel.michelin.co.uk/northwestern-francenational-map-706-scale-1500-000-1516-p.asp