Auto GPS in France

If you have a GPS now you should be able to download a Europe map for it. That's what we did with our Magellan and it worked fine. Cost about $60 with AAA discount.

But if you don't have one now, I'd recommend buying one with North America and Europe maps rather than renting with the car. The rental cost over two weeks will approach or maybe exceed the cost of a purchase. The Garmin you're looking at seems like a good choice. I think you can get it for less without Bluetooth, which you may not need.

We've taken two road trips in France, once without GPS and once with. Using GPS helped a lot, especially for my wife the navigator. We set the distances to kilometers so they'd match the road signs. Only glitch was that it pronounced a lot of French words as if they were English, i.e. horribly. This was a source of entertainment rather than confusion.

On our trip this spring to France we rented cars from Europcar. We did not pay for GPS when we rented the car. Both cars had a GPS system. We were able to use them at no cost. I am not sure if we were just lucky or if it is a trend that most cars have built in GPS. We had brought our garmin with us but never used it. When you rent the car you might want to ask if the car has built in GPS.

For two weeks it is probably less expensive to bring your own GPS. You will also have the advantage of being able to program it in your hotel room while checking against google maps (just to be sure because many towns names are similar). I like the Garmins and you might save some money by looking for a unit that comes with Europe already installed. The 2559lmt with Europe on Amazon for $220. looks like a good one. Practice driving at home with it so you don't have to learn while on vacation. If you don't want to keep it after your trip they are easily sold on Ebay (or dare I say here).

Thanks very much for the advice. This is all really helpful.

Last year we toured France for about a month mostly by auto; putting on 2,200 KM. The GPS is invaluable. We own, and used, a Garman 3790 with updated European maps. Having a trip planned before going, I was able to load or program in our major trips between hotel stops. The individually owned GPS allowed me to input before leaving and make adjustments outside the car as needed. Plus I became very familiar with its operation, some thing difficult if a fixed part of a rental car. With the complex network of small roads in France, you have the possibility of taking some interesting random trips, if you follow "Lady Garman's" advice exclusively. So double check the computed route and be ready to focus toward the better roads if going off the main highways. A couple of things to be aware of ... 1. I believe there are over 10 companies operating the toll roads in France. Not all operate on the same type of toll payment systems capable of recognizing US chip cards. This may have changed, but I do suggest to always carry coin/cash and try to go through toll gates which allow the cash option. 2. In rural France filling stations can be far and few between (find the Carefores, or similar big box stores). Also, cash payment booths may be closed during the noon time, leaving no payment option if your chip card doesn't work at that station. Have a great trip ... we had a ball with many memorable experiences.

My GPS that I bought here also told me the speed limit which was very useful when we were traveling the small roads going in and out of towns where the speed limit is implied. By what I read from other posters there seems to be a traffic camera in every other corner.

We have a Garmin that is pretty old, maybe 2010, with a European map card we bought later after purchase. It has always worked great for us. Occasionally it has been incorrect ( but close), but probably a good 90-95% correct. We have had cars with built in GPS but we found them difficult to figure out and to set for English etc. We find it much easier to just preprogram our stops, double check to make sure they are really correct by using google maps. Sometimes it is difficult to get the correct location set because not all addresses are recognized. Had I not double checked I would have assumed they were correct when really they weren't. At least that is our experience.

We've had many great laughs hearing the street names called out in Italian or French. In fact, we once backtracked 3 times just to hear the GPS repeat the name! We couldn't stop laughing and decided to record it on our camera for some precious memories!

I have used an in-car ( eg: built in) unit in europe a few times, in a good number of countries, but last year I also bought a Tom Tom unit ( as we needed it for the UK)
it was cheaper to buy it in Australia and load up the Europe maps ( go figure) way cheaper than renting one.
I am not usually one for being 'brand' specific BUT
One extra feature really worth considering with the Tom Tom brand is 'Map codes'. ( they invented it) rather than typing in the 'long' street address ( which can be a real time consuming and sometimes difficult thing to do, in Europe) you use a small number of digits. so much better.
before I go on the trip I get the Map codes ( from the Tom Tom site) for each of our planned accommodation spots ( I do it when I am booking the accommodation)
yes it takes a little planning, but makes the trip so easy.
we even tested the Tom Tom against the in-car unit and as a driver I found the Tom Tom marginally better for directions.

hope this helps.

Thanks again for your help!

I rented from Europcar this year and was very pleased with the car and its GPS. Having your own GPS and the car's GPS is overkill. Better to use the rental car's GPS since it is maintained in France and will likely be more up-to-date than yours.

I've taken Garmin and TomTom devices over the years. I liked TomTom marginally better, primarily because I can check out avoiding tolls much easier on TomTom (on Garmin its in the main settings so you have to go way back to test both tolls and no tolls as options). I also think TomTom's predictions of arrival times are much better than Garmin's. With the handful of Garmin units I've had it never assumes you will go a speed other than the speed limit, so you "lose" time every time you stop at a light. TomTom seems to create more reasonable predictions.

That said, my last trip I decided it was no longer worth carrying a dedicated device. This time I bought a good phone, installed a GPS app (copilot) and bought a SIM card in France. It worked fine. I turned off wireless data, unless I was searching for a location, to keep from overusing data. I also ended up with most of my pictures on my phone so next trip I won't pack a camera either. I always rethink packing and what to bring each trip with an eye toward traveling as light as possible.

We are planning to rent a car in England for an October 2017 auto tour of England and Wales. My research on auto rental fees indicates that choosing the rental option of a navigation system for the car is very expensive. I could buy a Garmin for a week's worth of the option of a nav system.

I have found Tom Tom and Garmin products available on the internet and the option of downloading UK maps. That is what I will likely do.

I did rent a car in England for three days about three years ago and it was invaluable. I think it is particularly important for someone not accustomed to driving on the left.