Have you heard of 'Ulmon '?

I've been using Ulmon City Maps 2Go for a few years now. I have the Pro version which IIRC cost me $4 or $5.

I don't know if the Pro version gets you anything other than freedom from ads, so I don't know which you'd like better.

Before any trip I download the maps for the locations we will be visiting, though I don't usually download their other content (reviews, recommendations, etc).

I find the maps very easy to use and invaluable when I don't want to use cellular data to look at other mapping apps. You can use them 100% offline, in airplane mode, with wifi turned on, and also with cellular data turned on.

Hope that helps!

Thanks motorgirl, I was confused on how it would work with my airplane mode on. Thanks for the clarification about the airplane mode on, wifi on and cellular data on . I wonder what if my cellular data is off. Does it mean it won't work?

You should download all the maps you think you'll need before you leave home.

The maps will be stored on your phone, so you can use the maps with both cellular data and wifi turned off.

You'll need to turn on either cellular data or wifi to use the directions feature, but all your saved favorites etc will be available off line.

I have used City Maps 2 Go since a 2013 trip to California. I have the paid version, but got it free when 'app of the day' had it for free.

One thing I love about it is beforehand, I will go thru and 'star' (pin) places. I use yellow stars for sights, blue stars for restaurants, red stars for accoms/public transport like bus or subway stops I need to find etc etc. Then as we are travelling about the city, I can check the map and see if there is something nearby that I don't want to miss. Some maps were very detailed - Paris even had building numbers and the shapes of the buildings! Others - like Toronto, were a little more generic and just showed the streets/bus/subway stops. We really only use it for walking around cities.

In my case, I use it on my iPad. My ipad does not have 3G/cellular, so when I initially arrive to a city, I have to connect up to wifi first so it can pinpoint me, then it is good to go without needing wifi. Someone else said they didn't think you had to do that, but we just used it in Niagara Falls and it wouldn't pinpoint me until after I had first connected to wifi.

City Maps to Go are great. I download them before every trip to correspond to my itinerary.

Thank you all for your replies. I have to try it before my trip. When I tap on maps like for Milan , a lot of would pop out like milano'd pizza etc.