Maps - Is anyone else obsessed?

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again... Google maps and Wikipedia are invaluble travel tools.

I've made personal discoveries that weren't in any English-language travel books simply by studying my proposed travel route, looking at pictures of towns along the way, then consulting the Wikipedia page on the towns of interest.

I like paper maps when planning my attack on a city, but I have become quite the fan of Google Maps on my smartphone during the actual outings. So nice to call up an ATM, drugstore, or zero in on a site or an address en-route!

As to paper maps, I use a colored Sharpie -- one for each planned walking tour -- to see how my various daily walking plans might intersect.I like to have the R.S. walks outlined on a real map.

We used to use paper maps. Then we took the paper map and enlarged just the areas we were traveling on a color 11x17 paper copier and took just that copy with us. Now, we don't use maps in planning or even when we get to Europe. We don't use a GPS either. Signs are good and we like to just go. We don't plan too much of anything at all into our trips anymore.

Paul

Where would you be without a map?
I've made it a routine to make a map from the point of arrival (usually a railway station) to the hotel. And I make some screen prints for getting around in a city. Much easier than a bulky guide book.
Google Maps are not the best. ViaMichelin makes much clearer ones. And recently I've discovered OpenStreetMaps, which have their own advantages.

I love maps! I do use Google some for planning but for big cities, I love the laminated Streetwise maps. Like Laurel, I like to use a colored sharpie to line out my walking tours. Last year in Paris I worked out a walk thru the covered passageways near Galerie Vivienne and it worked pretty well altho I somehow got turned around when I exited the final one and was not entirely sure where I was.

I try not to be obvious about map reading on the street altho I had backed in to a doorway to consult a map another time in Paris and a very nice older gentleman spoke to me in English and asked if I needed help then insisted on walking me to an intersection to point me in the right direction. I did not feel he was a threat as he was telling me about his travels to the US. He would have walked me to my destination but I was reluctant to tell him I was trying to find a Diwali scarf shop, lol!!

I do googlewalk my way from the train station to lodging and then around the nearby streets...even for my RS tour hotels.

I have not gotten the hang of using mapping programs on the ground. Not particularly useful in N. Idaho, lol!

Obsessed, almost! Just bought one! I have a box full of maps. I like to look at detailed touristic maps for finding interestings spots and with Google Streetview I can see if it will be worth a visit. In some cases Google Streetview can be a good help to visualize a place and so easier to orientate once you drive through the streets. Like a few weeks back in Rouen I could drive directly to the parking lot, what is usually there not so easy and so saved time. Really helped many times to find worthwhile places.

Christi - I'm right there with you. I feel that time spent preparing before the trip means more time to enjoy the things one wants to do when actually there! I had studied maps of Amsterdam and a variety of venues so much before our trip last fall that a couple of times people asked for help on how to get somewhere and I was able to direct them there without the bat of an eye, and then SHOW them on their paper map for reinforcement in case they were more visual than auditory. I am currently adding places and trying to find shorter routes as we are headed back to Amsterdam this winter for a longer stay.
I looked at maps for all of the cities on our RS 21 tour so that I was somewhat familiar with the area around the hotels and how to get to things that the tour group didn't go to that we wanted to see. It reduced my travel stress to have the knowledge going in so I didn't feel completely lost when I arrived somewhere.
I read a lot and watched many videos on youtube before finding Mike's Travel videos about how to use transportation, how to maneuver around cities, etc. Never having used public transportation I had been intimidated, afraid I'd end up lost in the boonies never to return. Instead I was much more confident when I arrived. We will use public transportation much more on our next trip back as we will possibly have rainy weather more often and intend to make several day trips.
I'm also a planner although the day we do something is flexible in case of poor weather or ill health. I had made a list of things I wanted to see during the week in Amsterdam and split it all up, making sure that each day had some free time for wine by the canal, apple pie at Winkels, or just sitting for a bit people watching. It was perfect! Yes, we could have packed more into our days and I might have done so on the spot except that we both fell in love with Amsterdam to the point that I was sure we would go back and now a year later we are heading back to the "City built on sticks"! Hubby was amazed how we got around the city and all that we had gotten to see, saying that he would have just winged it when we got there. To me that meant we would have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to see, how to get there, and left having seen/experienced very little. That is another reason I plan and look at maps. To me, preparation is key to what I think makes a great trip.
I've also emailed things to myself or downloaded things that I knew I could not access without turning data on and just taken screenshots with my camera so if I was out and about I could refer to it if needed - sort of a rube way of doing things but hey, it works!
One other thing that I did that I am SO glad I did was to set up a facebook message group of family and friends who wanted to know what we were doing. Each night or two I would get online and report the days activities and impressions. Now whenever I want to I can look back at that series of messages and relive our trip.
Great topic Christi!

Nance, had to laugh at the memory your post brought back. On the 21 day tour as we were off loading from the bus in Florence it was a busy spot for the bus so our guide had asked everyone to be as quick as possible and to go ahead and head down the street pointing to where the hotel was. I started walking toward it because I had google-walked it and knew exactly where we were, the hotel was and others started following me. The guide caught up with me about halfway there and asked if I had stayed there before! No, I said, just google-walked it and knew the area. He just laughed.

OTOH, I had difficulty in Venice as he was insistent we did not need maps and needed different skills to navigate there. Yes, I still had a map....

I do use google maps but not exclusively. I will use them to quickly pinpoint the location of a city within a country or two cities/countries in relation to each other. But in general I'm still very attached to paper maps, it's what I grew up with and while I feel you're never too old to learn new things, at my age I often just prefer to revert to what I'm used to. When planning a trip to Europe I start with a good all Europe map to plan a sensible route between cities or countries, then I drill down using individual country maps and, for large cities, individual city maps (I also love the streetwise maps for larger cities). If I'm going to be driving I get the Michelin maps for each region I'll be driving in, but I usually prefer to travel by train if logistically possible. I have a very large filing box full of paper maps for just about every country in Europe and every state in the US. Maybe I'll throw them all out when I'm no longer able to travel but it will be hard to do.

We needed Google maps more than anywhere! One night at while at dinner the streets started flooding - like knee deep flooding. I did not want to walk through it nor did I want want to drop Euro 30 on boots! So I pulled up google maps and managed to find a route back to our hotel that was not flooded.

Digital maps are also great that they don't give you up as a lost tourist - you are just looking at your phone like everyone else on the street! Paper maps - dead give away!

I use the google street maps every day in my line of work, and then I realized they were the perfect way to check out a prospective neighbourhood when choosing hotels--no surprises when I arrive, love it. I don't use it otherwise when travelling, prefer to have a Streetwise map with me for finding my way.

I've always loved maps. I'll study a paper map for months before my trip, familiarizing or refamiliarizing myself with a city. Like Christi and others, I'll write out directions for subway and walking directions from the hotel to the point of interest, not because I don't want to pull out the map but because it can be more efficient than reading the map.

Google Street View is amazing. We looked at the neighborhood of our hotel in Paris on Monday night in St. Louis. Then we were IN the neighborhood Wednesday morning and knew exactly where to go. Google Street View is very helpful especially when you first arrive from overseas and your jet lag is prventing you from thinking clearly!

I also love and obsess over Google Maps while planning a trip. I embrace all of Google for my trips and many of you already do whether you know it or not. If you carried your phone with you on your last trip and had "Locations" enabled in your settings...You can go back and retrace your steps. Just go to"Your Timeline" up in the search bar and see where you have been. If you use Google Photos (which you should) you will have a photo tour mapped out for you.
If you have your trip photos on your phone and enable Google photos now...it will go back and organize your trip for you with animated maps. Wait for the photos to upload and go to "Assistant" to create the album of your trip. If you are at your PC and using "Chrome" and logged into the same Gmail account you can see your trip from your phone. It's all pretty cool.

My reply is for people who have not been to Europe. I like the Rick Steves Travel Map of All of EUROPE. (It does not show all of each of the "Eastern Europe" countries). That map is much easier to read than the National Geographic map of all of Europe. Rick Steves' map of Europe does not have all of the cities and towns that people on a vacation trip are not likely to wish to go to. On that map, the towns and places names in big and bold print are the places that Rick Steves thinks are the best places to go to. And some places that are of interest to people on vacation trips, such as Windsor Castle (palace) in England, have a symbol on the map, such as a tiny picture of a castle. When planning a trip to a country in Europe, I look at that map of all of Europe. I have found Rick Steves' big map of one country to not be more helpful than Rick Steves' map of all of Europe. I cut out a small map of a city in Europe, from a Lonely Planet book on one country that I will be at. I bring that map with me to Europe, in my shoulder bag, or in a pocket of my jacket. I think the two maps of Paris in the front of the travel guide book "Rick Steves' Paris" are adequate. (And I like that book). And I like the two maps of London at the front of the travel guide book "Rick Steves' London". (And I like that book). In a popular city in Europe, a tourist Information office has a good big map of the city, for sale. I do not like to use those maps, because the map has all of the street names, it is confusing to me. I prefer to use a small map that I brought with me from the U.S.A., I am familiar with that map.
Some times I look at a special map on the Internet, such as Google Maps, or Google Street View, to see a neighborhood in a city. That can help me decide what places I want to go to.
I do not carry a Michelin map of a country in Europe. Those maps are extremely big. Huge ! ! It uses too much space in a travel bag. The Michelin map of GREAT BRITAIN was helpful to me when I was planning one of my trips to England. On that map I found a place that I read about in a travel guide book, but that place name was not on any map in that book, and that place name is not on any map from Rick Steves, or on any map in any book by Rick Steves.

Google Maps is a useful tool, but there are several things to be aware of when using it.
First - the hotels, supermarkets, restaurants, etc which pop up when you use the "search nearby" function are those which can afford to advertise with Google. There will be plenty more options available, which you'll see when you're wandering around.
Second - the "recommended route" for walking is often a long list of "left-right-left-left-left-right" and so forth. If you look at a good map which includes all the street names, you'll usually see that you can find a straighter path to follow, which will help you to avoid getting lost. In Paris, everyone has a copy of "Paris Pratique - l'Indispensable" - either an app or the little blue book. In London, it's the "London A to Z" series.
Third - the transportation options given are not always the best. All large cities have an online journey planner for mass transport, which will include details such as what time the bus/Metro arrives, if there is a route change due to road work, if a station will be closed for some event, etc. It's a good idea to make practice runs with them before you arrive.
This is the one for Paris: www.ratp.fr

and here's the one for London: https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

Businesses do not have to pay to be on Google maps or pop up in a search nearby. I have listed several businesses on Google maps - in the menu there is an option to add a missing business or an option in a listing to claim a listed business which I have also done. The options you see on nearby search change with the zoom level. If a business is not listed anyone can add it.

Google does sometimes come up with walking directions which are a series of short turns it also gives alternate routes or you can customize your route by dragging the blue line to a place or street you would like to include.

I will have to get a copy of "Paris Pratique - l'Indispensable" - I love how it is divided up by arrondissment.

True - I would never rely solely on Google's public transport - I always double check with the transport site directly.

chexbres,
I like to look at my AirBnB rentals in Paris on Google maps.

Growing up, we used to call the bathroom in our home, the map room. My mother would disappear into that room with her maps to study. The map interest was passed down...but outside of the bathroom. I use both paper maps and online maps. I find online maps to be a bit inefficient and often/usually lacking logic when the "little person in my computer" picks a route. However, I love the way we can 'walk' streets for the visual of what places and their neighborhoods that we are traveling to look like. I do like the 2Go app (not sure that's the correct name) for pinning destinations in cities. I find it easier and more accurate to use than google maps. I find google maps often can't get me the last 5% of the route to the place requested, which is aggravating. Wray

Perhaps some of you have different permissions with google maps or are relying on just the GPS and not assisted GPS (mobile data & GPS) but with assisted GPS I have never had Google not get me exactly to my location. And believe me I have been in some pretty remote locations - I work in the middle of nowhere of the middle of nowhere - often the middle of a cow pasture but when I hit that little "find me" circle it always does.

Yes....guilty of obsessing on maps too! When I was 5 years old I saw a huge globe for sale at a store. It had lights that lit up every capitol. I was hooked then, and saved my allowance for years hoping to buy that $1,000 globe. Then the obsession went from atlas to atlas. Silly, but that is where it started.

Now with technology so great, google maps are my secret obsession. I have walked many streets all over the world. How great is that! And, for trip planning, I've found every restaurant, every metro stop, I know how to get places because I've "seen it" before we go.

My wife and I both love maps. We loved them to the point where we used map decorations at our wedding, and our new baby's room is decorated with a number of maps and travel-related things.

As far as the practical usage goes, I use Google Maps mainly for estimating travel times before a trip. If in a city, I use a combination of Google Maps and CityMaps2Go as needed. Depending on where you are in Europe, you may or may not need a local, physical map. For US National Parks, always (!!) get the park map PDF from the NPS. I've been burnt a couple times by trusting Google too much with National Parks.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the Moscow Metro map, and I drew it over and over until I (in my mind) got it down perfectly. To this day, I remain a huge map nerd, especially when it comes to transit maps. My husband gave me this amazing illustrated map of Berlin (my favorite city) that is hands-down my favorite piece of art we have.

As an artist myself, I took that map as an inspiration to start an illustrated map of Seattle. Considering the level of detail I am subjecting myself to, I don't know if it will ever get finished, but it's more about love of the process than the result in this case, as I genuinely enjoy working on it. Here are some examples, if anyone is curious: One | Two | Three

Anna,
Thanks for sharing the hand-drawn maps. I love them!

I use the map provided by the Hotel or the Tourist Office. In a city I don't use Google maps at all. The one large paper map I have used in putting the trip together is the train map. That one I bring along, essential.

Lovely pieces of art Anna!

As I can see I am not alone in my obsession with maps. Any maps: paper, atlases, detailed road atlases, hiking maps and lately goggle maps. One bedroom in our house has all walls covered with big maps: USA, Europe, Czech Republic, China, Nepal, Mexico, New Zealand. I don't bring many souvenirs from my travel but always maps. Since I was a child maps were my hobby. My Grandma gave me Handatlas which was published in Vienna in the year 1890 - the year she was born. I choose my hotels by location on googlemaps.com . Just looking at the map of the city ahead I get a basic sense of direction and it's so much easier to orient myself when I get there. I want to see the place I am supposed to get to on the map. I don't care about being given directions like Right left straight and so on. One missed turn and you are completely screwed. Even on guided tours I want to see places where we go on the map. It's not necessary but I like that knowledge.

Hi,

Two basic maps are part of my travel load to Europe: T.Cook's Rail Map of Europe, and an old large AAA map "Central Europe." stretching from about Paris to almost Warsaw, very detailed, most likely out of print, the back are maps of Scandinavia and Finland, plus usually, I carry a map of France published by the French National Tourist Office. No mobile data.

Yes, I also use Google Maps heavily during my planning. I'll use the map to make sure my lodging is convenient, then street view to make sure I can recognize the place when I get there (most of my lodging are small places that don't look like hotels).

For my upcoming visit to Paris, I'm first choosing my sights, then I'll sort them out using Google maps logically so I can see them without a lot of backtracking or extra time/effort getting around. I'll mark them on a pocket map, then refer to the map when I'm there.

I'll also use street views to look at route intersections ahead of time. If I see something and process it while I'm planning, I'll remember it - so it helps me later to stay on track when I'm on the road. I'm expecting this will be really helpful for the bicycle part of my trip. I have a smartphone with copilot but I don't want to rely solely on that.

I also use street view to preview Rick's self-guided walks. I find his maps and directions lose me regularly. By using street view ahead of time, it's easier to follow the walk when I get there.

My favorite map is the one my dad carried during WWII. It is a tourist map of Paris with those sketches of all the iconic places. It was folded in his pocket, so some of the corners are shredded. It is a two sided map with close up of Paris on one side, and larger view on the other. He had also written "Luxembourg, Jan. 22, 1945 along the top border. I have taken a copy of it to Paris when I went there and also have made many copies for family members. I enlarged it and printed it as wall paper for my kitchen, so it covers a 12' wall.... so I am obsessed with that map!

As far as trips I am more like Paul... I usually leave most details for when I arrive. I never look at the Google view or walk the streets before I go.... I am happiest when I am surprised! And yes... I do get lost sometimes:)