Google maps

Are you saying att data does not work in Ireland? I have att. So my phone will not work for internet and google maps? Really? I was going to rely on it as a back up to the cars navigation system. What issues did you have? Thanks

Jumping in here, I am concerned about this issue too. Any advice?

I think some things need to be clarified.

There is no AT&T in Ireland, of course. To use data, you’ll need to sign up for an international plan thru AT&T, or use an unlocked phone with a local sim card. Either way, you’ll use one of the local data networks in Ireland.

If you use your own phone, be sure to download the local maps onto your Google maps beforehand, preferably before you leave home so you can use your own Wifi. You can download the entire Republic of Ireland onto 2 or 3 maps. Once that’s done, your Google Maps navigation will work, even offline. You’ll get turn by turn driving directions. (You may or may not get voice prompts, though. They were not available last year when I traveled, but it’s possible they are now available when using offline maps. If not, it helps to have a navigator with you as you drive, to give you your voice prompts.)

I hope this helps. There may be more detailed discussions in the “Technology” section of this forum.

I have T-Mobile with data everywhere I travel and don't have any problems using google maps. I would contact someone at AT&T to see what the issue might be.

I'm partial to a road atlas/paper map, at least as back up, especially if you're driving with someone who can navigate well with it if needed. We picked one up at a bookstore outside Dublin, but it was not quite as easy to find as Rick Steves says it is.

Mostly, we chose a road atlas for our Ireland trip because we wanted to disconnect and not use our phones. (Our rental car did not have a navigation system.) There was one night when we needed to high tail it to our destination, so we used our phone's driving directions.

However, that experience taught us that Google maps (at least a couple years ago) didn't give us the lay of the land as well as the road atlas; it didn't distinguish well enough between the different types of roads and therefore gave a false sense of driving time. Major highways, even if out of the way, should make for a shorter drive than a narrow country road, especially at night in the country side where there are few, if any, street lights!

On a trip to England last year, my sister-in-law relied on the rental car's navigation system, but again, the paper road atlas that my wife and I insisted on getting bailed us out a few times.

I have used offline Google maps in Ireland twice (I have AT&T but did not use data) and it worked just fine for driving directions since I marked my destinations before driving while on WiFi. As with driving in any unfamiliar place, I prefer to check my route ahead of time. So I don’t think Google Maps was the problem.

As stated, download the maps for offline use and you don’t need to use data. When needed, put the phone in airplane mode and it’s a GPS. No service provider needed.

I have AT&T and I paid $10/day last April to use my iPhone in Ireland. I was mostly on the west coast (Galway, Clare) but I flew in and out of Dublin.

I dont remember having any problems with my phone

Second - Download the Ireland Google map for your phone BEFORE you go to Ireland. You can use it when you are OFFLINE and therefore don't even need to use data. I do this when I go away to the Caribbean and I dont use my phone when I am there with cellular and the GPS function still works. You just need to select to download the map to use offline.

I would also recommend a road atlas. AA Road Atlas Ireland at a scale of 3" to i mile is excellent. The maps are clear and easy to use. You can buy it off Amazon before you arrive.
https://www.amazon.com/AA-Road-Atlas-Ireland-2019/dp/0749579889/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=road+atlas+ireland&qid=1581677589&sr=8-3

It should be available in petrol stations and bookshops once you arrive.

AT&T has a $10 per day International Plan. The charge only kicks in when you are using international roaming in a foreign country (Be sure to turn on data roaming). There are over 100 countries where it works, Ireland is one of them. You'll have no issues connecting with one of Ireland's Telcomm's through AT&T phones. Contact AT&T to set it up. Go to their web page to see which countries this is offered. There are a few countries, Cambodia for example, where you can't use the $10 a day package. Be sure to note which countries are not available, as you will then be paying very high international data roaming fees. Or, like one reader above suggested, if you have an unlocked phone you can purchase a local sim card fairly cheap.

http://about.att.com/story/att_international_day_pass.html

As has been pointed out already, Google Maps (like most other "GPS apps") does not require any data connection to work on a smart phone, as long as you have downloaded the required maps ahead of time for the app's "offline mode." The GPS function does not use the internet at all. You can even remove the SIM card from the phone if you wish (but probably easier just to leave the phone in Airplane Mode if you just wish to avoid using mobile data.)

But having mobile data will make it work better - e.g. you'll get real-time traffic info, something you can't get without mobile data.

We put an international plan on my cell (Verizon) and we bought a Sim card at the Orange store in Dublin for husband's phone. We used his phone for all of our navigation (Google). Google has a tendency to take you down some "cow trails" (that's what we call those oddball shortcut routes via Google). We tend to plot our route via Google the night before so that we can check it out on both our phone and computer. We ALWAYS take a detailed Michelin map with us. Printed maps have gotten us out of more trouble and they provide a way to see the lay of the land better than a road map or Google earth photo on a phone or even a computer. As we drive along, I use a highlighter to mark our route, for memory's sake more than anything.

The AT&T $10/day international plan is great, we use that regularly when we travel. I would say the only drawback to downloading the Google Maps area on to your phone is that it seems to give driving instructions - not walking instructions. If you are walking and your best route is down a pedestrian only lane or the wrong way on a one-way traffic street, you may find your downloaded Google Maps providing you a longer than necessary route. Otherwise, that works great as well.

Okay so my ATT will work. I know Att has the 10/day plan and the passport plan. Now, how does one download off line maps? I'm
sorry my husband and I are in our sixties and not very tech savvy, but can and are willing to learn. We are driving from Cork to Kinsale to Killarney to Galway to Dublin. What maps would I download and how do you save them offline? If anyone is willing to help that would be awesome. Thanks in advance for any help given.

Hi Joyce. Do you have an Android or an iPhone? (If not Apple, it's an Android.)

I use Google Maps on my Android. To download the "offline" area, I open the Google Maps app, then in the upper right corner, where there's a little circle with my face (I have a photo in my Google settings), I tap my face and I get a menu of options. One of the options is "Offline Maps."

At the top I see a blue arrow next to SELECT YOUR OWN MAP. From here, you can zoom in or out on the map and pan around to find the part of Ireland in which you will be driving and choose that area. The larger the area you choose, the more storage space it will consume on your phone...but if you have a really nice phone with a lot of storage, that won't matter much - you should have plenty of room.

If you want to test out Google Maps "offline" at home first, just download the offline area for where you live first. Once you've downloaded it (e.g. while at home on WiFi), put the phone in Airplane Mode. Then open Google Maps again and go for a drive somewhere, with the phone still in Airplane Mode (until you get home); choose a place to go and let Google Maps guide you. It will work the same way in Europe (but with metric units when applicable instead of English). It works OK though without a data connection, you won't have real-time traffic info.

Google will attempt to renew the offline maps every 30 days (default is to do that only while on WiFi). So if you aren't going to Ireland for a while, you may not need to download the "offline" area for Ireland until just before you leave. Otherwise, it will just keep renewing the Ireland map every 30 days - probably unnecessary.

I have an Iphone. When I click on the circle in the top right hand corner there is no option for offline maps. i have a few options
use maps without an account, manage accounts on this deviice, your data in maps, any suggestions?

Poke around for Google Maps settings in the app - might be in a different place on an iPhone. Once there, look for references to "offline maps."

Otherwise, maybe an iPhone user can chime in to help.

Joyce I think you will need to sign into your google account. That’s why you see the option that says “use maps without an account.” On my iPhone I see “offline maps” above “your data In maps.”

So I am logged into my google account. I played around with the app and at the top I have three horizontal lines. When i clicked on them a list came up and offline maps was in the list. Thanks for the help. The people on this forum are awesome.

I have a Garmin GPS with Europe map chip. I also buy a road map of the country I am going to drive in. I usually buy an older car, and so far, none have had GPS on them. If it is rental, sometimes they charge extra for use of the GPS. So, by using my own GPS and maps we get along fine. Just be careful, "L" roads in Ireland are not to be driven by the faint hearted. They are one lane roads that are classified as two lanes. I drove several last year, I still get a raised heart beat just thinking about it. I had to drive on them because the Airbnb I was staying at was on it. So, when booking, be sure where the lodging is and how to get to it might factor into the booking. Plus, road signage is minimal at best. A good road map will help a lot. Looking at the map, you can tell where the road goes. On GPS, it just shows the next turn.