Buying a GPS to take to Italy - Rome to Tuscany to Venice - what's a good brand and model number?

We use a Garmin Nuvi with European maps. As with all GPS devices, even in the US, it can sometimes take you the long way around or to a dead end or through a maze of small streets in small towns. Even with a GPS we print out copies of directions from google maps for back up. Also, when picking up the rental car, be sure the cigarette lighter works. Once the lighter was broken so we had to rely on our printed instructions - luckily it was a one day rental!

This should be an interesting discussion. My prediction is probably about 50/50 Tom Tom/Garmin at the end. I'll keep score.

I'll ante-up for 5 with a Garmin. Get one with European maps, and if you want it they have lifetime updates options and live traffic options.

They are so cheap now I would suggest a recent model. I'm on my 6th Garmin (over 15 years) because I like a recent model and so does my wife - who usually uses the one I have just moved on from. All my previous ones still work but the first which was a highly modified Palm Pilot. The software of the Palm is no longer being being supported.

Garmin... Nuvi... used a number of times all over Europe, UK, and Poland, Cz., Romania, and no problems. If you are planning on going again it pays to have your own. You will know how to use it and reset it if there are problems. Just have a map as well and follow the signs as well.

I was just in Sicily in May 2014. My friend brought his Garmin with newly updated European maps. One of our stays was in an agriturismo in a rural area in the center of the island. The owner of the agriturismo warned us that a TomTom would work to get to her place, but a Garmin would not. We thought she was exaggerating - she wasn't. The Garmin simply didn't know the roads right near her house. However, it was fine almost everywhere else. My friend had the same Garmin in Greece and said he had no problems there whatsoever.

I have no idea if a TomTom is better than a Garmin for rural mainland Italy. But it clearly is for rural Sicily.

Just bought a TomTom and used it for a trip to and through rural Tuscany. We were advised TomTom would do best in rural locations, and I will give it high marks overall. Have used my smartphone in the past and was very unhappy. Be aware navigating wears down a phone battery very fast!

No matter what system you choose, be aware that they are not intelligent about ZTLs. As Terry kathryn said, have a map and read the signs.

We've used a Garmin Nuvi the last two trips with came with Europe maps. Even with updates, road construction and things happen. More than once Garmin got confused when it thought we drove off the road (because we were on a new road that didn't exist in Garmin). So a map is helpful, and just know what cities or towns or in the direction you are heading.

The other rule that really helped my husband and I from yelling at each other in a stressful "Garmin moment", is at round abouts, the driver is to continue circling quietly , until the Navigator (passenger) directs the driver to the correct exit out of the round about. We had multiple occurrences where the Garmin showed a 4 way intersection that was now a round about. You just need to look for the city names on the map to determine the direction you want to go.

And for fun before your trip, you can change the language to Italian (but not when in Italy)

Thanks everyone for the great advice and time you put into your responses. I've used GPS in California lots and know how they can get crazy when things change if the maps aren't up to date. I will definitely get paper maps and print out some google maps for destinations we know we will visit in the Tuscany area to have on hand. I've owned a Garmin before and will probably just get one again because I am familiar with that brand.

The tip about the roundabout is perfect! My wife and I were in Philadelphia and I turned out of a roundabout thinking I was following GPS correctly. Nope - went too early and sent us back into the city at rush hour with road closures and construction. Nearly missed our flight that day. We made it a rule of thumb to stay in the roundabouts until we are sure we know when to exit. Never hurts to do a couple extra laps :)

I have not used a GPS device. I am curious, when you load one with the Italian maps, do they pronounce the Italian street names and localities correctly?

You pick the voice and language. It's entirely separate from the maps.

Either brand will work fine. Get the best deal.

What's that do to the scoring, Nige?

current score:
Garmin 4 Tom Tom 2
undecided or "either one is fine" 2
want to have an app 1
prefer an actual app 0

In May we were comparing the performance of Garmin vs. iPhone with downloaded Google map data (no live internet connection) in Provence, the Dordogne and the Loire. We started doing this because the new Garmin (with brand-new European map 'chip') gave us some false directions. The iPhone app generally provided routings that were more efficient, and in some cases provided the only routing that actually got us there. We've used Garmin on vacations for at least a decade and do own one; next time we'll probably just use the app, it was that much better.

In my non statistical personal observation I noticed that in Italy TotTom is more popular than Garmin. Whether that is an indication that TotTom has better maps for Italy, I don't know. I take my Garmin and so far it has worked ok for the most part, except when it sent me to a dead end and eventually inside an open grass field in Mestre. However I also use paper maps, Google maps (iPad or IPhone), and old school road signs. In Florence and Tuscany I wouldn't need one, since I know it like my back pockets, but just to test the GPS I keep it on, to see if it guides me correctly according to the most logical way. I would say it's right 80 to 90% of the time. If you know the local language it's best to change the setting to that language. When I set it in English the pronunciation of Italian street names is often incomprehensible to me. Maybe it's the way a non Italian speaker would pronounce them, I don't know.
Another issue has to do with the cigarette lighter. Somehow the charger keeps popping out every so often in several models and you have to push it back in each time. I inserted a small electrical rubber cord to keep it in place and it worked. I presume it would work with anything stuck in between. Test something at home with your lighter just in case you have the same problem. It might be because some European car models have cigarette lighters that are shorter than normal and therefore the spring mechanism of the charger doesn't fully hold the charger inside when you hit a bump and it pops out.

Good discussion.

Thanks everybody! I was able to find a deal on a Garmin on ebay. Came with the SD card that has updated Europe maps. Hard to find current GPS units for sale new that have European Maps already loaded.

I appreciate all of the advice.

I see that jervoc made his decision. But I want to add that a GPS should be regarded as a disposable device that will rapidly become obsolete, maybe a little like a cellphone. That has nothing do do with (expensive) map update subscriptions. Rather, every Garmin I've bought has either had a component fail, or has eventually received a map update too big to fit in the onboard memory.

You might think that an outboard storage card would solve that. Sometimes it does, but on my Nuvi 1450, I've found multi-second latency for painting certain map screens, while the car is in motion. (Cards are s-l-o-w-e-r than onboard memory.) So I'd say that the decision point is minimum total cost including a few years of map updates. I used to think Garmin was a premium product. Maybe brutal competition from cellphone GPS has reduced their premium quality by requiring cost-cutting?? My 2 cents.