Detailed road maps

Not to worry, Michelin has got you covered, their 1:200,000 are popular with drivers. Easy to buy when you get there. You probably want Michelin map #358, it's 1:200,000. Of course Michelin isn't the only provider, but they've been doing maps in Europe for about as long as there have been cars.

You probably want Michelin's Italy Center #563. The scale is 1:400,00. Mine's in Italian, but they might have one in English. Barnes and Nobles, Books-A-Million, etc, can order if they don't have one in the store. ....and just to humor those of us who worked our tails off to get advanced degrees in geography (seven in the world at last count, and two working in the field) the word is 'scale' not 'guage'......:)

...and for those of us who have advanced degrees in humility...sorry. If I insulted your geographical senses, I apologize. Yes, I did mean "scale", not guage.

And for those of us who are spelling divas, it's "gauge" not "guage"!

Jim, my experience has been that the most detailed maps at 1:200,000 would be great for bicycle touring but are just too big and unwieldy to use while driving. The #735 all-italy was good for overall directions while driving around and personally is what I'll bring next time in addition to the GPS. If you want some of the smaller roads and villages I also had the aforementioned #563 and it has all of those, although again I found it to be a bit more detail than I needed.

There's no correct answer re what scale map is best for driving, it's at least partly a matter of personal preference. This from Rick on the subject: "If you're exploring a specific region by car, you need something more detailed (such as 1:200,000). If you're biking, you could use even more detail (1:100,000 or 1:50,000)." (Europe Through the Back Door 2011): The OP asked which map would be best for exploring Tuscany and Umbria by car, which is why I thought 1:200,000 would be a solid recommendation for that purpose.

Another geography major weighing in, here. I can't get enough maps when I travel, but I get them there. Every stop on the Autostrade will have a greater ion of maps than you can find here (well, Powell's in Portland does a good job). I absolutely agree that you can get too detailed a map. It's hard to see at a glance which road you need to take from Siena when your destinations are three folds away. On the other hand, much of Tuscany and Umbria have really cool spots off of the main roads - some reachable only by the legendary "white" roads - graveled countryside roads that only appear on the most detailed maps. Personally, I like to buy a very detailed map of the area surrounding where I'm staying to consult as I have a glass of wine at the end of the afternoon and go back over my guidebooks and research notes. But not to use when I'm actually driving.

Thanks to all for such valuable assistance. The Michelin #358 an #563 will be purchased...and so will be local maps, as we travel along the way. Happy traveling !! Jim