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Garmin vs apple maps

My family and I are traveling to Italy during which we will rent a car for 10 days in Tuscany. We will pick it up in Orvieto but be based primarily at an agroturismo outside of Pienza. I'm trying to decide between bringing our Garmin with either an Italy SD card, a Garmin Italy download, including whatever the rental car company has available or use AppleMaps on my phone. Any advice? Also, whatever electronics I choose it seems like having a paper road atlas is recommended. Any favorites?

Posted by
272 posts

We use Navigon on our iPad or iPhone. Does not use data but relies on the gps satellites. We've used it all over the USA and many European countries. I always have a paper map of the area as well as I like to look at the larger picture.

Posted by
3943 posts

We gave offline google maps from my phone a test in Scotland last summer up against the rental car GPS. We found that Google was a trifle slower (but workable) and of course didn't include traffic info since it was using satellite instead of data. I haven't tried it in Italy but would assume it would be fine there, as well.

Posted by
703 posts

what ever you decide, consider also buying an inexpensive michelin map of the area. about 7 euro. we prefer the yellow coloured ones as they are about 1:200,000 and show all the small roads etc. the orange coloured ones are twice the scale and OK as a guide, if you are covering big distances, but don't show the detail.

it might sound strange but we buy them long before we go ( available on line cheaper and show the local language ie town names- VERY important) as we use them for planning. they show small 'tourist' spots, along your intended route.
something that electronic devices have difficulty with. they take up no space in your luggage really, and you are ready to go, when your there.

hope this helps

Posted by
6733 posts

Personally, I think its crazy to use a phone for critical navigation. I'm always a lot more happy with a dedicated Garmin Nuvi, I know it's going to work and I don't have to worry about whether or not I'll be able to get some foreign SIM or cellular plan to work (I've had a less than 50% success rate with that; the GPS satellites are going to be there). My old Nuvi was good fpr many years (and still works fine, if slowly); I just bought a replacement unit in the form of more current Garmin Nuvi model, which is a LOT better - and came with "lifetime" maps for North America and Europe. For about $200 that's a no brainer for me. I'll be using it to drive around Mexico in February, all over the US next year, and around Italy in the fall. I'll probably get an extra data card for Japan as I'll be driving there next summer. It's world-ready. A small, dedicated GPS like this is a really wonderful bit of technology to have in your pocket.

That said, you should always - and I mean ALWAYS - have a good paper map with you, too. Any device can fail, be lost or stolen, or out of power due to a broken cord - every one of those things have happened to me on trips before. Maps are still incredibly valuable tools.

You spend a lot of money on your trip. To me it's foolish not to invest a little in these things that can make or break a trip. Just my 2 cents.

Posted by
1825 posts

I took a Garmin on my last two trips and it worked well. Using your phone for navigation requires data and a signal isn't always available. Apple maps isn't considered as good as Google maps but is catching up. I'll be taking my Android phone with T-mobile so data won't be an issue but I'll probably still lug around my GPS for the three or four days I'll have a rental car.

Posted by
26831 posts

I've never driven in Europe and certainly cannot compare the quality of Google Maps or Ulmon's CityMaps2Go (which I use--it covers countryside as well as cities) to using a device like a Garmin, but my pre-loaded Ulmon maps have usually worked fine for me in conjunction with positioning data from GPS satellites. I've run into problems--or at least delays--when walking in historic districts with narrow streets and fairly tall buildings; my assumption is that it's hard for the device to pick up the satellite signal in that situation.

Otherwise, tracking my movements on the Ulmon maps has worked fine and uses no data on my phone or tablet; I know that for a fact because I've never had a SIM card or phone plan that included data in Europe.

Ulmon does not provide turn-by-turn directions, so it wouldn't be a good tool for a driver traveling alone. I have no idea whether you can get audible directions from Google Maps.

Posted by
112 posts

I strongly recommend, as stated by others, to have a first rate, up to date, detailed paper maps/atlas of the area. I also strongly recommend having your own up to date, portable GPS system (we use a Garmin with current Euro maps). The self owned, portable system allows you to learn how to use it before you go and get into a strange car. With this you are familiar. It also allows you to preset trips and make "practice runs" before you go, or as you go. You then see if the routes make sense relative to the paper maps. With the thousands of old roads in Europe, Ms. GPS can take some interesting, but undesired side trips. This is where both map systems work together. Next, have a co-pilot tracking long or complex trips on the hard map while you GPS. Always have the GPS set to see your compass direction and have the copilot keep an eye on this too. Or have a good old fashioned compass. I strongly recommend not using the rental car GPS. You have to learn it when there, it may not allow adjustment on the road and you cannot preset it outside the car, etc. etc. The GPS should not be handheld, it should have a good readable screen within reach of or by the driver.

Posted by
13 posts

Thanks all for your feedback. Looks like old school Michelin plus some form of Garmin. We've got a 5 year old Nuvi so maybe we'll spring for a new one with Italy maps.

Posted by
11294 posts

If you want to buy a new stand-alone GPS, look into getting one that has both North American and European maps pre-loaded. Here's one TomTom that's not expensive: https://www.amazon.com/TomTom-Traveler-Portable-Touchscreen-Navigation/dp/B00BHSTWOY/.

A friend of mine used an earlier version of this, and it was better for Sicily than his Garmin (there were some roads that were no problem for the TomTom that simply weren't in the Garmin maps).

Posted by
3150 posts

After using paper maps and then my Garmin for years, I've made the leap to iPhone only. The last time I used a paper map was in Turkey in 2008 because it had not yet been mapped for commercial GPS devices. On a trip to Spain and Portugal three years ago, I ran my Garmin simultaneously with my iPhone using both Apple and Google maps as a test. Result of which is that now I only take the phone.

In September and October I visited Sardinia and Corsica and had a rental car for just over two weeks. Being unsure of cell reception, I downloaded the appropriate maps from Google Maps to use offline when reception was absent. The car I had, a Ford Fiesta, had a USB port so I could plug the phone in and directions were played through the car's audio system (as well as my playlist) and the phone was always charging. I went through some very remote areas and where there was no cell reception, Google Maps switched seamlessly from online to offline and then back online. The only difference is the online will show traffic info, offline does not. Never once did I get lost and routing was excellent. Yes, the screen displays and lane id on a GPS unit are a little better than on a smart phone but I can't see carrying two devices and their chargers and cables when it's not necessary.

By the way, if you ever want to see two beautiful and interesting destinations Sardinia and Corsica are wonderful. But try not to go during high season - very crowded and very expensive. I went in the latter part of September and the crowds were gone and prices were super reasonable.

Posted by
68 posts

I drove for 7 days in Tuscany last year and did great with the iPhone. As mentioned, it does use data. But I couldn't have done it without its help. And having a navigator in the passenger seat is a bonus too!

Posted by
792 posts

Google maps work great. GPS uses very little data. In the two months I was there last year, using Verizon's International data plan I never went over their 100 MB allotment. Worked perfectly.

Posted by
1829 posts

Try the free app called WAZE at home now and see if you like it.
I find it much better than Apple or Google Maps and use it almost on a daily basis at home.

It also works great for all of Italy - even tells you were the speed traps are, local police, real time traffic, etc... ; the estimated time of arrival is amazingly accurate both in the US and Italy.

This would be my preference just making sure you have the data available - we rented a wifi hotspot from Expresso Wifi which is nice because it switches to whichever carrier has the best signal ; you are not limited to 1 carriers coverage and gave us unlimited data everywhere we were in the country.

I didn't rent it for Navigation I rented it so we could Facetime back home during the trip, but Navigation ended up being a major side benefit. We took with us a Tom Tom personal GPS and it stayed in the glove compartment and I actually left it on purpose in our last hotel room knowing I would never use it again. It felt like going back in technology 10 years compared to the Waze app on our iPhones.

Posted by
13 posts

I'm going off message a bit here but my whole family has iPhones. The process to use google maps for navigation is to down load the free app onto one of our phones - is it that easy?

Posted by
3943 posts

To use google maps, download the Google Maps app. Then in Google Maps, if you want to use satellite instead of data (it still does voice instruction), you need to download the area you need in your "offline" maps. I don't buy data - just use offline maps and satellite.

Posted by
1829 posts

OP: for "Waze" just go to the App Store icon on your phone and search for "Waze"
It is free, download it and try it out on a few drives locally first and make sure you are comfortable with it, do the same with Google Maps or anything else others recommend.
These 2 I know work as well in Italy as they do in the US, so test them locally and understand how they work before arriving in Italy.

I swear by Waze and talk with on the road salespeople in the US on a frequent basis and most every one I have ever talked to that relies on navigation for work uses it. It's real time traffic and ETA's are incredibly accurate.