GPS apps

I always buy a local SIM card for my IPhone and use my Google Maps app, which I also use for navigation in the US.

The Vodafone Holiday SIM package, designed for tourists, gives you 2Gb of data+300 worldwide voice minutes+300 worldwide SMS texts, for just 30€ (All included) for a whole month (TIM has a similar package called TIM Welcome).

Then you can use all your your smart phone features like at home without incurring the extortionary international data roaming fees charged by American mobile phone providers (in my case AT&T).

Roberto, I was thinking about getting a SIM card in Italy but my concern is that my 86-year old mother is in an assisted living facility & I want to maintain my U.S. based cell phone number in case she or the facility needs to contact me in case of an emergency. Will I incur roaming charges even if I don't accept or make calls and just use a satellite GPS app? I was going to call home via Skype but want to be able to accept an incoming call on my number just in case of an emergency. Also, for the purpose of the GPS apps, do they use data? I thought once downloaded they don't use data but perhaps I'm wrong. Thanks for your suggestions.

who is your carrier? GPS uses very little data. I drove from Florence to Venice and "maybe" used 3 MB with Google Maps on a smartphone. Google Maps is excellent. I was able to walk all over Venice using it, and you can get lost in that city.

We just returned from 3wks in Italy and used Rick Steves suggestion of CityMaps2go - download it before you leave the states and once downloaded, it provides wonderful maps without using data. We had no trouble in Venice, Florence, Rome, or Sorrento. Found everything we were looking for = restaurants, hotels, shops, cathedrals, etc. It is an active map - shows a dot of where you are and gives directions on how to get where you are going = the dot even moves as you move so you can be sure you are heading the right direction.

Sheron, I have the same concerns. I looked around at different apps, but went with GPS Nav for iOS and paid to download the offline roadmaps for Italy. That way, you don't need to have a WiFi or a 4G connection, which should be handy driving in rural parts of northern Italy. (All of this is theoretical...we're heading over just after Christmas, so we'll see how it goes!) We will be taking Rick's advice and buying a good (paper) driving atlas once we're in Italy.

Would love to hear others' advice on GPS driving apps for iOS.

I second CityMaps2Go. It is a great app. You can enter the address of your hotel or any site and you can always find your way back. Best of all, there is no data charge.

Sheron,

For "pedestrian" uses, I normally just use Google Maps on my iPhone and it works fine. If I download the map using Wi-Fi, I can then switch data off and the phone will still indicate my position. For driving I still prefer my trusty Garmin Nüvi as I find that easier to use, and it reality it doesn't add a lot of weight or take a lot of space in my luggage.

Could you give the assisted living facility another number to contact for an emergency?
Maybe another relative who can then reach you at the Italian number? Or maybe the Italian number itself? Or do you have a second phone? For example I also have a secondary dumb phone with a prepaid plan ($100 a year) with ATT.
I find that having a fully functioning smart phone to be a big advantage when I travel. It's not just Google Maps which would use a limited number of Mb. But you would have all the smart phone features included without the high international data roaming charges. In addition it includes 300 minutes a free calls to the US while incoming calls are always unlimited. You can stay in touch with your mom a lot with that and if you have the skype app in your phone you can connect through that without having to wait for a free wifi hot spot. If you have an iPhone people can connect with you via FaceTime too.

Sheron,

As someone else asked, which cellular provider to you use at home? You may find that it's not that expensive to travel with your regular phone number, which would make it much easier to for the assisted care home to contact you. All they'd have to do is dial your regular number as usual. Also, unless your phone is unlocked you wouldn't be able to use a local SIM.

AT&T Passport Silver charges $60 for a month with 300Mb of data, unlimited texts. Voice not included ($0.50/min). That might be enough if you are careful.
There is a higher Gold passport plan, but at $120.
Not sure about other carriers.

My wife and I both have Verizon. On our recent trip I bought a TIM Sim for my Android phone. For my wife I added Verizon's International Plan to her iPhone.

Folks could call her from the USA using her regular number, and I used the Italian Sim for data. Worked just fine.

Google has just introduced Offline Maps, a free app, as detailed here in this recent New York Times Travel article. I gather that it works similarly-though perhaps better-than the maps app I have used, Maps.me. Hopefully all or most of that great Google Maps functionality comes with it. Whether it will work as well as your Garmin? Well, we'd sure like to know.

From the article: Google Maps users have previously been able to look at offline maps they downloaded over Wi-Fi. But being able to use turn-by-turn voice directions, or search within a map for galleries, coffee shops and other destinations along with their details while being offline is new. (Even the autocomplete feature in the Maps search box now works offline.)

Using Google Maps offline requires minimal planning. When you’re in a place that has Wi-Fi, simply download a map to your smartphone by opening the app, then go to “offline areas,” and tap the “+” button. Alternatively, you can search for a city, county or country and then tap the “download” button. That’s it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/travel/find-your-way-without-losing-your-wallet.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/travel&action=click&contentCollection=travel&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

Thanks for all the great suggestions. My carrier is Verizon and I was going to sign up for the international plan just so that if my mom's care facility, our house-sitter or my bank needs to reach us, they can. (Unfortunately there have been several times in spite of me notifying my bank that I'll be out of the country that they call to verify whether purchases are valid or not). Is there a way to turn off data so I don't incur roaming charges but keep the cellular function enabled? This way, I can be reached in case of emergency and I can use a satellite-based GPS app as well. During our last trip to Italy in 2013, I called home using Skype every few days (via our hotel's wifi) & it worked out fine. I've considered getting a SIM card upon arrival in Italy but am concerned that the instructions regarding how to activate it are in Italian and that I may have trouble activating it. The other concern in doing that is that my U.S. based phone number will be inoperable if I install a new SIM card.

I really just need a GPS app for driving purposes and not for walking around. The off-line Google map application sounds interesting & I will research it further as well as Citymaps2go. Thanks again for all your great input.

I have used Sygic extensively in Western Europe and found it to be excellent. A little idiosyncratic to get the hang of but accurate with clear directions.