GPS recommendations for Italy

Don't rent a GPS from the rental car company, because it's 15 Euro a day or more.

You should buy a good map, even if you have a GPS, because sometimes the GPS is totally off, so you need to have a general idea of where you are going. Also you need a map for planning your day trip, then once you have the plan down, you can set the destinations in your GPS unit.

A GPS is useful, but obviously humans survived until recently without them (although if Columbus had a GPS he would not have referred to the Native Americans as "Indians". If you buy one you'll find it useful for use in the US as well. If you buy yours in the US it will come with the NorthAmerican maps.

The most common brands are Garmin and TomTom. The latter is slightly more popular in Italy, for what I have seen. But both work. I have a Garmin.

You can purchase European maps online (Amazon). I paid $30 for the 2013 European maps last year. It's just a SD microcard that you insert in the GPS unit. If you purchase directly from Garmin you'll pay through the nose. The same thing from Garmin would have cost me over $100 instead of $30.

While I have had my GPS on recent trips about the last 5 years I definitely traveled without it for many years, and I drive everywhere in Europe. It does make some things easier, and if you come to rely on it or have never driven just following signage and maps I think you would not be able to imagine driving without it, but it's not all that hard...you can still get lost with GPS. But, with that said, I would not rent one. I have a Garmin Nuvi and it is important to become familiar with it before leaving home, and be sure you have the appropriate maps downloaded, as well as carry a good paper map.

My wife was just in Italy and had a rental car for Tuscany and Umbria. She was using our Garmin Nuvi with European maps. We bought it a few years ago and this is the second time we have used it. We first used it in France a couple of years ago. Garmin updated the maps just before she left and everything was just fine. Very easy to transport in our luggage. Works great.

Larry,

I've been travelling with a GPS for years and use it for both vehicle as well as pedestrian use. I also try to have a good Map available as GPS units are NOT infallible and can sometimes provide the wrong directions. You may find it entertaining to read THIS ARTICLE from January of this year. When GPS units work well they can be a huge benefit, but I'm constantly double-checking the GPS directions with local road signs and landmarks.

I'd also suggest taking your own GPS rather than renting with the car. It will be cheaper in the long term, and you can use it at home also. I use an older (now discontinued) Garmin Nüvi and have been quite pleased with the performance. It's not perfect and even at home it doesn't provide completely accurate directions. I've tested it on occasion trying to find out how well it would work with someone that's unfamiliar with the area. Sometimes it provides the most convoluted directions just to get from my house to the grocery store! As I know the city well, I can always find a better route. It's important to update the Maps on a regular basis and some of the Garmin models provide free lifetime maps.

If you want to look at the Garmin line, AFAIK any model that ends with 70, 75 or 77 in the model number has both North American as well as European maps. Two models you could look at are the Nüvi 2577LT ($209.99 on Amazon) or the Nüvi 2475LT ($184 on Amazon). Depending on when you order it and whether you're close to an Amazon fulfillment centre, your order may be delivered by an automated Drone!

One caveat to mention is that the battery life on GPS units typically isn't "stellar", so BE SURE not to forget the auto power cable and suction cup mount when you pack your gear. When I'm using the device in pedestrian mode, I try to make sure it's fully charged and then only use it when needed. Also when in pedestrian mode, I've found that it's important when using it in areas with narrow streets and tall buildings, it works much better if I allow it to first get a "lock" on the satellites while out in the open.

I've heard that the Tom Tom units are also very good, but I don't have any experience with them so can't offer any comments.

Happy travels!

Hi Larry. We have also used a Garmin model for driving in Italy for two different trips and we wouldn't drive in Italy without a GPS. As Ken stated, the GPS isn't always perfect but most of the time it's right on and makes life a lot easier. My husband does all the driving when we're in Italy and were it not for our Garmin, I would have to navigate and read the maps. I'm happy not to do that as I get motion sick if I try to read in the car and by using the GPS, I can simply enjoy the scenery!

My husband particularly likes the "lane assist" function in which the GPS shows you which lane to be in. This really helped at all the roundabouts we encountered in Tuscany. There were many times that 5 or more roads fed into the roundabout and the GPS would verbally tell us to take the 4th road for example and it would also visually show us which turn to take. This was very helpful.

Regardless of where you're planning to drive in Italy, I personally think a good GPS is essential. I always take a back-up map with us but have rarely needed to use it. I also agree with Ken that you should buy a GPS here and familiarize yourself with it before going to Italy. I contemplated not taking ours and just renting one from the car rental company to save room in our luggage but I didn't want to be at the side of road trying to program it and learn how to use it. We picked up our rental car in Venice and within 2 minutes we were on the road!

Have a great trip.

Thanks for all these initial comments everybody. Sounds like I need to buy a GPS gizmo, one that I can use when driving or walking, one that I can use at home as well as in Italy with maps of Italy. Also one that talks to me and keeps me in the best lane. Also that I should get it sooner rather than later so that I can rev it up and practice. From what I've heard and read, Garmin is the way to go. But I've looked at Amazon.com and there are oh so many Garmin models to choose from. I also see about three models on sale at Best Buy in this pre-holiday frenzy. Could someone help me determine the model or at least the features that I should seek out. What Ken mentioned was informative, but I would appreciate any other input to help get me to the finish line. What I like to buy are things that are high quality but without bells, whistles or features that I don't need and will probably never use. Also, I am a good shopper and bargainer, and always appreciate and prefer, even demand, a great deal. Thanks so much, my personal shoppers!

Larry, there is another option you might consider: a full-fledged app for your smartphone. If your smartphone is good enough, it will work like it were a GPS, and you'd have one less gadget to carry around.

Larry, after you get your GPS warmed up and operating, you can even program where you need to go from your home. Just make sure that the satellite can see the system. For my wife's recent trip to Italy, we had it programmed for the areas she would be visiting before she left for Italy.

We also use a Garmin Nuvi. Our old one gave out and we bought a new one for an April trip to Sicily and we used it in Turkey and Rhodes in the fall. We actually bought a reconditioned unit as they were out of the model we needed. It came with the same warranty and so far has worked fine. Be sure you have the European maps loaded. And as previously stated, you can find most of your locations before you leave home. As with other responders, in past years we travelled without a GPS and survived, but we now feel more comfortable with one. We also travel with a map and we also print out google directions from one location to the other. It's always good to have back-up. We once unknowingly rented a car with a broken cigarette lighter and our GPS stopped working in a very short time. Our back-ups came in handy!

Garmin has a computer program, "Base Camp" which is available free on their website. You load the maps you have on your GPS device into Base Camp and you can plot out as many trips as you want with as many stop overs as you desire. You then load the trips as you need them onto your GPS device (Garmin). It is much easier to plot out trips on your computer than trying to do it on the device. You can try out multiple variations with ease. You can include how long you want to stay at an attraction and work out your itinerary.

In the US I have plotted out a months worth of driving. The total number of stops was over 200. I broke the trip down into day long segments which made it easier on the Garmin GPS. I just loaded them each evening before I needed that segment. I will be doing the same in Italy this spring.

I always brought my Garmin from home. Buy the Italy or Europe chip. It works greats. Saved so many hours and a divorce because we didn't argue about directions. I don't like to waste time on learning a rental company GPS.

Another reason to bring your own device is that car rental companies are often lazy and don't upgrade their maps on the GPS they rent. I noticed that as I rented several cars that came with embedded GPS (though I always carry many), so I had access to it even if I wasn't paying. Whenever I checked them out, they were at least 6 weeks out-of-date. In once case, maps hadn't been upgraded in 14 months.

I've driven all over the world, including much of Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America (from Canada to Mexico) and never felt I needed a GPS - until I drove in Italy.

The signage is worse than you can imagine.

On the major highways, you won't see a sign that says A2 West to Rome next right. Instead you will see a sign right at the exit that simply has an arrow and the name of a small town (or several small towns) you never heard of. If you miss an exit, you have to go miles to the next one, pay your toll, find a way across the highway and an on-ramp. You will lose upwards of 15 minutes every time you miss a turn.

In the cities, a street sign is the exception rather than the rule. The streets have names (and a GPS knows the names) but good luck trying to find any signage to find yourself on a map.

I stopped in Verona to ask directions to our lodging. After praising my Italian, the person told me to turn left across "Ponte Campione" (can't remember the name of the bridge). No problem, I thought, until I rounded a corner and saw multiple bridges - none with a name or sign on them.

I personally prefer a TomTom to a Garmin, but either is probably fine. Buy one with European maps, learn how to use it here, and update it before your trip.

Have a great trip.

I have a really ignorant question about GPS. Is there a data plan or monthly charge involved? Any fees for European maps? I do have an app on my cell phone for gps but have never used it. Any advantages of one over the other. I usually turn off my phone except for wifi and an inexpensive plan with a few limited minutes of phone time. We are planning a trip to Italy next fall and may take the plunge and rent a car for areas like Tuscany and the Dolomites.

Thanks so much

@Claire,
no stupid questions, just not having the courage to ask:

Is there a data plan or monthly charge involved?
Not for the GPS. Once you own a GPS unit and have the appropriate maps there is no ongoing charge for data. Map data updates can be purchased if you want to. The GPS will continue to work fine even if you don't update the maps but you may look like you are off the route when on new roads it isn't aware of.

Any fees for European maps?
Depends on how you pay for the unit. If the maps are included for, say, Europe, the price will be within the whole unit price. If not, you will need to buy, from Garmin or Tom Tom; or from Amazon, and install the cards or download.

I do have an app on my cell phone for gps but have never used it.
What KIND of fone? For example, to use Navfree (one I recommend) the app is considerably different - though looking similar - for iOS and various flavours of Android. So, which fone, which eco-system, which release? If you answer Android you can answer in number or candy type.

... awaiting further input ...

Thanks Nigel.

I have a Samsung S3 android. I have never really used the maps on my phone because I always know where I am going! (Or at least I think I do)....

I did travel with a friend who had a garmin GPS and it was very entertaining and was helpful.

I have been using a Garmin with a European data base for the last five years of travel in Spain,Italy,France,Germany,Switzerland and Austria and it has been a great help,we also carry paper maps Michelin.The Garmin comes preloaded with the European and US data base,as other posters have stated it makes life on the road easier.
Mike

Claire, GPS navigation apps are almost always offline (meaning the maps are stored on your device rather than downloaded from the Internet). So even if you turn down all cellular traffic or data roaming, it will work just fine, courtesy of US military satellites up on skies.

TomTom has a built-in features that calculate travel time based, at least for highways and major routes, on historical travel data collected from used, meaning they will suggest you a better route based on time of day you are planning your trip. I bet other apps have something alike as well. This is also a built-in offline feature if present.

Now what you would need a data plan for is to get real-time dynamic traffic info, like those functions that will tell you if some road you want to travel is, at that very time, congested, blocked or on a standstill, and/or pinpoint accidents on the map.

Thanks to all of you for this information and your help.