My smart phone is smarter than me.
I see in tips to download maps beforehand, but I don't know where to get good current city maps.
Milan, Venice, Florence & Rome.
Please help with sites I can find and download to my android.
and, actually, phone tips welcome too.
Thanks,
Intimidated By Phone
You need to download maps ahead of time only if you won't have phone service in Italy.
Do you have T-Mobile or Sprint? (Are you from the US?) If so, your plan probably includes free international roaming data, meaning you can use maps in Italy for free without downloading them ahead of time. You can use maps just like at home, because your phone will work in Italy without extra cost (except calls would be 20 cents a minute, if you make any). If you have Verizon or AT&T, then your cost would be $10 per day to use the phone - and you'd be charged only for the days that you use it.
In terms of downloading maps ahead of time (in case you won't have phone service in Italy): the only maps I use on my phone are Google Maps, and their "offline" maps work only for driving directions, not walking directions. There may be other map apps that let you download maps ahead of time that will also give you walking directions. You can still get walking directions with Google Maps while on WiFi, at the hotel or a restaurant or something; bring up the map and get directions and then walk away and you'll have good directions until you get there. You can do that (use the phone on WiFi) for free without having phone service in Italy.
You might also want to buy a local Italian SIM card in Italy so you can use the phone there (instead of Verizon, AT&T, etc.) - if so, we can give you tips on that!
I found an app on the playstore for android . it is citymaps2go and I was able to download maps for Rome,Venice and Florence. Supposedly, it uses your phone gps (offline) to give you directions, although I have not tried that yet. I was able to do a search for Doges Palace and it pinpointed it on the Venice map.
I used citymaps2go on our trip to Venice, Florence and Rome in May, downloading the maps for those cities before leaving home. The app works extremely well, as long as you understand what it does. It uses your phone's built-in GPS function to show your location on the map, and it works offline without using data. It doesn't give turn-by-turn directions, but you can mark places you want to go, then follow your location as you walk towards your destination. I suggest practicing with it before leaving home. Even though I'd fiddled with it a bit, it took me a little while to get oriented and comfortable once I started using it for real in Venice (the most confusing city, of course). Once I grew more familiar with the app, it worked very well for walking.
I have Verizon service and used their international plan for our last day in Rome, when I wanted access to real-time directions in Google Maps. The plan is easy to activate and it cost only $10 for the single day.
Maureen, I'm going to go completely off the rails here and recommend good old-fashioned paper maps. They can be really helpful when needing to see the BIG picture of where you are at versus a little section on a little screen. It puts your position into better context.
We still use them exclusively on all of our trips, and they work really well. If you drop them, they don't break; if you lose them, you can get another; pickpockets are not interested in lifting our paper maps!
I found maps.me very easy to download. I could easily bookmark restaurants, hotels, sights/sites I was interested in. It worked offline, tested by going to airplane mode. I downloaded CityMaps2Go but found it more difficult to work with. I need easy for the technically unsavvy. Unfortunately our trip was cancelled (see the long sordid story under "Scanned") so I did not actually get to use it.
Cartography in the publishing business is almost a dead business. Cell phone apps have taken over and are becoming the accepted norm. I happen to be an old-fashioned paper map lover, so map apps are not the norm for me. I need and like to see the bigger picture when I'm looking for streets or retracing my steps. I also have a strong aversion to viewing smaller screens of anything. And then there is the theft issue. Street thugs are not interested in your paper maps, but many can spot a tourist looking at his/her iPhone from a mile away.
Today, I make my own maps, but it's a complicated process requiring intense knowledge of Photoshop and a map-making software program.
Before computers, I relied on the laminated Streetwise Rome Map. I believe it's still in publication. It doesn't show or name every street, but the graphic design is fairly easy to read and follow. I never loved its small size, so I took it to a professional copier in NYC and had it enlarged on 24 lb color laser paper. When enlarged, it was always a pleasure to read and use. Be forewarned, many printer places across the country will not provide the copy/enlargement service for you. They fear copyright lawsuits even if you insist your need is private, personal, and educational. Enlarging the map yourself on a self-help machine requires a bit of trial-and-error, so the mistakes can cost you a bit more until you get the map where you like it. Not all copy places carry large format printers/paper. If the enlargement calls for more than one piece of paper, I glue/tape sheets together until I'm content with my final paper map version.
Third vote for paper maps. I love my smartphone and still prefer paper maps for easier orientation. There are some good map apps out there, but it's a strain to use them, wait for info to load as you scroll, etc.
Streetwise maps are a handy size. I have a Borch map of Venice that is also lamintated like the Streetwise maps, but it has a lot more detail and I like it a lot.
I think whichever form/s (e and/or paper) map you choose, the important thing is to familiarize yourself beforehand with the city or area you'll be in. Do it before leaving home and again for each day's activity. You may run out of power, be blocked by buildings, face transport detours, lose your map, etc. It will help immensely if you know the lay of the land. I was so lost in Venice the first time because I had incorrectly oriented St. Mark's Sq. I never understood why I kept wanting to go in the wrong direction until I got back home and actually looked at a map. My goodness...
