Road Maps Italy

George,

I spent two months in Italy last fall and had a car for about two weeks. Before I left the US I bought myself a little Garmin Nuvi GPS that came pre-loaded with European maps in addition to the North American ones that come standard on most units. Every time I got to a destination I was thankful that I had my GPS. Road signs are very inconsistent. I would have spent a lot of time back tracking and getting lost if I had to rely on using a map. I drove in the Dolomites and again in Tuscany and found similar situations in both places. When I got to the cities I was able to put the gps on pedestrian mode and navigate quickly and easily to the sites I anted to see. The $399 I spent on my GPS reduced my driving stress enormously so all I had to worry about were the buses and Mercedes coming around the tight corners way faster than I could imagine was possible without defying the laws of physics.

Good luck!

I agree, the best map in a GPS. Had our car not had one in Tuscany we would have gotten lost repeatedly (and I usually have a very good sense of direction).

Bless you all...GPS it shall be...although those of us on medicare find that all cyber machines seem to sense our age and torture us... George

George...we just purchased a GPS to use in Tuscany and had the same issue with age/machine machinations...do you have a grandson? They know everything...and especially how to read those "picture" instructions. Off to Italy with GPS..a new frontier.

We rented a GPS from autoeurope and it was great. Even helped us on the back roads in Tuscany. Spoke directions in English.

I see a new entry to my original question. We did not get the GPS because we were only renting for three days and had basically two destinations. Michelin's instructions proved to be excellent in getting us from Lucca to San Gimignano and from San G to Perugia by way of DeRuta and its wonderful ceramics. Thanks again to all of you who made our sixteen days in Italy even better than we could have hoped. George, Pittsburgh

George, I'm also an advocate of GPS units, however I've found that they're not infallible, and can occasionally go into "brain lock" (I also have a Garmin Nuvi with both North America and Europe maps). GPS units sometimes choose rather odd routing, and I've had to resort to road signs on occasion. I always believe in having a "backup", so take a Map as well (Michelin is a good choice).

Happy travels!

Hi All,
I hate to do an advertising pitch but the thread on GPS rentals in Italy was too interesting to me to stay out . As a supplier, I can't stress enough how handy a GPS is, especially a portable one. For those who have not booked their rental this year for Italy, try our new promotion:
Receive A Free Portable GPS Rental with a minimum 8 day rental in Italy!
http://www.autoeurope.com/showspecial.cfm?specid=772

So I hope that you don't take this as an blatant company pitch but hopefully, a useful reply that you can use to your advantage.

Regards,
Nanci Sullivan
http://www.autoeurope.com

Hi George,
Although a blonde female, I can read a map!! I have a fantastic single bed size map of Italy, an AA Road Atlas (British)and regional maps obtained from the Italian Tourism Board in Sydney. These were particularly indispensable in Puglia. I love the fact that I can mark where I have been/ choose to go, spend time looking and planning etc etc, all in the comfort of a comfy chair. I suppose there are pluses and minuses for both methods. Either way, have a great trip. PP

George,

I am a technology junky, but in this case I prefer maps. IMO Michelin is a good choice, but you also can get something like Europe Road Atlas from Borders. It's pretty complete, a bit heavier than a map but you can use it in other countries.

I also recommend the GPS. We just returned from 12 days in Tuscany and it was stress free driving with my Tomtom 920 (pre loaded with EU maps). They are super simple to use. I usually plugged in the city name and followed. When we got close, turned it off and just looked for parking. Never paid for parking once...plenty of free parking at most places. Siena was the toughest (it was also maket day) but we found a place in about 10min. As for accuracy it was quite good. There were a few times it seemed to send you a little differently they you would expect, but not very far out of the way. HIGHLY recommend!!

I always buy a map once I get to Italy and I never use a GPS. With a GPS it almost eliminates the chances of getting lost which is usually the highlight of the drive. Last September we were heading to Montepulciano and took the wrong highway and ended up driving thru Monte San Savano where they were having some kind of festival. We ended up spending the day there and enjoyed that day more than the next day spent in Montepulciano. The unkown out of the way towns are tourist free and it really is more fun interacting with just the locals.