Best App for Off-Line Walking GPS - Style Directons

I do not think CityMaps2GoPro does exactly what you are describing, but I may have missed something. I just find my own way by following my little dot through the streets.

Here's a current thread about the app.

Another recent thread on the app. I also haven't found that it does what you're seeking, but it's quite easy to follow your location as you move and tell if you're heading in the right direction to your destination.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/citymaps2go

Actually google maps will let you do this and would be a good choice if you are familiar with using it at home -

Make sure you are on wifi and are signed into google maps
Search for the city or general area you want to have access to offline (this space is not unlimited, but can be very large, like almost all of Manhattan)
go to the menu (top left) and go to "Offline Areas"
Then you should see "download an offline area"
Click on "Custom Area" and it should take you back to whatever you just searched for
You can zoom in/out and move the map around, the area in the square is what you're selecting, when you're satisfied with your selection, select "Download"
This is downloaded onto your phone so you need a certain amount of free space (most of Manhattan, for example, takes 225mb)

It will stay on your phone for a month and you can use it just like you normally would with google maps - search for driving/public transport/walking directions, look for businesses, check their hours etc. Just turn wifi on your phone and you can follow your blue dot along for walking directions.

Alternatively, you may not be aware but if you have Tmobile you have free international data abroad. I think Verizon will also give you the same access you have at home for $10/day.

We have used an Android app - "smart maps offline" - for several years now. Used on a Nexus 7 with 32 gb so we can load lots of maps and guides. Has good maps of just about everywhere! Uses GPS for location so no wifi needed after setup. Worked while driving, walking & afloat in Croatia, Slovenia, Venice, Netherlands, Paris, Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, D.C., etc....
Program has its quirks as does every other; but any program that can function perfectly in Venice is a keeper. Check it out on Google Play.

sporkynoodles, thank you for posting the download directions for offline google maps. My question, after downloading, it requires a wifi connection for navigation and the other features to work? If you do not have a wifi connection, is the map static?

Bob, there are two types of CityMaps2Go apps. A free app and Pro, a paid app (no ads and more features). Both are reported to work offline with no wifi connection.

hi smarcbie,

you do have to turn on wifi, but you don't need a wifi connection for it to work. it uses triangulation to figure out where you are - basically inferring your location from the wifi points around you. as you can imagine, this is a lot more accurate in the city or suburbs than it is in rural areas, because of the number of wifi points.

edited to add for clarity: navigation, public transport schedules, all that are all part of the download, so it only needs the wifi to be on to triangulate your location and then calculate that in, though it only works within the confines of the downloaded map. meaning - if i download manhattan, and i try to look up driving directions from connecticut with only wifi on (and no connection), it won't work. but if i download manhattan and need walking/driving/transport directions from downtown to the upper west side, all that info is contained and it only needs the wifi on (but no connection needed) to figure out where i am.

spork

Sporkynoodles, this is the first I've heard about the use of nearby Wi-Fi signals to position the traveler on the previously-downloaded map. Are you sure about that? I thought the location information came from GPS (satellite data). I've definitely watched my dot move down the highway while riding on buses in Spain, and I think some of those buses didn't have Wi-Fi. Even if they did, I don't think there would have been multiple nearby Wi-Fi sources to use for triangulation.

What about Maps.me? Anyone familiar with that app?

Sporkynoodles: I think acraven is right about the GPS vs. wifi points in Citymaps2go. I've played with the app at home in anticipation of using it abroad in May. I use it with downloaded maps and my phone totally in airplane mode, no wifi, and the app works very well. I think your phone is always visible to GPS satellites that can locate it.

hi stoutfella,

i don't have any experience with citymaps2go, so i was only speaking in reference to the google offline maps, which is what i generally use because i like being able to look up businesses/their hours/public transport directions.

right now, in google maps, if i turn on airplane mode, my blue dot is in the right place, and i can look up businesses in a downloaded area, but i'm not able to look up any directions. if i turn on wifi, i can get directions, even though i'm not actually connected to wifi.

spork

oh and re the gps - i guess on iphones it's "AGPS", assisted gps. so sometimes it uses gps triangulation and sometimes wifi.

probably a different story for other phones, although googlemaps should work the same.

i remember when we were on a bus (without wifi) from bari to naples, i had to turn on wifi to see that we were passing castelvetrano (my husband said, "ooh let's get out here and eat olives" haha)

I have an android phone and tablet, so that may be the difference.

Here's an added bonus with CityMapsToGo... we used it while on the plane, flying from FCO to YYZ, and it was amazing! (in "airplane" mode). Zooming in, we could tell exactly when we crossed borders in Europe, what cities we were over, even when we flew over Iceland and Greenland. It made our return flight so much more interesting!

Cheers,
Vivian
Canada

What about Maps.me? Anyone familiar with that app?

I create custom offline maps with maps.me. A game changer for me, for note taking, trip planning, and offline navigation. My post and Jim's in this thread discussed how to do it.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/smartphone-app-for-maps-pre-planning-and-real-time-routing-guidance

Maps2go is a very inexpensive app. I suggest you down load it and give it a try before you leave. I personally think it is the best app for walking around a city without getting lost.

This past summer we traveled France and used Google Maps to use Offline. In advance, while on my home's fast and free wifi, I downloaded the city maps for Paris and Aix-en-Provence, the areas we needed maps. Then while there just accessed them. The phone's GPS tracked me as a dot...no wifi necessary. You'll need wifi if you want the app's voice guidance or turn by turn driving. But we really just used it for walking.

I learned about the offline use from a RS travel video!

Android phones use AGPS, too. So keeping wifi on even when you aren't logged into wifi helps GPS find your location on an offline map. It sounds complicated, but Google knows where a lot of wifi access points are located. (I've read that cell towers also help speed up placing location on a map.)

My suggestion: Try it with wifi off and with wifi on and see if it makes a difference.

Paul summed it up well. It's not that wifi needs to be connected - basically "turning on" your wifi antenna helps to locate you.

But yes, try it with it on and off and see if it makes a difference with your particular phone.

Doesnt the GPS use data? I always thought that was the case.

Now i am confused. Can someone explain all thisto me like i am an elderly person? (I would have said 10 yrs old but a 10 yr old probably gets it!. I am 50 and average to above average tech savy

(I have an android and Verizon and usually buy the international plan which starts at 100 mb of data and 100 texts and 100 minutes of talk for $40.)

Further, I was actually looking at buying a Garmin since we planned travel to Europe quite a bit in the future. Probably once per year

Maybe that's something I do not need if the GPS on my phone will work without using data?

Maybe I can just download Google Maps to save a city or area offline with a Wi-Fi connection and then just turn on the GPS when I'm there?

I was always under the impression that uses data. What am I missing?

Vick, I'm older than you and cannot give you a technical explanation, but I have a US pay-as-you-go deal that provides no data even at home. I went to Spain last summer and did not buy a European SIM. When I was out walking, I could track my location on previously-downloaded maps without any cellular or Wi-Fi connection. I use Ulmon's CityMaps2GoPro, but others here have reported the same with GoogleMaps. I think they've said they can get audible turn-by-turn directions from Google Maps, a feature CityMaps2GoPro does not have.

This has been discussed here several times, with a few of the threads providing more specific responses than I can give, but I have not been able to find one of them via the Search function. Here's a link from Google itself.

We'll be using HERE WeGo. Before leaving home load the app and load the map(s) for the areas you'll be traveling. The area can be a whole country or a region in the country, your choice. Now the actual maps are on your phone. (Move it to an SD card if you have one, to save your memory). When you're in that country you can open the maps and have it navigate whether you're walking, driving, using a taxi, train, etc. It uses the GPS in the phone to locate you and guide you. For this you do NOT need wifi or use data. The functions that require wifi or data is when you ask it to figure out what bus or train to use. That's because it has to look up the local bus/train company's data. Walking & driving doesn't need that information so easy peasy you're ready to go. Note that it does not "speak" upcoming streets and turns when you're driving, so a copilot is a really good idea. I used it here in the US to do local drives and walks for practice. I can even practice using foreign cities and addresses as long as the "from" and "to" locations are both in that country. (It has a tough time navigating across the ocean. hahaha)

You can also locate specific locations/addresses that you'll need when you're on your trip and organize them in "Lists". I have all our hotels and sites I know we'll be visiting on a list now so that I don't have to figure it out when I'm traveling.

Okay Gang.... HELP!
I downloaded Citymaps2 go. I can get a map offline of Milan, but I can not figure out how to zoom in on the streets or navigate from say, my hotel to the Duomo.. I have shown this app to friends, my son and friends' kids. No one can figure it out. What am I doing wrong? I have an iphone 5s. My son said something about the AGPS and that he didn't see it on my phone. I would like to have an app that will give me directions from one place to another or to get a street address for a site. I will be traveling solo, so this would be a comfort.

Thanks for your help. And, yes.... please explain it like I'm 60 -- oh wait, I am 60! lol

Bilez
I gave up using maps2go.

Try downloading Maps.Me and the map for Milan.

Tap your hotel location on the map and then tap "route to". Type in Duomo and select whether you are walking or driving.