SIM card for data in Germany

Your German data sim had better have a huge included allowance. Google Maps sucks down an absolute firehose of data. Everytime it redraws the map the firehose gets emptied again. OTOH, if your plan is exceedingly generous it may work for you. I don't know if NavFree is available on android. I use it on iPhone and it works really well using no data when in use, just the GPS and triangulation, and is very accurate. And Free. When I ran it against my Garmin the turn by turns were better but the searching for POIs was a little worse.

Google maps has to download a new bitmap every time you zoom or pan the map or recenter it. That's HUGE. Apple maps is superior to that (only in that case) but of course requires an iPhone. You could buy a TomTom or similar on Amazon.de for €88 (price of today) and have it shipped to your hotel in Germany. They do that. No problem. A TomTom, Garmin etc. is produced in China for all over the world and you can set it to any language you like, no matter where you buy it. The €88 TomTom comes with the latest maps for all of Central Europe... FYI Prepaid data flat rate SIM cards are around €15-20 for 500MB per month and €35-40 for 1000MB per month.

If you choose to go with a SIM card for your smartphone, you have the option of purchasing one here before you leave, so you don't have to find one as soon as you land. There are many available on line; I like the convenience of knowing I've got one as soon as I land and I don't need to worry about finding what I want.

We bought a new Garmin GPS with European and U.S. maps. My old GPS simply could not hold all the data that is now available. I was able to pre-program all our hotels and friends addresses into it before we left. I also used it for trip planning. Now we use it for trips to new cities here in the U.S. By the way, the GPS in our German rental car did not function outside of Germany.

In Germany, the discount markets sell SIMs with phone and date plans. At least one of them, PennyMarkt has a plan with data including laptops for a flat rate, unlimited data, of 1,99€/day. They also sell the SIM starter kits in the stores for a nominal price (10-15€) including a generous amount of Guthaben (credit). Although privately labeled, they use the network of T-mobile. Unfortunately, the website is entirely in German and most workers in the stores don't speak English.

Thanks to all. We've given up on the Google maps for navigation idea and are going to try using NavFree which is available on android.

Thanks to all for the thoughts. Kia, that is good to know. I'm a little concerned about buying the SIM card on arrival. It seems a bit overwhelming to deal with after 24 hours without sleep. Where do you order it online?

Patricia, I have used Telestial, and their service has been good, and easy to monitor and top up on line. I used one of their US SIM cards for a trip to the US last January without any problems, and I bought a different card for my upcoming trip to Europe. Delivery was quick, and I like their rates. There are many options on line, and when I did a little research I found they offered the best rates for Portugal - they may be different in Germany, I don't know, but it's easy to check on their website. They offer different cards that are priced differently and come with different rates (i.e. some are more expensive to buy, but come with a lower cost per use), so peruse their website, and check out some of the competition just to be sure. I found the Passport Lite had the lowest data rate for me, but voice calls are more expensive. Since I only expect to make a voice call in an emergency, I'm OK with that. My only annoyance was that they kept sending texts reminding me to top up my card when I got down to $5 remaining. They sent them every couple of hours....very annoying and I had to turn off my "beep" signal, or else it would wake me up at 5 am. All in all, though, I thought that was a minor annoyance.

If you have a smartphone - there are programs that can turn your smartphone into an offline navigation tool. Two of the best known are Sygic and Navigon. Get the apps, install, load the maps (takes a bit), but once program&maps are on the device there's no more need for a connection (neither phone nor data). Both have plenty of maps/map packages (or on top even the Michelin Green Guides). If you want traffic news in addition to the plain navigation (avoiding traffic jams etc.), you of course need a phone connection though.