GPS or paper maps with rental car

British maps are mostly based on Ordnance Survey data which is just about the gold standard. They also mark their roads. It's a simple drive the whole way - - except for getting in to Oxford and finding parking.

Having done a drive like that, I can hardly imagine doing it without a GPS mapping system. Obviously people did it for decades with plain old maps, but even with GPS we got turned around and lost numerous times. If you don't know exactly where are you, a map is not very helpful, no matter how accurate. Roads and city streets are confusing and "well" marked in ways we aren't used to in the States. So unless you plan to stick to major dual carriageways, I'd get the GPS. If the cost from the rental agency is high, there are systems you can buy and bring yourself.

"If you don't know exactly where are you, a map is not very helpful, no matter how accurate." Now Ed, I know you can't let that remark stand, so I'll let you enlighten the gentleman...

Personally I would bring a GPS with me. Solves a lot of problems and frustrations.

If you have a smart phone, iPad or Kindle, you might consider purchasing Maps with Me. It's a quick and cheap download from Amazon. It allows you to zoom out and in with more detail than a typical paper map and is resident on your machine, so you don't need any connections to use it. We had a Michelin Benelux map this spring which we also used, but I found that I gradually put the paper map away and only used Maps with Me. No matter what we do, when we get into the guts of a town, just like here only with smaller streets and more distractions, we find it easier to follow our noses and the signage. A sense of humor also helps. I am a visual learner. My husband is a kinesthetic learner. Neither of us is auditory at all. Having a GPS nagging us to do anything is not helpful for my navigating or my husband's driving. I find it useful to Google where we're going and switch to satellite and street mode to look at what we will see on the ground. Then when we are following our noses, I can say, "I remember that, it's just around the corner from..."

If you have a Navigator (garmin, Tom Tom), take it with you. Just buy a SD card with UK or Euro maps online and load them on your gps navigator. Rental car companies charge too much money for renting one (like $20 a day extra). I paid only $30 on Amazon for the entire Garmin European SD card last month. A paper map is still helpful for planning the trip and have a general idea of where you want to go and which itinerary you want to take. Sometimes the GPS doesn't get it right.

I suggest both. We travelled all of England without a GPS and it was a big mistake. So many roundabouts with unfamiliar names of towns and cities. You approach the roundabout and see signs where you want to go but the sign doesn't tell you which exit. As you enter the roundabout, you often don't see the town or city you want but instead see signs for smaller towns and cities closer in that you don't recognize. We made several wrong exits. This is compounded after sunset. We now have our own Garmin Nuvi with European maps that works just great. Just updated our maps for an upcoming trip to Italy (Tuscany and Umbria).

A roundabout is just another intersection. You should have a pretty good idea of what you're going to do before you get to it (straight ahead by exiting across from where you came in, or make a turn which would be the equivalent to either taking a left or right which means exiting right away or going almost all the way around). As you approach it, there's generally a big diagram a hundred yards out that shows towns or route numbers or both. When you get right up to it, you can often see all the way across. If it's a major one, there's pavement markings as well. If I have a gps, I ignore it at roundabouts since: a. It often says 'go right on the roundabout' meaning to take the last exit, but which would be a dumb idea in the UK. b. In the exit count, it may or may not include a stub road which goes all of fifty yards. c. If you're trying to watch the dumb machine in the circle, you're not watching traffic. If you don't know the next town in the area, well....... But there's the route numbers or the general direction in the back of your head, anyway.

Hi Tena,
Larry has great advise for you. We too depend on both our own GPS and a good map. We have found Ordnance Survey to be the best. We have also rented a GPS from the rental company. I have found that to be very frustrating because each type works somewhat differently. The ones built into the car are even more frustrating. We had a Volvo once. It took about 15 minutes just to figure out how to get it to pop up from the dash. You are going to have a fun trip.

Use both, not one or the other.

If you have a GPS with European maps, it's worth bringing. If not, a good map will get you through. The only place I've navigated without a GPS that I really regretted was Italy. After Italy, I bought a GPS and we now include a GPS in our pack list anytime we plan to get a car.