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I'm going to be driving in Europe this summer, mostly France, Belgium and Germany. Can anyone recommend a decent European road map? All the ones I've seen in the shops don't have enough detail.
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The AA do a very good European road map. (available in many bookshops, even (especially?) high street discount ones) and at the Eurotunnel terminal etc.
If you need more detail (enough to find your way round off the motorway) then for Germany I use the ADAC MaxiAtlas. My French one is in the car, but Michelin are the market leaders.
With all the new motorways just buy new! service stations in the relevant country nearly always have a good selection.
(that's where I bought mine)
pat
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There are also quite a selection of routing programs for your PC where you can input start and finish points and then view and/or print a map together with detailed routing instructions.
I have one covering all of Europe and it is educational as well as functional.
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I like the Michelin 1:200,000 (2 km:1cm) atlases. Note that they are cheaper over there and cheaper in the supermarkets than most other bookshops/service stations.
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Agree PhilW re the scale, anything smaller than 1:200 000 and the detail gets lost. My ADAC atlas was carefully chosen for its 1:150 000 scale.
Mind you if you start looking for one of those cheaper out of town supermarkets BEFORE you've got the map to guide you back you've got to be pretty confident!
pat :D
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I've not been able to beat the ADAC atlas as above.
Sorry this bit doesn't answer Moyra's question but in case anyone was planning in summer hols to sample Sweden's delights.
Wait till you get there and head for the nearest decent bookshop to buy a copy of Motormännens Sverige Vägatlas
ISBN-91-588-4188-1
(well thats reading the back of my copy)
Route planning pages detailed enough for most journeys.
Whole country covered at 1:100,000
50 town plans.
Nearest foreign equiv found yet to Philips UK Navigator Atlas.
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Was just loading up the car and found my French map is AA /IGN (French Ordnance Survey) - although it is 1:280 000 it is very clear and nicely drawn.
Before that I had a Hallwag France / Belgium atlas which was great, especially for Belgium. Looked at the copyright? AA / IGN!
There are stickers on both AA maps (France and Europe) "Only £5" so I bought both on the high street for a tenner the set!
pat
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I suggest you buy MICROSOFT AUTOROUTE 2003. It is great. It even says exactly how many miles a place is from your starting point
Take an example.
I was going to a place off a fast carriageway. If I used a contemporary map, I would go in circles for 20 miles. However, I used a landmark (station), the program worked out how many miles it was from the destination on this long road, I counted it using my odometer.
Guess what; it was 100% accurate. I was there.
This is a problem where there are no street signs, and it is dark.
And of course, this is what usually happens.
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MS Autoroute is a useful tool but I often find I have to tell it the route I wish to follow which defeats the object a bit! It produced a ridiculous route for me last year from Dieppe to the Loire. It certainly doesn't replace a good map and, if I had to carry my full tower case and 17" monitor in the car, together with 12v-230v inverter, I wouldn't be able to bring so much beer back.
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It is not too good for abroad. However, I suspect that the options you entered may have made compiled such a route.
In autoroute, go click on the menu ROUTE|MORE OPTIONS and click on the tab segments, and you can change the type of roads you use etc.
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AUTOROUTE is the one thing that got me lost in France - Try mappy.com on the internet
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price check eurotunnel terminal:
AA/IGN £9.99
Michelin £11.99
though as I said I picked up my AA one for £4.99...
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I\'ve used all sorts, but recently picked up a Philips map and found it much easier to read than the Michelin and AA equivalents. www.philips-maps.co.uk (Not related, just a happy customer!)
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AA one has always being good for me; it's labelled up 9.99£ but as someone else said often find for less...
Don't forget to make sure you have breakdown cover and a green card if your insurance requires so.
If you get lost, see it as a bonus - sightsee somewhere new that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
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Oh yes, and don't forget some places in belgium know by two different names (french and flemish names) and english names can differ (eg Eng=Cologne, Ger=Koln with double dots)
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Very good point Gen - that caught me out in December. Some names look similar and are guessable, but some are nothing like so you suddenly find your destination has gone from the direction boards.
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