loveyblue

We are planning 4 weeks in France. October 2013
My husband does not want to use a GPS - but he is a whiz with maps.
We will be starting our drive in Basel, Switzerland and will be staying on small roads and in small towns. Visiting towns in the area of Alsace, Cote d'or and Reims.
I was told that Michelin Yellow Maps would be the best for this small road driving but after
looking on Amazon I am a little bewildered??? Do I need maps 516, 320 and 515?
I would really appreciate your help with this. I would like to get them ordered so we can
do a little more work on small hotels & inn rentals.
Thank you for your help & if you have favorite hotels or restaurants in these areas please do not hesitate to add to the list.
Loveyblue

Gretchen

If you are spending a good bit of time in an area you will want the map that is the most detailed. I think there may be an entire Michelin atlas that for this trip might be good. Sorry--I can only speak for the Michelin maps of Provence and Normandy we used.

loveyblue

Gretchen,
Thank you for your relpy.
Loveyblue

Rastaguytoday

You can get all the maps you want, cheaply, at Abe Books.

www.abebooks.com

Since someone at Fodor's recommended this website, I've used them almost exclusively.

Most maps are not brand new, but roads don't change much.

StCirq

Yes, it's the yellow ones you'll want, as they are by far the most detailed. I don't know the numbers for the ones you'll need, but if you've done your research you should be good to go. I'd also recommend when you get there to pick up an IGN map of the whole country. I love maps myself (and totally agree with your husband about GPS), and I like to toggle between the detailed ones and a full-country map. You should be able to find one at any book store, kiosk, supermarket. The cost about 5 euros and are waterproof and flexible, so you never get that moment when the maps is bent and folding all wrong.

As an aside, I hope you're taking the car back to Switzerland at the end of the etrip - picking up in one country and dropping off in another is very costly.

StCirq

Yes, it's the yellow ones you'll want, as they are by far the most detailed. I don't know the numbers for the ones you'll need, but if you've done your research you should be good to go. I'd also recommend when you get there to pick up an IGN map of the whole country. I love maps myself (and totally agree with your husband about GPS), and I like to toggle between the detailed ones and a full-country map. You should be able to find one at any book store, kiosk, supermarket. The cost about 5 euros and are waterproof and flexible, so you never get that moment when the maps is bent and folding all wrong.

As an aside, I hope you're taking the car back to Switzerland at the end of the etrip - picking up in one country and dropping off in another is very costly.

annhig

I hate to disagree with St. Cirq, but even for small road driving, if you are planning on covering the ground from Basel to Alsace, to Reims, you'll find those little maps very difficult to manage - a map book of France will be a lot easier as you can see what you are leaving and how it links up with where you are going. and if you're going to be on the motorways for a bit, the map book will be much easier to follow.

if you're going to spend a while in a particular area, you can always get a yellow map as well.

FrenchMystiqueTours

Another map lover here. Gretchen's idea to buy the atlas is a good one because then you have all of France in one book and I think the atlas is of the scale 1:200,000, which corresponds to the regional map size. If you want the map that covers less area but is a larger scale you'll want the departmental maps of the scale 1:150,000. These will also showed the starred attractions in the corresponding Michelin Green Guides. These are the yellow maps you referenced.

You can buy the Michelin maps from their website and here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:200,000 scale maps of France:

http://tinyurl.com/4bt96ev

And here is a link to the page that shows you the 1:150,000 scale maps of France:

http://tinyurl.com/6mt4n64

If you decide on the departmental maps then for Reims and environs you'll want map 306 (Aisne, Ardennes, Marne).

The other regions have a few departments each and sometimes your explorations can lead you outside of your specified department. To figure out what maps will be most useful for you google a map of the departments of France and see where you're most likely to visit and then buy the corresponding Michelin departmental maps.

StCirq

I always have the atlas with me, too, annhig (the mini one - the regular-size one is too big for me). Problem is, I always seem to be headed to someplace where the pages of the atlas intersect, and it gets hard to read. I love the yellow maps, but I study them ahead of time, or pull them out during lunch or café stops...don't actually use them IN the car (it's almost impossible to do that).

loveyblue

Rastaguytoday - Never heard of Abebooks.com - Thanks for the tip.
St Cirq - Yes, we both have a love for maps. Funny how we can just pour over them.
Yes, we will return car to Basel and then train to Paris for a few days. We just can't seem to go anywhere close and not think that we need just a "little bit of Paris time".
Anhig - Yes, we have a book map...just looking for more detail. We will use both as you suggest.

Thanks
Loveyblue

Any favorite hotels or restaurants in the area?

FrenchMystiqueTours

The co-pilot reads the map and gives instructions to the driver. Then the co-pilot and driver argue about whose fault it is that they made a wrong turn.

jkbritt

Use a GPS. Been there, got lost more than once, using maps. Details are hard to read on a map. What FrenchMystiqueTours said. Gps tells you when to turn, etc. We now use maps as a backup. When you are in a town, the Michelin maps do not work. They do not list local streets, etc. GPS does and can get you out of town, down one way streets, etc. a lot faster than gustimating.

zorrosf

My wife and I have driven over most of France, autoroute and N roads. We used the yellow Michelin regional maps and one red country map. I offer Zorro's tips for successful driving in France:

1. Know the larger cities in the direction you are traveling, even if you are not going to those cities. Directions are given by city, NOT by route number. For example, the road to Aix may say "Avignon" not Aix. You have to know that if you continue in the direction of Avignon, you will (or won't) get to Aix.

2. Bring red felt tip pens and yellow highlighter to mark the appropriate portions of the map.

3. At the roundabouts (rond-points), the navigator should say "two o'clock" or "nine o'clock" not "go there."

4. For the smaller towns, you can follow the signs for "Centre Ville" which means the middle of town. To leave, look for the signs which say "Tout les Directions" (all directions).

5. Consult the maps BEFORE you start out each day and verify frequently that you are going in the right direction.

6. If time permits, the N roads are the most picturesque.

7. Pay careful attention to the type of fuel your car uses and do not put diesel ("gazoil") in a non-diesel car or vice versa. This can be quite expensive as well as frustrating when your car won't budge and it takes 1.5 days to get a replacement. Didn't happen to us, but I have friends....

FrenchMystiqueTours

I never use a GPS and only use the maps but I live here and am familiar with how French roads are laid out and what clues to look for regarding road signs and such, even when in cities/towns/villages where the maps won't show the local roads. However, I recommend GPS for those who don't live here, don't like maps or find them confusing and especially when you are in towns and the maps won't show the local roads.

The atlas does have maps of the cities in the back of the book but they'll only show sections of the cities (usually the downtowns only) and still won't show all the roads nor will they necessarily name all the roads shown.

The best option is to have both GPS and maps, as jkbritt noted. Each has their pluses and minuses.

StuDudley

Color of Michelin maps:

- Yellow 500 series, scale 1/200,000
- Various shades of orange 300 series maps - usually 2 departments per map, scale 1/150,000
- Green 100 series maps for specific areas (Cote d'Azur (2 maps), Provence, Paris region, Strasbourg area, etc) scale 1/100,000 to 1/160,000

I use the 300 series, and highlight in one color of magic-marker all the scenic routes I want to take (based on Michelin Green Guide recommendations). I highlight in another color the towns I want to visit. I highlight in another color the towns that have restaurants I want to "check out". I highlight in another color the towns that have morning farmer's markets, and also indicated in pen the day of the market. As stated previously, the "star" ratings given by the Michelin guide are indicated. This way, it is very easy to determine "efficient" day-trips. I can't do that on a GPS (to my knowledge).

I use the Michelin Red Guide to see me through cities - with one-way streets indicated, locations of restaurants, parking lots, museums, etc.

I sometimes use a GPS (if equipped on the rental car) to determine exactly where I am on a road and what critical junctions are coming up shortly. The GPS does not speak to me. I want to determine the route myself - not the GPS. Once in Provence, my cousin visited us and had a GPS. We've stayed in 1 gite there for a total of 8 weeks so we're pretty familiar with the territory. We used his GPS just-for-fun to direct us to a restaurant that was about 30 mins away in Gigondas - one we've dined at 3 times previously and visited Gigondas many, many times. The GPS told us to take the slow mountain roads over and through the Dentelles mountains - instead of the longer but much fast road around the Dentelles.

I use the IGN maps to find walking routes near where we are staying - scale 1/25,000

Stu Dudley

FrenchMystiqueTours

Good tips zorrosf. I'll make one minor point and that is that when time allows the designated scenic roads (highlighted in green) on the Michelin maps are the most picturesque but these are most commonly the D (departmental) and C (communal) roads (colored yellow and white on the Michelin maps) and sometimes the N (national) roads.

Abby5205

Several years ago, I rented a car in Paris and then tried to exit the city using a city map with my lady friend, now wife, navigating. That was almost the end of our relationship! Since then, my wife and I have made 5 trips to Europe, mostly France and have used a Garmin with a European map chip, supplemented by a 'book map' of France. This has worked quite well, although the GPS system does at times send you in some unusual directions, ie a very secondary road through vineyards in Alsace, and this is were a traditional map helps out. In general, I use the GPS about 95% of the time. And for us, it is not always about the quickest way to get from point A to B.

FrenchMystiqueTours

I see we are all cross posting. More good tips from Stu. But you mixed up yellow and orange for the maps. Orange is for 1:200,000 and yellow is for 1:150,000.

I generally have no plan when I'm vacationing in France other than wandering around and determine where I'll go by looking at the Michelin map once I arrive in a region. I use tourist office websites sometimes to find things to see/do but almost never a guidebook. Here are my tips about using Michelin maps to wander around.

The Michelin maps have icons for all kinds of historically/touristically interesting things such as châteaux, ruins, churches, abbeys, scenic view points, caves, Roman sites, megaliths, designated scenic roads and many other things. Usually when I'm exploring various regions in France I just look at the map and I am able to plan interesting and scenic drives just reading the map. For instance, I usually look for a designated scenic road, which are highlighted in green, and I especially look for towns with the historic church and/or château icon. I also try to make sure the route goes through as many small villages as possible. Usually putting all these things together I find interesting and scenic drives without even knowing where I am going and with no assistance from a guide book. Often these places are never mentioned in guidebooks and remain completely unknown to many tourists.

dugi_otok

The yellow maps(LOCAL)3xx series are 1:150 000 -1 inch=2.37 miles
The orange maps (REGIONAL)5xx series are 1:200 000 -1inch=3.16 miles

Yes you do need 3xx series for local driving. I actually use a combination of yellow and orange.From the information you gave, you will need 306,315, and 320.These are not continuous so you will probably need 307,313 and maybe 314 and 321 connecting.It depends on the driving route and local driving you are planning.
There is also one ZOOM series which I would recommend 131 Black Forest,Alsace which I recommend as a replacement for 315. This also shows Places of Interest(star attractions) and nature trails on the actual map. I buy my maps from Amazon which helps me in planning.

StuDudley

>>Stu. But you mixed up yellow and orange for the maps. Orange is for 1:200,000 and yellow is for 1:150,000. <<

Actually, I don't own any 500 series maps. I have a few old 200 series ones that were replaced by the 500 series. The 200 ones were yellow - so I assumed the 500 ones were also yellow also - plus someone mentioned that the 500 series were yellow on a prior post. I have about 90% of the various 300 series maps, and over the years they have been changing shades of yellow & orange - plus yellow & orange on the same map.

Good point about the icons. When we are driving around, we always consult the maps for "scenic" view points and Chateaux. Michelin must love thick forests where all you see are tree trunks, because that's all you CAN see on many (but certainly not most) of the green-shaded roads. Driving along rivers, there is often foliage on these "green" roads and you can't even see the river.

Stu Dudley