J

We will be renting a car & driving through Stonehenge/Salisbury/Bath/Cotswolds -- up to Yorkshire & back to London. Our first time. What brand of road map is the best?

Joanna

I planned a comprehensive driving tour of the UK and Eire using the large format AA book, which is available in Australia so presumably also in US bookshops. The only thing that confused us was we thought certain places would be a right or left turn off a certain road, then we were confronted with a roundabout with 15 turnoffs! Once you get used to these huge roundabouts (about 6 turnoffs the largest we get in Sydney) it's a breeze.

chris jones

Hi, <BR> <BR>Glad to see you are including Yorkshire in your itinerary. I'm from Sheffield. Consider using the Fosse Way on your drive from the Cotswolds to Yorkshire. <BR> <BR>For a folding-type map, just for long-distance driving, I'd suggest a Michelin map, they are very clear, and as they are international, you can get used to the symbols and get the same brand wherever you go. <BR> <BR>But better still, get a complete Great-Britain road atlas, at a scale of about 4 inches to the mile : I would suggest the Ordnance Survey, the Government mapping agency. Here' a url : (http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/). <BR> <BR>You will then have a good scale map of wherever you drive to. It will cost no more than about £6, and the OS map in particular has good tourist information <BR> <BR>If you know you are going to particular places, do also get a larger scale OS map for each area. If you haven't seen a large-scale OS map, you will be amazed at the quality. (eg They do a nice Cotswold map at the old-fashioned scale of 1 inch to a mile). <BR> <BR>If you want to see what an OS 1:50000 map looks like, you can see (online) anywhere in the UK at this scale. <BR> <BR>Here's the URL for Bath ... (try zooming in and out and panning, and searching for any village or town name). <BR> <BR>http://www.multimap.co.uk/clients/br...n.x=28&in.y=17 <BR> <BR>I get a bit carried away with maps ... any more info ? just ask ... And I can tell you lots about places to go and places to eat in Yorkshire, too. <BR> <BR>A book I would recommend to have in the car while you are touring is "The good pub guide" (have a look on Amazon). Thousands of good, characteful pubs, in pleasant locations selling good beer and good food, and lots with inexpensive accommodation, too. <BR> <BR>Don't forget about the Fosse Way (it's an old Roman road (now tarmaced and classified, but quite quiet and still very beautiful) cutting diagonally across the country, slap bang through the Cotswolds and on to Leicester (so it joins Stow on the Wold very nicely with the M1). <BR> <BR>I do go on, don't I .... <BR> <BR>Happy holiday, <BR> <BR>Chris

Sheila

AS above; use an atlas based on the OS maps. The AA, the RAC or Michelin all do one. <BR> <BR>I would suggest 1;300,000, and not one with ring binding (pages tear out)

wes fowler

For southwestern England look for Michelin Map No.403, for northern England, Michelin Map 402. Both are superb detailed enough to show hiking trails. Scale is one inch = six and a half miles. They should be available from any large chain bookstore.