Racer042

My wife and I have booked another trip to Italy this fall and this time I am planning on renting a car and driving through Tuscany. I plan on using a GPS device and am asking the group for recommendations on GPS devices to use in Italy. Is it better to buy one made for the US and then add additional mapping to it?

Thanks in advance.

Bob T

cmcfong

Bob, I haven't made my trip yet but we just rented our car from autoeurope and they offered a free gps (we had to pay the shipping charge of $40) programmed for Italy.

patrickjkerr

you would be safer downloading maps onto your own GPS than renting one. it will probably cost less to buy the maps than to rent the whole shebang in italy.

i use the Tom Tom here in italy, they are probably all the same though. i had a garmini one in california a few years ago and it was basically the same as mine here in italy.

last year i downloaded maps onto my own and brought that to the states and actually saved money!
bring your own and buy the maps from whoever is your gps server.
hope this helps
pk

EmilyC

We have a Garmin 350 that we loaded with the European maps. One of the most timesaving features of our last trip is that my very patient husband pre-loaded the GPS with addresses of hotels, parking garages, museums and restaurants that we knew we wanted to see.

Having the "spoken" commands was a big help.


When we purchased the Garmin, I actually got a good deal of help on the Garmin website as far as choices.

At the time, the best price was thru "walmart.com" with free delivery to my local store

Racer042

I forgot to add that I have a Garmin Nuvi 350, which I have had forever. Adding a Europe Map is an option. Did you do the DVD or the SD card?

Racer042

I just checked the Garmin site and I can download or buy on SD maps of Italy and Greece for $99. Any advice on which is better?

Racer042

Or for $69 I can buy a magellan roadmate 1200 on ebay loaded with maps of Italy, Austia and Switzerland and leave my Garmin Nuvi at Home.

JillDavis

Racer042 - is this magellan loaded with France and Italy too?

EmilyC

We did the SD card. I did not choose Magellan because of many online comments about poor service from them.

Racer042

JillDavis, the same vendor has a Magellan with France for $64.99. I think I will go this route for our trip to Italy, it is cheaper than adding the extra map to our Garmin plus I don't risk losing the Garmin.

JillDavis

Racer - I need France, Italy, and Switzerland maps on the GPS. Can you provide the link that I can find one with these maps?

Thanks!

Infotrack

I highly recommend Garmin over any of the others. It will steer you wrong less often than the others.

twk

Here's another alternative: If you are going to be taking a computer with you on the trip (as some folks do), then consider getting Microsoft's Autoroute Europe software and a GPS attachment. This allows you to use your laptop as your GPS, with a larger screen, and the ability to pre-plan your routes and edit according to preferences. If you've used a GPS, you know that they someimtes send you on less than optimum routes, particularly if you are a tourist more interested in scenerey than point to point navigation. Autoroute allows you to see where the system will send you in advance, and to correct the route accordingly. When we drove the Scottish Highland in 2007, I did all the route planning at home, saving each day as a separate file, then only had to fire up the laptop and open the appropriate file to get under way.

dugi_otok

Here's another alternative: I bought a Garmin nuvi 275T on Amazon for $149. It comes with both North America and Europe maps

Racer042

JillDavis,

I looked up your profile and see you are a neighbor. I live in the Lake Mary area. If you go to the ebay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Magellan-Roadmat...item4ced9bfaec

gotink4u has the SD cards, so if you email him, you could probably buy one Magellan and two SD cards to cover the areas you want.

Racer 042

Racer042

Dugi_otok that is brilliant. I have searched ebay and found other Garmin units that come with both NA and Europe maps. I will bid on one tonight, thanks.

Racer 042

JillDavis

Racer042 - hey neighbor! I love Lake Mary. Sometimes we go over to that Colonial Town Center and have lunch at Amura. Thanks for your EBAY link. I will look into that as well as Duigitok's recommendation.

Thanks!

Racer042

Jill,

Here is another solution that I like, a Garmin nuvi 670 with North American and Europe preloaded. They are selling on ebay for for the low $200's and are actually cheaper (used) on amazon. I am bidding on one on ebay, as I like this better than a one country solution, plus I would be able to update my GPS unit here.

My wife and I love Dexter's at Colonial Town Center!

rs899

Hey Racer-

I'm a neighbor, too (Deltona). I just picked up an ancient Magellan Roadmate 700 on ebay for ...$12. I'm going to (try to) use it in Tuscany and Umbria this month ( I can see that it has already been there) . If you don't win one on ebay, let me know and you can borrow mine...(if it works- I doubt the cow paths have changed much since the Roadmate 700 came out)

Rick

drbb

Hubby and I used a Garmin Nuvi on last trip to the Piemonte. Was excellent in directions although pronunciation of Italian street names was horrific. Purchased one that was pre-loaded with European maps.

I also pre-programmed it with addressses of town centers, wineries and restaurants. Saved us from making many a wrong turn.