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We plan to travel to Italy in Sept 2010. From past posts, we will probably not do any driving in the big cities, but plan to spend more time in Calabria area and will probably rent a car. Would it be wise to invest in a GPS for Italy and any recommendations for type of GPS that include Italy maps. We currently do not have a need for one on our big island of Hawaii.
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We have a Garmin that has both USA and Europe maps on it; it worked well in October in France. It's #370 but don't think that particular model still exists but there are others that include Europe.
We rented a GPS with our car for two weeks in Tuscany and ended up turning it off pretty quickly. The roads are well marked, maps are fun to follow and frankly, getting lost is when you discover the most interesting places and things.
In September/October, we traveled in northern Italy with a Garmin Nuvi 770 and a Michelin Italy Tourist and Motoring Atlas. The 770 included maps of North America & Europe.
We found the GPS helpful to direct us from point A to point B and life-saving in some instances!!! I'm thinking of the time when we had to drive into Florence to drop off our rental car. We are certain that we couldn't have navigated the maze of narrow streets & over a bridge to our destination without the GPS!
However, we learned that a GPS has its limitations. For example, when we drove to the walled town of San Gimignano, it kept directing us to turn right onto a street which was obviously on the other side of the ancient wall! That was one right turn we weren't willing to make! In this case, we used the road signs & a map to get us to our destination!
If you do buy one, I suggest that you use it at home before you leave on your trip. It takes a bit of practice to listen/follow oral directions & view the map as you are driving. Hopefully, you will have a navigator who will help out!
2010
Cuso...grasshopper is worth listening to...we
have literally driven in every country on continental Europe (exceptng the former USSR which I have visited three times, but did not drive at any time)...tens of thousands of miles...never had a GPS...just returned from Burgundy, Berner Oberland and Northern Italy....only drove in France and in Piemonte. Avoided the larger cities, and wandered off the chosen route a few times.....BUT ..here we are safely back in
California as of last Saturday. Being a map freak helps, as does a good navigator (my wife). Go off and enjoy Calabria, forget the GPS (I wouldn't even know what they look like).
stu t.
Four trips ago I was a naysayer about GPSs, too, but using one once made me a believer. Not that they obliterate the need for a map, IMO, but they are especially helpful in European towns and cities. And they do have limitations, as mentioned above.
Thanks so much to all the great responses. Now, depending on my nerve, I will have to make a decision. Usually, I'm the navigator and the driver and my companion doesn't read maps.
I do agree that paper maps are a must and that you can't blindly rely on GPS for directions.
I am a big fan of GPS, however, since they do a great job of telling you where you actually are at any time. A paper map doesn't help a lot if you don't know where you are at the moment.
If you already have a GPS with US only maps you may find Europe maps available for sale on ebay.