meliss35

Which Costa Rica map do you recommend I get for driving? Either Toucan Guides Rugged Waterproof Roadmap of Costa Rica or the Bernsdton & Bernsdton laminated map from Barnes & Nobles?

carcarter

Just back and we got a map from the car rental place and from Tabacon and both were better than the two you mention as I looked into them. Nothing is better than the words of the locals to get you from one place to the next!

shillmac

Have looked at numerous car rental maps, but for us, none have been comparable to the Berndston & Berndston laminated map you mentioned from Barnes & Noble. Others have given me maps and recommended them as better than that one, but it remains my favorite. Guess it's because we're used to it--have used it for years.

meliss35

I can't seem to find the Berndston map on the Barnes and Noble website. any suggestions?

travel_advisor

ICT (Costa Rican Tourist Board) maps are pretty good. Also, I saw once a laminated NG map, very good. Try these online places...
http://centralamerica.com/cr/maps/mapcosta.htm

http://www.maptak.com/cr/crm/cr-pol.html#

kaudrey

I bought my Bernsdton map at the local Barnes and Noble. Do you have one near you?

shillmac

You can also order online.

rmeyer

We were thinking about just not getting a map and using the one that the car rental company gives us...we got a SUV thru Elegante Rent-A-Car. Think this is smart? I've read some threads that say that the map the rental car company gives is just as good as any map you'd buy online...

meliss35

I just bought the Bernsdton & Bernsdton map at Barnes & Nobles. Thanks for the help.

Earthtraveler

meyer,
I've never recieved a good map from my rental co in CR. I use the ITMB map with elevation relief coloration , parks, reserves, beaches,San Jose blowup, and good hiway and even backroads on it.
www.itmb.com

Mapguy

I like the National Geographic Map for a printable road map.

http://www.costaricamapproject.com has the best online map of costa rica. It is basically like google maps or mapquest and it loads quickly.

jkheigle

A Map????

There are very few road signs in CR. Just got back, this is current info. I recommend a GPS syestem....

Have fun, and have a navigator who never looks down....

shillmac

We've always had good luck using the B&B map and have never felt the need for GPS. In all but a few areas, road signs have seemed adequate to us, although we've pulled over and asked our share of directions a few times--particularly in the beginning of our visits. Even driving through San Jose, where there really aren't any street signs, that map has gotten us through just fine--every time! Good luck! It's not so bad!

jkheigle

Actually, I've never used a gps before and wonder if it would do any good to have such a thing out side of San Jose....

A good smile and open heart will get you going in the right direction when lost, and well, I found that keeping track of the mileage/km travelled is a good idea. You'll have an idea that maybe you missed a turn back there at the last soda....

The roads are bumpy, but they're just as bumpy in parts of Houston Texas.... The pot holes? Yup, you'll see a few of those. Just avoid them... of course.

Have fun!

shillmac

I've wondered the same thing about GPS in CR and don't recall hearing anyone say, although it has been mentioned on Fodor's before.

All good suggestions: big smile, open heart, and keep track of the mileage. This last one really does help. What we've noticed a lot is that there may be too many signs in a few places, and the mileages they give aren't consistent--so you don't know which is correct. . .

Suzie2

A GPS can be used in some places. We found ours to be almost totally useless in places like the Osa. We got it primarily to plot out some properties that we were looking at on the Osa. We got partial readings but not enough.