Ruthie

In a few days leaving for extensive road trip thru France, Spain, Italy. Opinions solicted for the BEST(Easiest to read and use), road maps...also where would I buy them in Paris? Thanks!

J T Kirk

Michelin.

Bob Brown

Most of my road maps are published by Michelin. They are large in size, however. I find that to be a plus rather than a negative. As large as they are, I still find that there are roads that do not show on the map.<BR>I also have an Aral road atlas, but mostly I use the Michelin maps.<BR>I don't know of any specific place in Paris to buy them; I get mine from One Map Place in Dallas. The owner stocks a good supply.<BR>

Doug Weller

Tricky. Michelin is indeed good. You might want individual Atlas's for each country to give you the best resolution. I have in front of me a Michelin 2002 Tourist and Motoring Atlas for France, for instance. It comes in various formats, with differing numbers of town plans, etc. Mine is A4 format, 75 town plans, 1:200 000 -- probably gives you the best detail of any atlas. <BR><BR>Ideally I'd suggest something like that for each country (might not be Michelin for Spain or Italy).<BR><BR>You might want to get, now, a large folding map of western Europe just for a good overview.<BR><BR>As to where, there is this:<BR>Institut G&eacute;ographique National<BR>107 rue La Bo&eacute;tie, 8th (01.43.98.85.00)<BR>Mº Franklin D Roosevelt. Open 9.30am-7pm Mon-Fri; 11am- 12.30pm, 2-6.30pm Sat. Credit AmEx, MC, V.<BR><BR>Paris' best cartographic shop stocks international maps, detailed guides to France, wine, cheese, walking and cycling maps and historic maps of Paris.<BR><BR>Or D Le Bail --<BR>F Weissart at 5 rue Lagrange. From their website: "Located in Paris, near Notre-Dame, we specialise in atlases, travel, antique and modern illustrated books. "<BR><BR>But why not Brentano's?<BR>Brentano's<BR>37 av de l'Op&eacute;ra, 2nd (01.42.61.52.50)<BR>Mº Op&eacute;ra. Open 10am-7.30pm Mon-Sat. Credit AmEx, MC, V.<BR><BR>Or the British stalwart:<BR><BR>WH Smith<BR>248 rue de Rivoli, 1st (01.44.77.88.99)<BR>Mº Concorde. Open 9am-7.30pm Mon-Sat; 1-7.30pm Sun. Credit AmEx, MC, V.<BR>

Lisa

Heartily agree with above posters...Michelin is the way to go. I have bought them throughout Europe. As in the US, they are available in bookstores (wide variety of locations) and also in larger newstands (usually only the local map). <BR><BR>Michelin does various coverage. For instance you can get all Europe, each country, or sections within countries depending on the scale you desire. <BR><BR>I have been the "navigator" to my husband the "driver" for many trips, and I have learned by experience that Michelin are the easiest to use and most accurate. <BR><BR>Happy travels!<BR><BR>Lisa

mpprh

hi<BR><BR>shell gas stations do national and european road maps<BR><BR>no better or worse than michelin, but also show shell stations !<BR><BR>peter

Louis

Michelin. Don't mess with anything else.<BR>Accurate, readable, attractive. (Hey, even the Germans used them to invade France).<BR>

Doug Weller

No, for Italy don't get Michelin, get the Touring Club of Italy's 3 atlases, much better than the Michelin atlas.<BR><BR>http://209.113.138.137/<BR><BR>Doug<BR><BR>

ann

I just went to Barnes and Noble to buy a Michelin map for my upcoming trip to Italy - based on word of mouth that it was the best. But when I started to look at it and several others (same size, cost) I found the Hammond seemed much easier to read. About the same amount of detail but something about the print, the coloring of the background, etc just seemed much clearer. I had to really study the Michelin to find certain roads and the thought of doing that in a moving car worried me. Anyone have any experience with the Hammond International Maps?

Doug Weller

I'd still go with the Italian produced series of 3 atlases for Italy, or at least the relevant ones.<BR><BR>But I have noticed that different formatted Michelin atlases differ in their readibility. My A4 France 2002 Michelin Atlas is much easier to read than the large format one, though they are basically the same maps. Just the color is slightly different in some way.