jennsean

Thank you very much for the great suggestions. We are leaning towards separating the ireland part (perhaps flying and renting a car to meet my parents there), and there's still a lot of debate about what to see with the car. I've already toured a good bit of southern sweden, denmark, belgium, the netherlands, france and germany, so I'd like to take the car somewhere new like switzerland, but it might not be worth the weather.

I did enjoy baden-baden, BTilke, and may go back (not just for the A8, although it sounds like fun!) Any suggestions on somewhere like that in the Germany, Switzerland, or even Czech Republic area??? - i think whatever we decide a nice day of relaxation in thermal springs, etc. might be called for. Nothing too expensive or fancy...

I completely understand the tiny old roads, last time i was in europe my mom almost killed me for letting her drive in to Rothenburg, especially since we couldn't figure out how to turn off the park assist feature on the german rental car, so it beeped from all four borders of the car almost the whole time in town. Not quite as helpful as when you're actually trying to park in a small space

I'm glad the volvo ED went well, and I'll definately check out those atlases.

Thanks so much!

Robespierre

I just noticed I failed to answer one of your questions.

Yes, the handhelds with European maps are excellent (23 zoom levels, for example). If you have a car, running the mapping application on a laptop makes more sense, though, because of the larger screen. With a Targus APM10US Universal Adapter, you can power it from the wall at home or Europe, in trains and airplanes (that provide 12VDC at the seat), and in cars.

The maps are integrated with the Red Guides (hotels & restaurants), so you can pick somewhere to eat by cuisine, price, and so on, and the map will plot your route to it.

jennsean

Thanks, Robespierre, So this is with the GPS receiver for $90 you mentioned? and that would get me into Microsoft Streets & Trips for free? and I'd be able to find decent free online maps, but the recommended purchase is $100 for Michelin's highway maps? Sorry to be so clueless, but these Michelin maps are the ones that are integrated with the Red Guides? So basically, about $200 and not too much searching online would get me GPS and good highway maps for much of europe?

That doesn't sound like a bad deal if I've got it right...



PS- I don't have a decent laptop for travel, the handheld should run fine by itself, it's just the screen size in question? I will have someone with me the whole time to 'navigate' so as long as it's not difficult to see for him, i should be ok...


Thanks for all the help!

jennsean

Oops - i just checked out the site more carefully and saw that the gps thing goes with a pda or pc. Sorry to miss that. In that case, I may be sticking to a good road atlas. Oh well

Robespierre

Clarification:

Michelin <b>Maps and Route Planning</b> will work on a laptop, PocketPC, or Palm Pilot, <i>with or without</i> a GPS receiver. It has highway maps that zoom in to street level.

Microsoft <b>Pocket Streets</b> (for PPC only) is free, as are all the 300+ city maps. No highway maps are available.

Microsoft <b>Streets &amp; Trips</b> (PPC or laptop) only has maps for the US, but the GPS receiver is bundled for $90. You can use the UK maps from AutoRoute with it, but no EU road maps exist, to my knowledge.

I got along one summer with an iPAQ 2215 with <b>Pocket Streets</b> and a GPS that plugs into the CF slot on the handheld. This year, I'm taking the laptop loaded with <b>Maps and Route Planning</b> and the USB GPS that was bundled with my <b>Streets &amp; Trips</b>.

jennsean

Great info, thanks so much!

kleeblatt

Jennsean:

There's a wonderful thermal bad in Switzerland located in Graubunden, not too far away from the Italian part of Switzerland. It's located off the beaten track in a small village. It's called Vals and might be of interest to you. The architecture is very intriguing. Here's the website: http://www.therme-vals.ch/

jennsean

Thanks schuler, it looks cool. Have you been there? Any idea if the 'outbuildings' are ok rooms or if I should spring for the more expensive ones? Did you have any treatments done there that you would recommend, or just the thermal pools? Have a great day!