Have just booked our flights to Germany for the end of August / beginning of September - now I need help in picking out a good map, as we will be renting a car and driving. Our tentative itinerary is Munich - Salzburg - St. Wolfgang / Hallstatt area - Bavaria (Berchtesgaden area then on to Garmisch / Fussen area) - Romantic Road - Rhine and/or Mosel - depart Frankfurt. We would like to meander through the small villages in each of these areas. I heard somewhere (maybe while lurking here?) that the Michelin Maps are recommended, but my question is, which one? I checked a local bookstore today, and I seem to have 3 choices in Michelin maps - 1) a large (approx 8.5 x 11) coil bound book type map of Germany; 2) a fold out map for all of Germany (I think it is #984 or 982?) Can't remember ...) or 3) two fold out maps of regions of Germany - 1 for Southeast to cover the Munich / Austria / Bavaria / lower Romantic Road portions of the trip, and 1 for Central - West to cover the upper Romantic Road / Rhine / Mosel / Frankfurt portions of the trip. Any suggestions on the best choice would be appreciated! Or, if you have suggestions for map that is better than the Michelin maps, that would be great!

Gwen, Call me cheap, but I usually buy our maps in-country at service stations. The maps, although usually in the native language, are good quality and at a fraction of the cost of the expensive maps at Barnes & Noble, etc. They are easy to follow. <BR> <BR>We usually try a site such as Mapquest to get a rough idea of routes and distances before leaving home, then we pick up our maps over there. If you are renting a car, as you mentioned, most agencies provide you with complimentary maps. I've got a tattered map from Alamo on Germany that I still use. <BR> <BR>Save your money to purchase some great German beer

Gwen, <BR>Lee is quite correct in saying that European service station maps are excellent; look particularly for the Esso maps. Even the rental car companies provide maps far more detailed that we see in the states. <BR>If you're interested in maps for planning itineraries beforehand, you'd want Michelin Map No 419 for Bavaria west and southwest of Munich, 420 for east and southeast of Munich and No 926 for western Austria.

Gwen, Always try to get the orange 400 <BR>series Michelin maps for good detail. <BR>Note the ones Wes mentions and also the # 426 for much of your area. That sounds like a great trip. We did about the same trip---minus the northern part of your itinerary---in 1999. St. Gilgen makes a good base for the Austria part.

This won't work if everyone tries it, but I got the best German map from their Embassy in D.C. I emailed that I would be going and asked for information and a map. They were very nice and the information sent was most helpful.

I just ordered Michelin maps from Amazon.com. I prefer the yellow series which includes the secondary roads -- very important for whoever is doing the navigating.

If you thought you might someday be touring other countries in Europe you might consider investing $25 in a Shell book-atlas. This has very detailed (1:500,000) maps of Germany, quite detailed maps of the Alps (1:850,000), perfectly adequate maps of the rest of Europe from Ireland to Greece, and broad detail maps of parts of Turkey, Russia and northern Scandinavia. Plus there are city maps for all the larger german cities and for the major cities in the rest of Europe and a wealth of information of all sorts to help the traveller. <BR> <BR>Or, for around $7 you can get the soft cover version which has Germany even more detailed at 1:400,000, the Alps as before and the rest in broad detail(1:1,500,000). <BR> <BR>These can be purchased at the bookstore at the airport when you arrive.