My husband tells me that while our garmin will guide us on pedestrian routes (indeed when we first used ours it was in pedestrian mode and went crazy trying to help us find a destination to which we were driving) it's almost useless since it will only hold a charge for about two hours without being plugged into the car cigarette lighter. I just have to think there must be some way to recharge. I'm terribly mechanically/electrically challenged (and, of course, we can't find the user's guide) so I'd really appreciate any help you can give me to get better use out of our little gizmo. Thanks.

My Garmin came with a plug.... and a European adapator. So I know they are out there. Try going to Garmin.com and doing a search for the User's guide on there. Or call them. I found thier Customer service good.

Now does your's have Europe maps loaded? Otherwise it will be useless. And they can quickly add up the cost.

I just walk around lost. It seems like too much trouble to carry the thing when I walk.

CarolA, thanks. I'll check out the plug and European adaptor. We bought our Garmin with the European maps installed so we're fine on that score. I love your honesty about just walking around lost.

Some of the best things that ever happened to me, happened when I got lost.

In Siena for example I got invited to this huge neighborhood picnic when they came to help me read my map. It was great!

Check online for the user's guide...many of them can be downloaded

Pedestrian Garmin - a bone of contention between myself and DW. She loves it, me, not so much, I for the most part find it a pain. However to be fair:

1. We have found that the battery life (Nuvi 370) was about 3-4 hours. Of course, it it not on constantly.

2. When beginning a route, it is often difficult to find the starting point. A small pocket compass is useful.

3. It does not work well in narrow streets or streets with tall buildings. Thus it is better in some cities and towns than in others. For example, in Venice and parts of the left bank of Paris, it was mostly useless.

4. The screen washes out in the sun.

5. It most often does not choose the most interesting or pleasant route. However, I understand that there is software that Garmin sells that will allow you to pick a route in advance and then the GPS will guide you on the chosen route. That would have been good to have on our last trip.

6. There are places that it just cannot find. It had us wandering around a lot in Amsterdam and also was unable to find some addresses in Paris.

7. A plus is that you can plug in an ear bud to hear the spoken directions. Useful in calling less attention to yourself and using in noisy places, like a busy street.

8. What I don't like is that it requires attention that disracts from the purpose of touring, that is seeing things and enjoying the ambiance of where you are.

9. And as CarolA says, often getting lost is the best part of the trip, particularly in places like Venice.

In any case, you will still want a good paper map as a supplement.

I share our pain, and have been there. My nuvi is sealed so you can't get to the batteries, which, I would guess are soldered-in so that you couldn't just pop them in and out anyway.

We tried using our Garmin in Paris, and it lost signals on most of the narrow streets.

Its great for the car, but mostly useless for walking. You might want to have it with you, turned off, and just turn it on when you are hopelessly lost. Plug in the adress of your hotel as a favorite before you leave your hotel, and use it only for "lost" emergencies.

Enjoy your trip.
Steve

Thanks basingstoke2 and bocacpa. Based on your perspectives I'm going to get over my "we must solve this problem and use the Garmin" thing. With limited time to handle this, I'm not so sure I want to invest it in something that might not be worth the effort in the end. And now I won't even feel guilty for not moving heaven and earth to make it work. Thanks. That was freeing.

bocacpa, does your screen name indicate your residence and profession? If so, we're down the road from you in Pompano Beach.