I would like a recommendation for a detailed map including small villages in the areas of Lake Garda, Tuscany and Rome. I realize I may need more than 1 map. Any help appreciated.

How detailed?
Driving, biking, walking, hiking, orienteering?

http://www.touringclub.com/store/ric...200.000&page=2

http://www.edizionimultigraphic.it/i...e=2&id_zone=16

Mark

We will be driving and would like as much detail as possible. Toll roads, sights, etc.

We have used the specialized Michelin maps. Take a look what is offered for those specific areas. He have also used Hammond maps.

Michelin maps for each section. Easily findable online - just make sure you get ones that are fully detaild. For towns we download superdetailed ones for the area of our hotel and main sites from google maps.

Unfortunately, the map business is dead. Production is too expensive in the age of GPS and Google. The typical scale of 1:200,000 is pretty much useless if detail is what you are seeking. You need something in the range of 1:17,000. Streetwise offers good detail for some larger Italian cities, but the choices are few.

Sometimes, you can find good, detailed local maps that aren't available in the U.S. or online, but I've stopped wasting my time looking for those.

Online maps are your best and most cost effective resource. Most up-to-date, too. The only problem: printing. At 72ppi, you can't expect quality. The details will be blurry. There are plug-ins that can up-rez a Google map for printing purposes (which is what I do), but be prepared for a learning curve. Having Photoshop and knowing it well helps.

I just checked my map stash of favorites. For serious detail (for sightseeing, walking around, driving in the city-center), you need something in the range of 1:5,700 to 1:10,000. These maps aren't being made in print anymore. Everyone is using their iPhone. Those who don't have one are using Google and printing them out at home.

You need 2 Michelin maps---#562 and #563 for general planning and driving.

Apparently Michelin has not heard maps are dead.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...20maps%20Italy

I have the Michelin Map for central Italy and my husband has the TCI map for the same general area. I can't tell you what the numbers are, because they're down in our respective garages. I find the Michelin Map better, because to my eyes it's more legible. My husband obviously prefers the TCI map.

Neither has the details of streets inside small towns, but I understood that you just wanted maps that had the small towns on them.

During our last road trip in Spain I had a 1:1,000,000 scale Michelin road map and CityMaps2Go app on my IPad.

Mark

We use the Touring Editore (Touring Club Italiano) map of Toscana in the 1:200,000 scale. We bought it originally because we were doing a motorcycle tour, and it emphasizes/covers the smaller roads we wanted to ride better than the Michelin equivalent. Available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Tuscany-Englis...+italiano+maps

I'm a graphic design expert. I never enjoyed Michelin maps.

Michelin only offers 10 Italian city maps, ranging from 1/6,000 to 1/13,000, which offers the best detail for walking, biking, driving, parking, etc. That's 10 cities throughout the entire country. You can find these 10 maps on the U.K. website:

http://travel.michelin.co.uk/italy-121-c.asp

I have no idea how you find them in America, perhaps on Amazon. You need to pay attention to the date of publishing, since many on the internet are pre-2008.

<i><font color=#555555>"Apparently Michelin has not heard maps are dead."</font></i>

One paper map manufacturer does not make a booming industry. I'm sure the smarter travelers on this board understand my point.

Besides Michelin here are other companies haven't heard about maps being dead or what constitutes smart. We have used all these companies at one time or another.

Hammond Map

http://www.amazon.com/Italy-Travel-H.../dp/0843715650


Rand McNally

http://store.randmcnally.com/maps-gu...ope/italy.html

Freytag & Brandt

http://store.randmcnally.com/maps-gu...ope/italy.html


Everyone who has followed an on-line map that has been wrong, led to the wrong place, didn't know a road was closed, or didn't know the difference between Portland, Oregon with Portland, Maine, raise your hand?

Kompass produce maps of rural Italy down to 1:25,000, these are detailed enough for hiking.

Some posters should lay off the booze before they post.

Hammond Maps sold in 2010. The map linked was last published in 2007, and it's of the entire country of Italy, at a scale of 1:800,000. Good luck finding detail on that.

As for Rand McNally, they only offer MapEasy and Streetwise brands, and Florence, Rome, and Venice are the only cities. Again, the publishing dates need to be checked. Who wants to spend money on a 4-year-old+ MapEasy? Many of the stores and restaurants have changed since the financial crash of 2008.

People who post jibberish because they have nothing better to do = sad.

http://www.kompass.de/

Well I haven't been boozing, yet.

I used to work with Art Directors, It is nice to know Snob is continuing the tradition of arrogance and self-importance.

How timely. In today's NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/op...-gps.html?_r=0

The author waxes poetic for printed maps, but then adds how difficult they are to find now. Seems silly to endure the aggravation of the search, when you know there aren't good choices available. And given the cost to produce up-to-date versions, I don't see competition ever coming back. The publishing world has changed. Just look at the top of this page at all the requests for travel writers.

Here are some excerpts:

<i>"Before we left, I amassed the blanket topographical coverage I imagine the Allied generals had when they stormed the Continent. Collecting the maps was an interminable process. Bookstores have scaled back their selection in recent years. Or stopped selling maps altogether. Apparently, a good number of people think printed maps are pointless nowadays."

"I used to seek and dream at the Hagstrom Map and Travel Center on West 43rd Street. I loved that store. It closed four years ago, leaving New York, like many cities, without a specialty map shop."

"Mr. Riback believes we live in a golden age for maps. 'More people are using more maps in more ways than they have in our lifetime,' he said. But he estimated that printed map sales are less than half of what they once were. And filling stations no longer sell maps as a rule. People still like to frame printed maps as art; they just don’t like using them as much when road tripping."</i>