loveners

Hi Fodorites

Are maps all created equal? or are certain kinds better than others??

Being on the other side of the world in NZ, there's not a lot of map choice locally so I will be ordering my maps in specially.

I think I probably need three of them.

Tuscany - one for driving around. We'll be based in Pienza and doing day trips from there. Which brand do you prefer?

I'm also interested in doing a bit of walking in Tuscany and wondered if anyone had used Gillian Price's "Walking in Tuscany" book?

CT - I guess we'll probably drive from from CT to Tuscany but haven't definitely decided this yet. Any brand preferences?

Dolomites - An old book I have suggests the Tobacco 1:25,000 maps are good apart from the fact that they use Ladin place names which makes this hard. Is this a big deal?

Thanks everyone. Am loving being a part of this community. It's amazing to see the helpful responses.

Cheers.

Lovener1

kybourbon

The TCI (Touring Club Italia) Toscana map is good as are the other TCI regional maps.

spaarne

IMO Michelin maps in the lowest scale you can find are the best available.

enzian

For the Dolomites, especially if you are doing any walking/hiking, you will want the Tabacco ( note spelling) 1:25000 maps. I just looked at the two I have and the language is interesting. Both are in German and Italian, with town names, narrative, and map key in those two languages. But the map for Alta Badia, where Ladin is more usual, has all the geographic features and many other place names in Ladin. If you are hiking there, this is actually most useful, as many of the signs you will encounter are in that language--- and some exclusively in Ladin. The good news is that most od the people you meet there will also speak other languages, in many cases English, German and Italian in addition to Ladin.

ms_go

I will second the Tabacco maps for the Dolomites. We found them useful for both driving and hiking. I'm not at home right now so I can't look at them, but I don't recall an issue with language.

We are in Tuscany right now and are using a TCI Tuscany map and have found it to be sufficiently detailed for driving--including on some pretty small roads at times.

telechick

A third vote for the Tabacco maps. Their place names match what you're going to see on the ground and they give you really good detail. Enjoy!

Ackislander

We had a 1:50000 Touring Club map in the Veneto earlier this month, and it was not adequate, especially for the complex junctions around cities. There are lots of wonderful back roads in Italy, most of them more enjoyable than the main roads, and the biggest scale you can get (1:25000?)will help you find and navigate them. You will also find a smaller scale (a road atlas perhaps) useful for navigating between regions.

In a perfect world, the Ordinance Survey would map all places or wifi would be ubiquitous so we could use online maps on the fly.

loveners

Thanks everyone, that's been really helpful.

tdyls

The TCI maps of regions (Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, etc.) are 1:200,000 scale (1 cm = 2 km) and are great for driving. They have sufficient detail to see what the shape and geometry of most interchanges on the Autostrada look like. Rather than most maps, which show just a dot, or a box, or a diamond for interchanges, the TCI maps show the interchange ramps.

Would it be detailed enough for hiking? No. But driving, it's hands-down the winner IMNSHO.