Help! Need excellent road maps for the U.K., specifically the area around York and Harrogate, South and Central Wales (driving from Llyswen to Welshpool) and Sussex (East & West)/Kent. <BR> <BR>Want maps that show all those little lanes and roads as well as the main roads and highways. Very much do not want to get lost (makes me crabby)! Expect we'll be terrified anyway . . . if not incapacitated by our first 'round-about. <BR> <BR>Last time I was in the U.K., we hired a driver and he had a series of maps bound together in a spiral book format. Can anyone recommend such map publishers? <BR> <BR>THANKS!

You're right. You need great maps. You will want the ones which are maximum 4 miles to the inch. We bought ours at a newstand in the airport (Gatwick). 4UK pounds for one regional map, published by Collins. Harper Collins Publishers, 77-85 Fulham Palace Rd., Hammersmith, London W6 8JB. <BR> It's a big folded map, on heavy coated stock - but it did do the usual trick of tearing at the creases, which for 4 pounds really annoyed me. If you are driving for long and doing more than one district, I would definitely recommend a spiral bound atlas. <BR> No such critter available in my town in the US of A, but if you live in or near a major city in the US I would think a travel specialty store or book store with a big travel section - or even a map store like the Rand McNally stores, would have what you want. <BR> Have fun - the driving was fine after a day or so. It is the job of the navigator to constantly mutter (yelling when needed), "stay left!" That, along with the fact that you are sitting on the other side of the car pretty much does the trick!

I love maps! I collect detailed maps from places we've been. Our experience trying to get maps was to do it in three stages: <BR> <BR>1. Planning: Best I could get in the US was 300,000:1 bound map I found at Barnes & Noble (red cover.) This was sufficient to do planning and locate those tiny towns not found in one sheet maps. We found large city maps, London, etc, but not smaller ones, such as York, even on Internet. <BR> <BR>2. Getting more bearing: Found rest of the detailed maps after arrival. We got ours at some kind of British Tourism office 2 blocks south of Piccadily Circus. Here we found the spiral bound 4 inch to 1 map. Collins or Ordnance Survey - your choice. More detailed maps of other cities were here, too, Ordnance Survey, The AA, Bartholomew, A to Z, etc. Each map had strength and weaknesses. <BR> <BR>3. At major cities: Even more maps specific to each region were at Tourist Info Center (TIC) or other equivalent at major cities. We got the Lake District maps this way because the Piccadily store was all out of the maps. <BR> <BR>

Marcia & Greg -- <BR> <BR>Thanks very much indeed for your quick and helpful responses. Our driving expeditions in the UK this September will no doubt be more direct and pleasant as a result of your timely tips. <BR> <BR>Cheers, <BR>Kat

<BR>I, too, am planning various trips through the UK and haven't been successful in finding any good maps. But, today I received a packet from the British Tourist Authority and one of the pamphlets contained an entire section on maps and atlases. From London street maps (the London cabbie's bible) to road maps and ordance survey maps. Looks like a possibility. Britrail's British Travel Shop, 551 Fifth Ave, NY 800-677-8585.

Good luck to you!!! Our first venture (in 1984) actually went quite well...once we cleared Marble Arch (where we'd rented the car and actually made it out of town), we did, indeed, manage a 2 1/2 week journey thru Britain, Wales and Scotland that was tremendously enjoyable... <BR>We looked forward to a repeat this spring, when we'd hoped to do the south/southwest of England and the Cotswolds. Perhaps it was because all of those destinations were within a short drive of London -- at least, that's what I keep telling myself. It was horrendous! Heavy traffic. Curbs on a two lane road where you are trying to keep up with about a 50-60 (mph) speed...road signs obliterated by greenery....and then-- no room at the inn!....If you're heading north...I hope it is a wonderful trip for you...Please let us know, so we get up the courage to try it again...Signedtill quivering in the midwest

My 13-year-old daughter and I spent two weeks in England this summer - 7 days in London, 7 on the road stopping in a different location each night. Needless to say, I wanted to be prepared when we got there for doing all the driving and the navigating. After searching book stores for maps, I located one for Southeast England, where we focused our travels, that was about 5 miles per inch. I was concerned about the rural roads, lanes, etc. I found a website (www.streetmap.co.uk) that was perfect. I was able to print off small maps, 3 miles per inch, that followed our itinerary. In the end, I had my own version of AAA's TripTik. This will only work if you are planning a schedule in advance but, if so, it works great. We didn't have a hitch the whole trip. These maps are so detailed you can see in advance which offshoots to take on upcoming roundabouts! <BR>Good luck!

At Gatwick Airport, there is a tourism desk right after you go through customs which is very helpful and sells a wonderful map. Their AA Big Road Atlas of Britain was 6pounds and was 3miles to the inch. We drove throughout Britain to a lot of out of the way places and never got lost. It even showed roads which were not much wider than our rental car.

The red map Greg mentioned, I think is the Euroatlas map of Great Britain <BR>by American Map which is a part of the German map company Langenscheidt Pub. <BR>Michelin has a spiral bound one that does not have quite the detail, <BR>but it is easier to see the difference between the M, A and B roads. <BR>On the ground, you should try to get the bound Ordanance Survey maps. <BR>They now come by region, such as West <BR>Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, etc... <BR>They are incredibly detailed and, between them and my stupendously <BR>talented navigator (my wife), saved my rear a number of times. Useful <BR>for their detail and tour suggestions for broader areas are the <BR>Goldeneye Publishing Co. maps. I purchased them off the web from www.mapstore.com. I know they have one for a Magical Mystery Tour of <BR>Yorkshire, and Bicyling Tour for Sussex/Kent.

Kat - My husband & I bought this real good road atlas in Great Britain that showed with incredible detail even the most obscure country roads in England and Scotland. It even had icons for castles, hiking trails, etc....It was so detailed! The company was Geographers A-Z Map Co. LTD, Kent <BR>Ph.# 01 73 278 1000. They were for sale in most gas stations. Worth every penny! <BR>

The past few years we have used the Collins atlas, available in the airports when you land. It is 4 miles to the inch, and every road, lane and cow path is printed (as well as all the round-abouts) We had not problems )other than my driving) on any of the trips we took. Good luck and have fun! <BR>

Kat <BR> <BR>The best and most detailed maps in the UK are those produced by the Government's Ordnance Survey department. Their web site can be found at:- <BR> <BR>http://WWW.ORDSVY.GOV.UK/maps.html <BR> <BR>I've just looked at their site and they advise of suppliers world-wide. <BR> <BR>Bill Barr

You can buy Ordnance Survey maps in the US from David Morgan, 11812 Northcreek Parkway N., Suite 103, Bothell, WA 98011 Phone: (206) 485-1232. The also have a web site that you can order from. The Travelmaster series are 1 inch to 4 mile scale. The highly detailed Landranger Series is about 1 inch to 1 mile and shows such things as public phones and public houses (pubs). They are great for knowing exactly where you are down to the nearest house (or pub.) <BR>These maps are expensive, they may be less costly in the UK. <BR> <BR>Have fun, <BR>HankH