lavender

Which ( company's) maps did you find most useful to explore these cities?

Did you obtain any of them in the actual city you were visiting?

Which guide book did you find to have the most useful maps?

subcon

believe it or not ATAC, the rome transit system, puts out a very nice (free) book of all kinds of good maps and info. it can be gotten at the atac kiosk just outside (and perhaps inside the termini).

the book is about 320 pages with maps by neighborhood, itineraries and usefull descriptions of tourist points of interest. it's small and reasonably lightweight. i recommend it highly.

HowardR

While the Streetwise maps are excellent, we prefer the NG Traveler ones for a key reason: The entire city is on one side, so you don't have to flip back and forth.

kjosker

Berlitz has come out with a line of maps that are made out of a plasticized paper that fold easily to a very shirt pocketable 3" X 4" size.

I have seen copies for Rome, Venice and Florence. I haven't seen a Paris edition yet, but I haven't really looked.

They sell for $4.95. The ISBN number for the Florence map is 981-246-445-X. Their website is http://www.berlitzpublishing.com

If size and weight matter, then they deserve your consideration.

sandi_travelnut

we also use Streetwise maps. Lamenated, easy to fold and small enough to out in a bag or backpocket.

2Italy

I like the MapEasy maps. They have them for Rome, Florence, and Venice, at some bookstores or at www.mapeasy.com. I like them because they're sort of cartoonish but have all the info you need. They show restaurants, shops, banks, metros, bus stops, trains, hospitals, etc. They're waterproof and tear resistant also.

DejaVu

I like the Streetwise maps because they are small, easy to fold, laminated, and thus discreet (ie. you can peek without advertising your being lost to the world). Streetwise Florence map is the exception though, because it includes the suburbs and therefore is harder to read the historical center.
Eyewitness Guidebooks always have fantastic maps with street listings.

jgg

We like the Streetwise maps as well. You can get tham at Barnes & Noble. They fit nicely in your purse or backpack and because they are laminated don't get ripped up, even after much use.

I like to photocopy it while I am planning our trip, and use that to highlight all the places we need to go. This helps me become familiar with the map and how to find things on it.

mdtravel

I wrote a letter to all of the hotels I was staying at requesting maps. We didn't drive so these maps were just fine.

nancy

I used the Streetwise maps for both Paris & Rome and found them to be the best. They show all the streets and major sites. Like someone above mentioned you could Xerox them and highlight the areas you want to visit thereby not having to hunt for them on the map. I didn't do that but sounds good.

LoveItaly

Hi lavender, if you don't get a chance to buy maps before you leave for Italy you can find maps in any bookstore in Italy. Have a wonderful trip!

twk

Streetwise is fine, but I'm a map freak and really like detailed maps. Thus, I opted for the Michelin spiral bound atlas of Paris by arrondisements, which at 7.5 in x 4.75 in will fit in the back pocket of adult male blue jeans. I believe that Michelin sells a fold up map with a similar level of detail, but the spiral atlas is much handier (although you need to be familiar with the basic layout of the arrondisements to make the best use of it).

I couldn't really find a map of the Paris metro that was anywhere near as good as what appears on the RATP web site, so I printed off a copy of that map on photo paper, cut it in half, and had it laminated, to make my own, easy to read, easy to handle, Metro map.