Frankval

Can you tell me if the GPS works good in Itlay.. Do you rent it with the car you rent or do you bring it from home?

The second time we went to Italy we were driving to our Hotel and got lost. We wound up on a Mountain that became a dirt road and deserted. My husband just kept driving forward and upward as we couldn't turn around...(I was scared of going over the edge ) we did come accross a car (the only car ) coming from the other way he stoppped and we asked how to get back to the highway. He told us to go to the right at the next dirt road and we finally after a good hour we were back to civilization..
Loved the town Pievescola but boy to get there...

So I'm looking to try a GPS ...

Thanks Val

cmeyer54

we rented ours with the car twice; would not try to drive now without one.

JoanneH

Yes it works but also be smart and jot down where you left your car. Sometimes it will take you the long way back or not be able to find it as you don't have the exact address. Its not much good in Venice for walking nor in Florence JMHO it was great on the roads, Rome and Naples. So its a toss up.

Robespierre

First of all, there's no such thing as "the GPS" - there are a hundred brands with a hundred mapping applications, both hardware and software, ranging in quality from outstanding to useless.

But if your interest lies simply in being able to find your way home in an emergency no matter where you made a wrong turn, you can acquire a basic system that does no more than display your current latitude and longitude. Then you can transfer these co-ordinates to a paper map and manually plot a route that gets you home. Less than $50.

2fun

I love my GPS!

I decided to buy one instead of getting one with a rental car. I knew I would use it again and I wanted to be familiar with it before I really needed it.
I took a girls trip with a friend to France and used it for the first time last year. I'll spare you the details, but it saved our friendship I'm sure! Also used it for Italy this year for the Tuscany region, including a side trip to Spello.

That being said, it does have it's quirks. When driving from St. Emillion to Sarlat, it earned the nickname Grumpy Gertie. On very curvy roads, the GPS thinks that you have turned and announces "recalculating", and trys to redirect you. We learned to ignore this and keep on the main road and it was no problem. We heard "recalculating" several times as we approached Sarlat, hence the name Grumpie Gertie. Also, Gertie has trouble pronouncing street names.....that was good for a laugh (it was still easy to follow). I have a Garmin nuvi 670, it's a touch screen, and you can easily zoom in or out on an area. This was helpful on the way to our hotel in Pisa, because the bridge was closed and we needed to find another way across the river to our hotel. It was pretty easy to do with the GPS.

Both trips I used it on, I had to pick up the rental car at night. Which I hate, but it was unavoidable. Gertie got us to where we needed to go. We also travel with a regional map. Hope that helps.

Frankval

I guess I'll rent a car with the "GPS" just to have.
Thanks for your help.
Val

daveesl

I have a ProGin receiver that I hook into my laptop. I used to use Route66 software, which was fairly accurate most of the time, but they don't even make it anymore. On my last trip I used AutoRoute, but that was in Ireland and surprisingly it was dead-on accurate. I have not had a chance to use AutoRoute in Italy and won't be needing it on this next trip, so can't help too much.

Laptop GPS is nice because of size of display. Negative is the size of the laptop. One of the new netbooks might be the trick, if you go that route.
dave

zeppole

You need to know that a GPS device is one of the very few items that a thief in Italy would consider breaking into a car to get. Be sure that when you are not in the car, the device, the mount and the cables are not visible inside the car.

Also, they do not replace the need to have a detailed map of the region of Italy where you are driving.

And lastly, a GPS may send you down a dirt road and -- maybe worse -- send you into a ZTL or Zona a Traffico Limitato -- a street where cars are not allowed, except for town residents who have a resident pass, and you can be assessed heavy fines, even after you leave the country if a video surveillance camera has captured the plates of your rental. Your rental company will deduct the fine from your credit card.

I find them less than helpful sometimes because Italy is a land of few clearly defined intersections, so instructions like "turn right 300 meters" can require some guesswork, and because the out-loud pronunciation of streets can be really weird if you know Italian. I also hate when you've missed a turn and they tell you to drive into Switzerland to find a road back. In Italy. the u-turn -- anywhere, anytime -- is what you do.

willit

I've driven quite frequently in Italy, and become lost quite often as well. The last two occasions (Tuscany and Campania) I have used a GPS, and it has been invaluable.

The last time I was in Italy I saw some cheaper versions advertised for <€100 - this may work out cheaper than renting one, depending on how long you intend staying.

luvlimoncello

We just returned from Italy which was our 3rd European driving trip. The first two without a GPS, the last with one. My husband and I WILL NOT travel again to Europe without one. It made our driving sooo much more enjoyable. We had the Tomtom brand which we purchased from Ebay as a reconditioned model. Not 100% perfect, but the best pre-trip planning decision of the trip.

StCirq

I hate GPS systems. For one thing, I don't like a harsh voice yelling at me when I'm driving on vacation. I get enough of that kind of stuff at home at work. Plus, I don't trust them. I've rented cars with GPS systems that sent me into absolutely insane places for no reason, including guiding me into the garage of a French farmer in the Languedoc.

Then there's the fact that I am a map freak and plan out my driving routes to within an inch before leaving for a trip and always have a great navigator with me en route. And lastly, one of my favorite things to do in Europe is to get lost and have to find my way back to civilization. A GPS system spoils all that fun.

MichaelT

We returned last week from a trip to Italy where we covered 1,400km using a GPS with some of it in fairly remote areas. I'd probably still be circling some roundabout if I hadn't used it.

We have a Garmin Nuvi 370 purchased on Amazon which had the European maps pre-loaded. Google Maps also has an interface that works for most all brands of GPS units so you can find everything you're looking for on Google Maps and then send them to your GPS.

I plugged in about 20 stops, including one being a very remote piece of land where my Grandfather grew up and it got us to everyone of them perfectly.

julia1

If you have an iPhone, there is a maps app that works very well in Italy - I used it the last two times I was there.

MichaelT

Julia,

I'm curious. For it to work, doesn't the maps app require that you be online which in turn cuts into your data usage? I used mine a couple of times to find places in cities but I avoided it when navigating our driving portions.

pisceantraveler

I wouldn't go without a gps. We decided to bring ours a few weeks before we left and we ordered an Italy cartridge from Garmin; we drove all over central Italy through city and country -- it definitely is worth it to have a gps on hand.

julia1

Michael - yes, it does. When I travel overseas I sign up for international data roaming just for such times as being lost trying to find my hotel in Castel Gandolfo.

JAX9000

I got the cheapest Tomtom at Best Buy for $100, downloaded the italian map (quite expensive - $70) but it worked beautifully! I highly recommend it

packed

We weren't impressed in the small towns with our Garmin last year in Italy. It sent us off of mountains, took us off of the freeway and put us on a parallel freeway and then back to the original freeway. It did find our way a couple of times in larger towns, but I'll try another brand next time I buy one.

rinr

GPS units do require a little practice. That's the advantage of having your own unit and bringing it with you. We own a Garmin and have for years.... and have traveled all over the USA and Europe with it... we would not travel ANYWHERE without it. We have over 300 "sites" programmed into our "favorites."

*For walking trips, like Venice, Florence, or Rome, set it to the "Pedestrain" setting and it will take you on a DIRECT walk through town.

*For avoiding dirt roads, backroads, and off-the beaten path journeys, go to the set-up menu and program JUST highways, autostrada, etc. It will adapt to how you program it.

*To avoid toll roads - and enjoy the country side of Italy at a substantial, albeit slower pace - select NO toll roads!

*You can download voices from the manufacturers in the native tongue of the country you are visiting. I have about 30 different options. Listening to the American voice totally maim the Italian street names drove us crazy.. so now we use the Italian voice. Helped us learn directions in Italian very quickly!

*The newest GPS units (and I do not have one) have the ZTL zones programmed in. A friend of mine in the embassy has one and it was dead-on and we avoided all the ZTL's by the route it programmed... He has CD plates anyway (Diplomatic Corp) but it was good to see it work - Not sure what he paid for that unit! Another friend says his will tell him where the "speed cameras" are. I have not seen this one yet... Sounds like a built in radar detector?

*On many you can "Create Routes" or "Personal" points-of-interest (POI) on your laptop and upload to your GPS. I used to do that when I was sitting in airports and bored! Now I just get in and punch it up (gotten lazy I guess).

For a laugh at how NOT to use a GPS, see this post on my first experiences in Rome with one - Ciao: http://www.roninrome.com/2009/03/15/...ence-in-italy/

caroline_edinburgh

Just buy a road atlas.