Could anyone tell me where the best place is to buy street maps and highway maps for California and Nevada? We are driving in LA, and from LA to Las Vegas then to San Francisco and then back to LA. We will need good maps to direct us. We will need to buy maps when we get to LA from Australia to start our trip. Is there anywhere to buy them at the airport or in Anaheim where we will be staying?

Do a search on "maps" on this site. I have a feeling someone has mentioned web sites that sell them. However, you may wish to just get one when you get here. Gas stations often have one for the local area and the state you are in. WalMart, K-Mart, or any other similar department store generally has them, and may have travel atlases that cover the whole country (a separate map for each state - I think probably $10-20 U.S.). You can find a larger selection at bookstores, particularly big ones such as Borders and Barnes and Noble.

Barnes and Noble Bookstores and supermarkets in the towns once you have arrived.

AAA has some of the best maps available. They are free to their members. I do believe that they will sell their maps to the general public.

The best street maps for Los Angeles are the Thomas Guides. You can buy them at any book store, warehouse store like Costco.

Is there a AAA in Australia connecting to AAA in the states? If not, join (well worth the fee) once you arrive. Multitude of fee, awesome, maps,and TRIPTIX services.

AAA also has terrific tour guides for all of the states which are free for members.

Try www.mapquest.com on the net. You can print out accurate driving directions for yourself for free.

I would be a little leery of Map Quest's directions. On more than one occasion they have given travel directions that were totally bogus.

I assume you'll be renting a car at the airport, and if you are, hit up the attendant for as many maps as you can. They should be free and I believe it's a general rule that you can definitely expect a local map at the very least.

Thomas Bros. maps seem to be the most accurate of California. They have a store somewhere in LA, but you can probably also find them in grocery stores, gas stations, etc...

The Thomas guides are great and can be found in most any store that sells magazines.

Hoexever the price of 2 or 3 Thomas guides will pay for your AAA membership. With AAA you can excellent maps, tour guides, trip assistance for anywhere and it is all free.

Once you're in LA (if this trip hasn't happened yet) the best maps are THOMAS GUIDES...thorough, comprehensive, and you can get them at bookstores in particular if my memory serves me correct...they're available for different counties in CA and Pacific/Western states...don't be shocked at their size either...can't go anywhere without them!