I too love maps,and always have one open at the page as we pass through, ready to look up anywhere interesting on the route. OH has no idea where we are or going, just drives calmly on following my directons.
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Sat Nav, Map and Google Street View when towing caravan. Lots of campsites have daft little roads leading to them. When I look at campsites I use 'Street View' to check roads leading to them and discard ones with bad access roads. I did this last year for a trip from Northumberland to Benidorm and had no bother at all. I did overrule the Sat Nav on occaisions. Street View covers just about every road in France and Spain
Fred.
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 21/7/2013I too love maps,and always have one open at the page as we pass through, ready to look up anywhere interesting on the route. OH has no idea where we are or going, just drives calmly on following my directons.
We do the same, OH has no idea! (only not always so calmly...)
My first SatNav was a Mio Navman. I bought it for my first trip to Holland. It was good, but I had trouble with it eventually, and bought a Garmin nuvi 1490T, which is much better, once I got used to it.
I still love maps, but its only when you drive round locally with the SatNav on, do you realise it sometimes wants to send you wacky ways, which makes you wonder what it does to you abroad.
Top tip, sit down and study a map before you leave, if your SatNav goes weird on you, just ignore it, it will come round to your way of thinking eventually!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Maps for us and we also have a large France map for general route planning. As others have said we take a large or is it small scale map(ie lots of detail!!) and I don't get us lost at all - well the only time was trying to get on a ring road outside of Bordeaux and not realising that that was what 'rocado' meant!
That was translation error! We also have the 'le guide oficiel gamping et caravanning' with all the campsites in so I invariably am cross referencing between the 2 maps to find a good site.
I also know if we are on the autoroute how long it takes to cover a page so can even plan time quite adeptly now!
Thanks for all the helpful advice will now consult michelin and map , countdown the sleeps and purchase the ear plugs for the wonderful cries,of "are we there yet?" Or even worse " haven't we just gone past that"!!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 21/7/2013
I too love maps,and always have one open at the page as we pass through, ready to look up anywhere interesting on the route. OH has no idea where we are or going, just drives calmly on following my directons.
Same for us too, except I have the route info on a post-it for when we swap drivers! We take the Sat-Nav too but I check in advance the route it would take us against the route I have planned. The Sat-Nav is very useful for finding petrol stations, supermarkets etc. and to help out in towns and cities. You do have to keep an eye on it though! It is worthwhile investing in an up to date road map as road numbers / classifications in France have been undergoing changes recently.
We use a tomtom XXL for planning our routes as well as getting there. It gives your driving hours, ETA, etc to which you add time for stoppages, in our case usually 2 hours for a 6-7 hour drive. This removes the hassle of an over ambitious journey. If you wish to change the route you can, either by selecting alternatives or adding a go via. Even though SHMBO is a good navigator and likes to look at the map occasionally it does mean she can relax and enjoy the scenery.
Both for me (tomtom xxl). I can then shout at tomtom jane instead of our previous navigator, mrs grizzly, when lost. Or I can change jane into a polite Irish chap when the mood takes me. A bit more shouting goes on than in the olden days but saves lots of marital strife.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Both for us too. You can't say to the shatnav "How far to the next peage?" Whats the name of the mountain over there?"
I actually like to know something about where I am travelling through.
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Topic: map or sat nav?
