Maps - Paper vs. Digital

[BruceF]

I’m planning a >1500 miles, >2 month self-contained tour that’ll involve roaming all over Ireland, N. Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. The start point, end point and several way points are fixed but everything else is indeterminate and flexible.

One problem is that paper maps will likely represent prohibitive space and weight. Vision issues make using a 1.5”x3” screen for navigation problematic, so I’m not wild about limiting myself to a small digital device.

So---the questions...
1---Would I be best advised to stick with paper maps (maybe purchased locally as I travel and then mailed home when I’m done with them), make do with a small device or go with an iPad or ~10” netbook?
2---Is there any specific software that provides superior roadmap coverage or would relying on Google Maps be sufficient?

I’ve never done any international touring before and I’m really in the dark on this one. Any knowledge/experience with this type of quandary would be appreciated.

 

[Roadrider48]

Maybe a Garmin 800 or 810. Loaded with the British isles maps.

 

[ColinJ]

Maybe a Garmin 800 or 810. Loaded with the British isles maps.

Vision issues make using a 1.5”x3” screen for navigation problematic, so I’m not wild about limiting myself to a small digital device.

 

[toekneep]

I would go for pages torn from road atlases. You can pick them up for few quid and just carry the pages to cover a few weeks at a time. I have just picked out the sheets to cover the first month of our trip round Britain and they only amount to about a dozen pages. When they run out I'll look for another atlas and repeat the process. We don't use GPS.

 

[snorri]

Take one paper map to cover the entire area of your proposed tour, and buy maps of smaller areas as you go. No worries regarding batteries or recharging a device. Easier to get the wider picture of the area from a map rather than a small screen. Loss of a map is of little concern, loss of a gps due to carelessness or theft is more serious. The fewer pieces of expensive kit the better.
You mention a two month tour, so no great pressure on time and no disaster if you get lost. In fact, asking the locals for directions along the way can greatly enhance the pleasure and memories of your tour.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I use both locally, but if I were touring again, I'd use paper. One less thing to recharge, like Snorri says. You could always photocopy maps of your route and enlarge them, if need be. But nothing beats local knowledge. Many tips to be had about shortcuts, safe routes around and through whatever, and the odd historical minutiae.

 

[young Ed]

i now have a garmin but many many times have i just printed off directions from Google maps and then just gone and gotten lost and asked locals, most are very kind and helpful!
Cheers Ed

 

[PeteXXX]

Paper maps don't get flat batteries....

 

[Gravity Aided]

And you can always do Map My Ride or something later over your route, If you want information as to elevation and such.

 

[Roadrider48]

 

[xilios]

We just bought the Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 that takes a sim card so we could have internet (if limited) anywhere we are.
We've also got the mapswithme app. which works great so we do not plan (for the first time) tour without paper maps.
And a smart phone for a back up.

 

[young Ed]

And you can always do Map My Ride or something later over your route, If you want information as to elevation and such.

OS maps have contour lines so learn how to use them and they are bl**dy useful!
Cheers Ed

 

[mcr]

How about the free ViewRanger app on a 7-inch tablet - big enough screen to be useful, compact enough to keep in a bar bag? With ViewRanger you can either buy OS mapping as you need it (ie just the narrow corridor you're travelling through if you want) or download free OpenCycleMap mapping etc whenever you have wifi and save it to the internal memory. They also sell mapping for most European countries (I've got the whole of France IGN 100:000 map on mine). Keeping charged up is going to be a concern with any digital device using GPS.

 

[bigjim]

I use a cheap Garmin legend with two AA batteries. The batteries can last 3 days at 8 hours use a day. However I also cut my route out of a Michelin road map. I mark out 50miles each side and cut out that corridor. I also print out A4 pages from Google maps for a bit more clarity. Works ok. The garmin is more to tell me where I am than anything. I do get lost but not for long.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

We just used pages torn from a road atlas. If we needed a new area, we simply picked up a new (cheap) road atlas and covered all of the same countries (and many more) using this approach.
When done with each country, we posted the maps back to my parents' having marked on them what we actually did, rather than what we planned to do.

We have Garmin's now, but having used them to record a 8 day trip, I don't think I would want to be using them for navigation on a much longer trip and with touring you don't need a 1:50,000 map or anything like that - car atlases worked out just fine for us.