I%26#39;m thinking about purchasing a mobile GPS system here in New York and of course they give you all the navigations tools you need for getting around North America.
However, how adaptable, accurate, and useful are these systems for driving (and walking) around Paris and France?
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The GPS system is worldwide, it can work out your location in terms of coordinates by satellite fix just about anywhere.
However, if you want to use it to navigate around in France, your GPS device must have a digital map of France in its memory.
In Europe most GPS systelms have full map coverage of Europe, and a few will also have map coverage of the USA. I imagine the reverse must be true, i.e. you should be able to purchase a GPS in USA which also has European map coverage.
If not, you should check out whether maps of Europe are an optional extra which you can purchase for the GPS you are considering purchasing.
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We purchased a Garmin with maps of US, Canada and Europe pre loaded. It worked like a charm in France and Italy. Includes an AC adapter for charging in France.
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For walking in Paris I recommend the Paris Mapguide.
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GPS systems are widely used in Europe; both hand-held systems and built-in systems in cars. How useful these systems are, depends on a lot of things - there are a lot of brands and models. Brands sold here include TomTom, Garmin, Mio, Acer, VDO-Dayton, Blaupunkt, Navman, Pioneer, Sony and LG.
In most cases, systems are sold with the maps of one (or several) countries included. Additional maps are sometimes included on CD (you can put them on the system when needed - the internal memory is restricted) or need to be purchased separately (which can be expensive!).
As already said, a mobile GPS system is useless without more or less recent map software of the region you are travelling in. The website of the manufacturer should give you all the info needed about which map software is necessary and available.
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We used a Garmin unit driving out from Gare du Nord in Paris and then throughout France, and for the most part it was a big help. However, make sure to have a good map, too, as you really need it to doublecheck the route the GPS sends you on. More than a few times, our GPS led us on a wild goose chase. For instance, we%26#39;d be on the main route and it kept telling us to go completely out of the way down side streets; we couldn%26#39;t figure out why, whether it was some malfunction or it was just trying to take us the very shortest way mileage-wise. Honestly, there were a few times that where it was directing us made no sense at all. Other times, it was dead-on accurate. So, keep the map on hand and use it, the signposts, and the GPS, and you%26#39;ll do great.
My husband used the GPS when walking in London and in Paris, and that was helpful, too.
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We just rented a car in the south of France for one week. It had a GPS buit in. WE couldnot figure out how to program it b ecause it was in French, so we were just able to see the route that we were on.
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You might want to look at the Garmin Nuvi 370. It comes preloaded with European maps. I just bought it for my trip in Oct. It includes a currency converter, foreign electrical plug adaptor, etc.
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My husband has a GPS unit that he can use with Tom Tom on his Nokia phone and we used it last spring on our Benelux/Paris vacation. It was indispensable. There were only a few hiccups when recent construction had changed around highway interchanges or new roads had been built. There are so many highways (major and minor) in Europe that we found the paper maps almost unreadable...but we had one as a backup and checked it whenever we were in doubt.
Plan your driving routes into the GPS ahead of time so that you don%26#39;t have any surprises and have to follow the default routes all the time (usually shortest distance or fastest time). You can choose your preferences (avoid toll roads, expressways, select a spot as a waypoint, etc.) It will make your life much easier.
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GPSes rarely do walking and driving well. I%26#39;ve found TomTom the best for driving and Garmin the best for walking/biking.
Probably the best option in a routing GPS is the %26#39;Avoid Tollroad%26#39; option. If you look at a Michelin road map of Europe, they have a section at the front that describes which countries have tollroads, but it%26#39;s not exactly clear which roads are toll.
I usually leave the option on %26quot;Prompt me when it happens%26quot; (in TomTom) and run the route both with and without toll roads and compare how much extra time it adds to the route.
When I was driving to Paris from Luxembourg this past spring, avoiding tollroads only added 25 minutes to a 5 hour drive, and probably saved me around 6-9 euro in tolls.
I can%26#39;t recommend the TomTom enough. They are based in Holland, and are the best GPS in my experience (I%26#39;ve used Garmin, route66, and some others)
Try to get the latest maps for Europe, especially France. There is a lot of road development going on, and a lot of round-abouts going in where there were previously interchanges.
Also, I%26#39;m not 100% certain about this detail, but we%26#39;ve heard that France is switching their rules about right-of-way in the round-abouts.. It used to be you had to yield to people coming into the round-about, but I%26#39;ve heard they are switching to the person coming on has to yield to people already on the round-about.. It can be a little dangerous, so try to see what the people in front of you are doing.
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About roundabouts in France - my experience is all in the southwest, but I don%26#39;t think I%26#39;ve ever seen one where the right of way was with the car that was entering (it%26#39;s always, %26quot;vous n%26#39;avez pas%26quot; etc.) This is mainly in the last three years, and it may be a regional thing, but take it FWIW.
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