Re: Getting lost while walking in Europe

Spencer G:

I enjoy walking in European cities but even after lots of effort on
Google with maps etc, I often get lost when out walking.
Recently I purchased a GPS navigation unit for my car and am amazed
how accurate and helpful it is when driving in my home city.
I am wondering if anyone has had experience with a hand held unit that
could be loaded with European maps and tell me when to turn left, etc.
and "when I have reached my destionation" in English!

In this case, I would indeed suggest using a smartphone with local
maps, either prepared from Google Maps while at a WLAN hotspot, or
using navigation software and OpenStreetmaps.

However, your car unit might well have pedestrian navigation or compass
navigation already. Modern GPS units offer these functions. In that
case, you just need to see if European maps for your unit are available
(and at what price).

Yet another possibility is the use of an outdoor GPS unit, like the
Garmin or Magellan units (which are used by geocachers).
Advantages are:
- great for outdoor usage, rugged, waterproof, schockproof (a
smartphone is probably gone when dropped onto the pavement once)
- better battery life then smartphones
- OpenStreetmap maps available (free of charge)
- turn-by-turn navigation and compass navigation available
- excellent gps accuracy
- you might get into geocaching!
Disadvantages:
- a decent Dakota-20 costs about $250, the Oregon models even more.
- screen sizes are usually a bit limited

--
Erick
.

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