rowets Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Hi all, Following several years of visits to various areas of France and relying on pre-planning on Google, and in-car Sat Nav whilst travelling, I've decided I want to go back to good old basics and purchase a Road Atlas! Life, I know, will be so much simpler for it. So, my question is, could anyone recommend their particular preferred publication? Is there one out there recently published that shows all of the new re-numbered French roads, aire's, toll roads, journey planning pages etc? I've seen mention elsewhere of an AA Easy Read Atlas being recommended, and I know the Michelin maps usually are of good quality. I would prefer (I think) A4 size to make things easier in the car, and preferably not a spiral bound one as the inevitable gap when the route I want spans 2 pages would confuse me, which isn't difficult. Any advice would be most welcome. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R&B Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) This year we bought the AA A4 one. It is spiral bound but it is so convenient to use and doesn't take much space in use. It's large scale so there is a lot of page turning but so easy to see and so clear. My wife,from the Mark Thatcher academy of navigation,didn't give one wrong direction. £12. 99 on the boat. Worth every penny. Edited August 18, 2014 by R&B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirl250 Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 (edited) We always buy the very large Michelin road atlas with a scale of 1:200,000. We alternate between a spiral and not spiral binding - they all seem to fall to bits in the end though although I think this spiral one lasted longer. ....... ! Our current one (2011) has petrol stations and service area locations but doesn't show camp sites - I think our previous one did. Can't remember though. ...... I think we are due a new one for next year ! I prefer the large paged one's as you can see your route more easily without having to keep turning. We don't use a satnav in France. We just plan the route before hand using the road atlas and then use Via Michelin to print it all out. Works for us. Ours is 40cm by 30cm incl the plastic spiral. I think they are published towards the end of the year. Edited August 18, 2014 by Shirl250 Quote 2007 Bailey Series 5 Senator Arizona (4 berth, rear bathroom, side dinette) towed by a 57 Kia Sorento XS Auto with Kumho KL17 tyres, Reich Mover, Kampa Rally 390, Caravan Tyres : GT Radial Maxmiler CX 185/80 R14 102R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_S_B Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Just back from France - I use the Michelin "Atlas Routier France Pro" - great road atlas 1:250 000 - A4 spiral bound - this version is great for driving with - but if you want one for planning days out as well - they also do a tourist version as well -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marks Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Can I ask why you want to move away from sat nav, probably the best invention ever made for finding you way about. Quote Land Rover Discovery and Conquerer 630 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milkymarsh Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Michelin plastic coated touring map Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValA Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 (edited) We've only had a SatNav for about a year, and as a consequence haven't grown to rely on it like a lot of people, so we always use a Michelin map - in fact rarely use it except for city centres that we don't know. A Michelin map too, is a great way of finding your way about, and will also highlight the unexpected nearby - a waterfall, a dolmen, a lake or river with a swimming beach, a nature reserve, park or garden, or bird reserve. All these add to our holiday experience, and our SatNav (Ford built in, has a few bits and pieces as add-ons) wouldn't find them all - certainly not on one page like our Michelin does! A 'real' map allows you to find non-toll roads more easily, because it shows the colour of the towns and villages, so you know the speed limits in advance, the colour of the roads indicates width, and in villages you can see where traffic is likely to be one way, or you'll be going through narrow streets. Edited August 19, 2014 by ValA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffordshirechina Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Before you give up on technology, have a look at the iPhiGeNie service for iPads, tablets and phones. It gives you every scale of map from international down through walking scales to street plans. It costs about a tenner a year subscription. It also works offline once you have downloaded the areas of interest and is a GPS tracker. Never get lost in a French town again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansoady Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 I prefer the IGN (French eqivalent of Ordnance Survey) to Michelin. The 1:1000000 covers the whole country and is great for route planning (and is almost untearable and waterproof to boot); the 1:250000 are excellent for local driving / exploring. There are also larger scales for walking / cycling. They're available in many French supermarkets and from specialist map outlets in the UK. Quote Ian. 2013 Freelander 2 SD4 Auto / 2005 Bailey Pageant Vendée; 1952 Norton ES2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonyv Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Michelin for me, the big one cos the little one didn't have enough on a page for us, I also use ibn for walking and running, paper and electronic. T. Should say IGN. Flipping phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipbroker Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Michelin and also the paper regional maps. Geoff Quote Kia Sorento KX-1 CRDI 4WD towing an Elddis Affinity 530 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValA Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Michel Atlas for us, and the IGN maps for walking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaravanLady Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 AA Big Easy Read A3 Spiral bound for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowets Posted August 19, 2014 Author Share Posted August 19, 2014 Ooer, lots to go on there, thanks for all taking the time to reply. My original question may have given the impression that I want to totally abandon the Sat-Nav, apologies for being a bit misleading there. I certainly don't want to completely ignore it, I just want to be able to pre-plan a route using a good old-fashion map and then feed that into the Sat-Nav using waypoints etc and follow that on the journey, using the map as a back-up and for other unplanned excursions. We've just returned from a fab couple of weeks in Vendee, Cotes d'Armor and Calvados and most of the route pre-planning went ok, except that unfortunately my in-car Sat-Nav (Nissan) doesn't know I'm towing a 7 metre caravan and even though I always have it set to 'Fastest Route' and never 'Shortest Route' it still decided that a couple of single-track country roads would be absolutely fine when directing us to one site in particular. We lost count of the number of times either of us said "we must get a map" during the 2 weeks! I'll have a look this weekend at the Michelin and the AA atlas's and take it from there, we already have a collection of the blue series IGN maps for walking. Thanks for all your comments and advice. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyK Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Michel Atlas for us, and the IGN maps for walking. Likewise. ..IGN Blue for walking They are even better than OS maps Quote Autotrail Tracker FB motorhome on Fiat Ducato chassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsT Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 We use both Sat-Nav and a Michelin mapbook. The Sat-Nav has a French man, Bernard, directing us, this helps us with our pronunciation, and makes us laugh! The mapbook is always there for the odd occasions when Bernard gets lost, which can be surprisingly often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duzzied Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 We use the phillps multi scale Europe map and have done for a number of years. It's easy to read and is now spiral bound so it's easier to handle in the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KontikiKid Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 Hi I'm a fan of the AA Big Easy Read - dirt cheap on Amazon or Ebay, or charity shops etc. I think it's only about a tenner new. Russ Quote Online blog and travels, although sometimes there is a lack of travel due to work! It's an uncharted sea, it's an unopened door but you've got to reach out and you've got to explore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisheg Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 A couple of years ago I relied on the Tom-Tom. We got to the Ile de Re and tom decided that it no longer a valid Europe map. When I contacted Tom Tom they were very helpful ot they would have been if I could quote them the origional id number which they said I would find on the box it came in!!! Needless to say i always travel now with an up to date atlas and a Garmin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodentop Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Wherever you are my advice would be to use the satnav as an urban streetmap and an atlas for the longer rural hauls. One of the problems is keeping up with the renumbering of French roads. RNs have in many places become D roads, but the signage in some places is still RN - which can be confusing. Also D roads with small numbers are repeated in each Department, but D roads with larger numbers - mainly 900 and above - cross boundaries. Remember also that it is illegal in France to use a satnav with speed cameras shown on it. It is insufficient to simply switch them off, they must be removed or you can be seriously 'done' if you get stopped for any reason. Quote 2018 Passat B8 Estate 150GT TDi150 towing a 2018 Bailey Unicorn S4 Seville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staffordshirechina Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Perhaps I didn't really explain properly but the online iPhiGieNie service is ALL the IGN maps for everywhere in France at every scale for a tenner. We have long since given up paying a tenner per map for new areas! Google it and see. You get a free trial period too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValA Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 We like to go map in hand when walking, so that if we see a side track we know just where it will take us - and as we don't have a printer we couldn't do that with an electronic version. We also have 'map on knee' when driving. We've found a paper map is sometimes essential, if you come across something 'critical' on the road, such as a sudden road closure because of an accident, or a Route Barree because a bridge is being repaired. A couple of years ago I reported on forums our experience when the A75 was closed, northwards, just before the Pas d'Escalette. The suggested diversion was a very long way round, so we looked at our map, and chose to go 'cross-country'. We're glad we did. When we got back on the A75 at Le Caylar we were the only ones on the A75 for miles and miles, and someone who set off from the same site half an hour after us, followed the recommended diversions, where there was also an accident, and spent an extra ten hours on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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