UKC

If I were to buy a GPS with the ability to load maps, where would I get them for the alps, particularly Italy, France and Switzerland?

In reply to MG:

Go with android phone/tablet and Alpinequest app.
Swiss topo map+Euro topo maps £6.00 for offline
use,all downloadable through your android device.

In reply to 5tormin':

+1 for the 'offline' versions. there is rarely any mobile phone reception when you get out of sight of the nearest town.

In reply to MG:

This year, I used a Garmin Etrex 20 with Birdseye map tiles for France and Switzerland. I must say that I thought that it was rather shit and ended up using my iPhone using the apps "Outdoors GPS France - IGN maps" and "iPhiGeNie". The first app was reliable, has 1:25000 offline maps (have to buy) but resolution is not super great. The later app has proper hi-res 1:25000 maps but I haven;t had time to really understand the app yet so couldn't get offline maps reliably.

In reply to MG:

I think Memory Map (and probably also ViewRanger) apps on a phone/tablet let you buy map tiles for the Alps - a quick look at their websites should allow you to find out.

If you're buying a dedicated GPS, it's probably through whoever manufactures the unit - eg MemoryMap GPS, you'd buy the maps through MemoryMap (either on SD card, or possibly online, save onto SD and stick the SD in the GPS). Other manufacturers are similar...I imagine most will do European Alps, at a cost.

In reply to Carolyn:

As I have allready stated,Alpinequest,cost £6.49 for full app.All maps built in, download any map
area from list while online,then use offline where-ever you are,no roaming charges or connectivity problems.
Take a look here. http://www.alpinequest.net

In reply to Carolyn:

Thanks all. Not too keen on phones etc due to limited battery life, delicacy and in-operablity in the wet. So am looking at "proper" GPS sets. I couldn't see an obvious site to buy the maps from though. It's not crucial though as position is a lot more information than I currently have.

In reply to MG:

I use a garmin etrex 20, it takes AA batteries so no worries with multiple day treks. For the alps you can use wanderreitkarte which do an alps only map

http://www.wanderreitkarte.de/garmin_de.php

or official garmin transalpin maps

I've travelled all over with this gps and always been able to find good maps to download, and plenty for free.

In reply to MG:

There are quite a lot of options:

Best one and the most expensive is TopoSwiss in all it's variants.
For the Alps there's simply nothing better, however the price is prohibitive. Expect to pay north of 300EUR - so probably more than the GPS unit itself is worth.

Another possibility is the OpenStreetMap project maps: these are community created open source maps freely available, but normally with a bit lower quality of course, especially compared to SwissTopo products. However, you get this free and there's a website dedicated to Alps: http://www.wanderreitkarte.de/garmin_de.php where you can get the maps for the region you are interested in.

In general on Garmin website you will find all the maps (ie for France http://www.garmin.com/fr/maps/cartes-topographiques/cartes-numeriques/ )

All in all, I find dedicated GPS and dedicated map software for PC far superior to the touch interfaces and various mobile alternatives: both for planning as well as for the "on the trail" as well. I am guessing you already researched the subject, but there are a few things to look for in GPS maps: if the maps are routable, if they are in 3D etc - all to be considered when making selection. The prices of official maps are horrible, but you can - depending on the region - get some great alternatives. For example in Spain we have a few projects (for Pyrenees and Picos de Europa notably) of independent developers using their own research and official state data that are superior to official Garmin maps and cost none or very little (think 5EUR) money.
With a bit of dedication and tinkering you can make the Garmin GPS unit work for you for little money.

Cheers
RS

In reply to RockShock:

Free Topo Swiss maps
http://www.yabadu.de/de/maps/index.php
http://www.mapplus.ch/

In reply to 5tormin':
Cheers for the links. If I am not mistaken, though, these are online maps only: ie not suitable for loading to Garmin GPS devices? (my German is a bit rusty, so I may be missing that option on the page) And they are either based on Google Maps or OSM - not Topo Swiss from Garmin which is paid product...

In reply to RockShock:

Sorry for the misunderstanding/Garmin usable maps.
This link is Garmin friendly.
http://www.freizeitkarte-osm.de

In reply to MG:

Can I jump on this topic and ask.
If you want to get 1:50000 topographic maps like the OS UK maps for your Garmin device where can you get them?

In reply to Aigen:

As the link above,open it and click on maps/more countries/GB.

In reply to MG:

If you already have Memory Map on your pc and have a paper map of an area for which there is no digital version you can "Self Scan". It's detailed in the Help section of the Memory Map program. If you need any more info then please pm me.

In reply to mypyrex:

Thanks - I didn't know that. I currently don't have either Memory Map or a GPS but if that changes I will certainly explore the option.