Google maps for France?

[tattybogle]

Hi all. Are Google maps sufficient for travel in France or do we really need a sat nav? We are not technically savvy

 

[Trevor Wbm]

I use it all the time without any issues, mostly in the car. With a MoHo you'll have the same potential issues there as you do in the UK with narrow roads and low bridges, but so far I've never been significantly inconvenienced. If you speak any French brace yourself for some of the pronunciation.

 

[tattybogle]

Thats good to hear, thanks. Will brace myself

 

[Andy MacD]

I’m in France and using co pilot on an iPad with external gps, could also use on iPhone.

I found google maps a nightmare diverting me down narrow lanes to save half a mile (or much less), you also need to use data or download areas as my maps in advance.

Co pilot can be fully offline and the speed limit warnings are great as the limits on rural roads and towns change from 90, 80, 70, 50, 40 and 30 sometimes with little by way of signs. I also find the lane guidance more helpful than google maps.

I bought the motorhome / caravan version for vehicle dimensions, the car version would probably have been as good at less cost.

 

[Brains]

Personally I'd get a sat nav.

Google maps are fine for short A to B type journeys, but they are designed for cars.
A proper sat nav for motorhomes will tell you a lot more, such as avoiding low bridges (Rouen!!!!, google it), weights and speeds.

It also saves you using up your EU Roaming allowance, which now we have left the party means for UK mobile phone owners is becoming smaller and more expensive month by month.

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[Tombola]

and dont foregt to download google maps to your device so you dont have to rely on wifi signal

 

[jonasw19]

We use it .
On the subject of pronunciation of French, it is hilarious and makes one feel properly British.
It generally utterly mangles words. Hours of innocent fun trying to guess.

 

[Podney]

Use a map i.e.road atlas,then a sat nav for the last couple of miles.

 

[63720]

Maps.me works offline once downloaded, but like Google it's not configured for large vehicles.

 

[tattybogle]

Thanks everyone appreciate it

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

Roadlords (phone app) can work well. It can be configured for m/home size. Like all sat/navs it can infuriate when you discover the torturous route you've slavishly followed saved you ten yards or 30 seconds.
Mike.

 

[Two on Tour]

Google maps loves a short cut to save a few yards. We are in France at the moment and we have had more than a few "you must be having a laugh" moments with using Google maps.

 

[Jo662]

Google maps is good for planning,but a Satnav is better when on the move.

 

[JoeP Harrison]

We use Sygic, vg as you can insert vehicle dimensions

 

[Mike Rivers]

Used to use a Garmin with traffic but gave it up for Google. Just be sensible with it as in don’t follow turn instructions if they’re leading you down a narrow lane in order to save 2 mins. You can preview your journey in advance. Good thing is you can set route options to Toll or non-Toll which is handy if you want to avoid the toll roads. However, depends how quickly you want to get to your destination as journey times could be an hour apart with non-tolls.

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[Bobbydaisy]

Personally I'd get a sat nav.

Google maps are fine for short A to B type journeys, but they are designed for cars.
A proper sat nav for motorhomes will tell you a lot more, such as avoiding low bridges (Rouen!!!!, google it), weights and speeds.

It also saves you using up your EU Roaming allowance, which now we have left the party means for UK mobile phone owners is becoming smaller and more expensive month by month.

O2 are not charging any extra for the EU roaming , staying as is pre brexit .

 

[Al n Val]

Motorhome - £145k

Garmin - £399

no brainier for me

 

[Prop]

I’m in France and using co pilot on an iPad with external gps, could also use on iPhone.

I found google maps a nightmare diverting me down narrow lanes to save half a mile (or much less), you also need to use data or download areas as my maps in advance.

Co pilot can be fully offline and the speed limit warnings are great as the limits on rural roads and towns change from 90, 80, 70, 50, 40 and 30 sometimes with little by way of signs. I also find the lane guidance more helpful than google maps.

I bought the motorhome / caravan version for vehicle dimensions, the car version would probably have been as good at less cost.

We have the car version of copilot that we used in the car before we bought our van and it does tend to take us down little roads so your motorhome version is a better option.

 

[Mike Rivers]

O2 are not charging any extra for the EU roaming , staying as is pre brexit .

Very good point raised here re roaming charges. That’s the last thing you want to be paying (potentially on top of toll charges). Re the navigation, it is a question of each to their own. I use Google everyday for work with an annual mileage of 100,000 miles and have tried every other option out there including Waze and Sat Navs so feel very comfortable with it. I fully accept that for some a dedicated Sat Nav might be the way to go. Would also recommend investing in an e-movis Toll tag since this can be a huge time saver.

 

[Derek Haslam]

I like to use an Aguri sat nav where I can input the dimensions of the Moho soI know I can get wherever it takes me. Not been let down in 7 years of use with 2 different vans.

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[Hawkstone]

Google maps loves a short cut to save a few yards. We are in France at the moment and we have had more than a few "you must be having a laugh" moments with using Google maps.

We did too…took us into some very small villages instead of around them on the decent roads. Now we always use a bloody great map book, highlight the route and roads then use the sat nav or Google maps as a back up.

 

[varaizian]

Use a map i.e.road atlas,then a sat nav for the last couple of miles.

My wife (and very good navigator) just argues with the SAT Nav unless we take this approach.

 

[TinaLes]

Its always a necessity to have a fair degree of tolerance, patience, along with a sense of humour when using any sat nag tools. Use paper maps to plan our journey, look out for road signs then the sat nags as a back up.
When in France this is always handy to have on your play list, I always think of it, and sing along.
Les

 

[Two on Tour]

Here are a couple of roads that Google maps decided to take us along this morning.
One was 7Km long and luckily we didn't meet anything coming the other way.

 

[VXman]

We use google maps but also have a paper (book) map on hand to get an overview. We also have maps.me on the phone (offline downloaded maps) and the Pioneer Satnav in the vehicle. Belts and Braces!!!

To be honest though - I wouldn't miss the sat nav - happy with google/maps.me

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[varaizian]

We use a pretty basic Garmin satnav and normally treat all routes with a fair degree of scepticism but were caught off-guard in Spain earlier this year and ended up going over a single track, rough, mountain pass because, by the time we could see what was happening, there was absolutely nowhere to turn round. Genuinely scary in places but got away with it eventually. Funny in hindsight but not to be repeated!

 

[JockandRita]

France as well as Austria and Switzerland have many 3.5t weight restrictions, which Google maps doesn't take into account. In France, (not so sure about the other two countries), these restrictions apply to commercial vehicles, and not to "camping cars", which is why I prefer to use my Sat Nav, as I can adjust my weight (or profile) accordingly.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[varaizian]

I'm French resident and you are quite right; they use the 3.5t limit a lot for speed restrictions, access and the like. I don't think it only applies to commercials though. If you are over 3.5t it means you too although most camping cars do come in under this figure. I need to do some research on the Poids Total Authorisé en Charge (PTAC) defined in the Certificate d"Immatriculation (or Carte Gris as it used to be called) which is the equivalent of a V5 I suppose.

 

[JockandRita]

varaizian. Often a village which has an Aire and/or campsite, will show signage of a 3.5t weight limit, such as these examples below.

These restrictions do not preclude us from accessing the Aire or Campsite.
If camping cars were to be restricted access to the facilities, would the signage not look like this?

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[varaizian]

Hello Jock,
I'm familiar with the signs like the first 2 which basically mean "except locals" or "local traffic only" so would indeed permit a visit to the aire or campsite but I have never seen the one with a stylised box truck. I have unfortunately seen signs like the last one in places where they simply want to exclude camping cars. Arcachon seems to have them everywhere near the seafront.
I've looked up the PTAC stuff but it is not relevant to this topic.
Regards