All roads lead to Rome? Any suggestions how?

andyjp

Hello all,

In a couple of weeks me and a few friends are attempting to cycle to rome from the north of france. However we are a little unsure about the maps we need to buy. For France we are using the IGN 1:100,000 local tourist maps which are perfect for us but we are unsure about if there is anything similar to these for Italy??

If anyone can help us out that would be great. Also any suggestions or recommendations for our route would be most welcome. We plan to set off from Caen and head south to the Loire region before heading to Grenoble where we'll cross the alps into Italy. From here we will head east to Parma and Bologna before turning south over the Appenines to Florence, through tuscany to Rome.

So any help would be much appreciated, I look forward to hearing any ideas!

Andy

P.S We have a website if you fancy a look at www.allroadsleadtorome.co.uk and we are doing it for charity (Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice) as well as for fun.

Ciao

culverwood

andyjp wrote:

In a couple of weeks me and a few friends are attempting to cycle to Rome from the north of France. However we are a little unsure about the maps we need to buy. For France we are using the IGN 1:100,000 local tourist maps which are perfect for us but we are unsure about if there is anything similar to these for Italy??
Andy

This is a completely different route but one with maps and guidebooks.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/via-francigena/
You could follow your route to Italy and join the Via Francigena there. It goes via the Pavia, Piacenza, the Cisa Pass, Lucca, Siena etc.

2 books are:
ISBN 9782917183014 "LightFoot Guide to the via Francigena Canterbury
to the Summit of the Great St Bernard Pass"
ISBN 9782917183021 "LightFoot Guide to the via Francigena - Summit of
the Great St Bernard Pass to St Peter's, Rome"

They can be bought on Amazon. There is also a shop facility on:
http://pilgrimagepublications.com/UKSho ... books.html .
The face price is 23.99 GBP per volume. These are detailed guides with maps.

Italian maps are in general cr...

andyjp

Thanks for the info, I've joined the group and am considering getting one of the books as we will almost definitely cycling the route from Siena to Rome.

Thanks again, shame theres no maps comparable to the IGN maps as they are brilliant.

Andy

andyjp

Any Suggestions for Maps of Italy at all? Any help would be appreciated

andyp

I own quite a few of the Touring Club Italiano maps and always found them very good when travelling in Italy. I don't think I've seen general maps below this scale, although you can buy much more detailed local maps (i.e. 1 to 25000).

andyjp

Thanks mate they look a lot better. We have also found that Michelin do a more detailed map at the same scale so I think it'll be a toss up of what we can find in the shop.

Thanks again

wjhall

I have never understood the implicit British assumption that good maps are not available for Europe. Looking at the appropriate Stanfords page suggests that the difficulty is more likely to be being spoilt for choice:

http://www.stanfords.co.uk/go/italy/alp ... -piedmont/

I only have personal experience of the 1:25000 scale in which the new regional guide series seems to be slightly better than the old IGC series, but both are good maps, and of the Kompass 1:50000 series, both when waliking in the Val d'Aoste last year, but I have no reason to think that any of the others are unsuitable.

culverwood

wjhall wrote:

I have never understood the implicit British assumption that good maps are not available for Europe. Looking at the appropriate Stanfords page suggests that the difficulty is more likely to be being spoilt for choice:

http://www.stanfords.co.uk/go/italy/alp ... -piedmont/

I only have personal experience of the 1:25000 scale in which the new regional guide series seems to be slightly better than the old IGC series, but both are good maps, and of the Kompass 1:50000 series, both when waliking in the Val d'Aoste last year, but I have no reason to think that any of the others are unsuitable.

I do not know where you got the impression that the British think good maps are not available for Europe. Many European countries produce very good maps at a number of scales. Italy is not one of them.

If you go to Stanfords you will find many good maps of the tourist parts of the country such as the Aosta valley but as there is no equivalent of the OS or IGN areas that do not attract walkers and cyclist for tourism are not covered to the same degree, the Po valley is one such area. Decent Michelin type maps are available for drivers and main roads but if you are trying to ride on quieter local roads or paths they are not good enough.

wjhall

Are the IGM 1;100,000 really that bad? They do seem to be a little expensive.


http://www.omnimap.com/catalog/int/ital-100.htm



The 1;250,000 version presumably gives you more coverage for your money, but there you are competing with the cheaper TCI, ADAC, and F&B ranges.

1:100,000 does seem to be an awkward scale, just like in the UK since Barts gave up, but it seems to be a question of cost rather than availability.

wjhall

Actually on further research the IGM 1;100,000 seem to be rather cheaper if you buy them from the IGM website, about EUR 6 each. (IGM: Instituto Geografico Militaire - ie. Italian equivalent of ordnance survey.)

http://www.igmi.org/vendite/

The main disadvantage could be the revision dates, which generally seem to range from 1950 to 1970. But this is probably rather better than Barts when they were still in use.

Has anyone any experience of using these maps, or buying them from the website? How do they compare for cycling with the various commercial products at about 1:200,000?