We're off on hols this weekend, staying in north-east France, pretty much on the Belgian border. I've got some paper maps that cover the area we'll be in, but something on the phone is always handy.
What would folks recommend?
Komoot - or it was until it became bought out by a tech firm/private equity and then monetarised.
Oh, Veloplanner.
Download Cartes ING it's free and as near to os maps as you will need.
Cartes IGN has an App for Google and Apple Store, pretty much equivalent to OS Maps in UK. Shows bridleways, footpaths, GR, etc. Free as well.
ign-dot-fr
In the past I've used OsmAnd to good effect.
I pay for Whympr. Before that I used Fatmaps, but I’ve not found Fatmaps to be as useful after Strava bought them. The reason I like Whympr is that you can choose your map - like the French IGN one. Or you can choose satellite view. But the main reason I use it is that you have 3D available in both, which I find invaluable for assessing if alpine walking routes are likely to be rideable on an MTB.
Download Cartes ING it's free and as near to os maps as you will need.
Yep, just got that thanks.
Only covers France though, is there similar for Belgium?
I tried a few and ended up using Locus Maps in France a couple of years ago. Very good app and a range of maps available, including free OSM-based maps - I like OpenTopoMap. Does offline mapping.
Cycle.travel
Outdooractive - you do have to pay about £25 but it has the equivalent of the OS maps in every European country I have tried.
Fietsroute is excellent but covers Flanders in Belgium, Holland and French Flanders only. It does not cover.Wallonia or adjacent France. Used on an iPhone it will give audio turn by turn guidance. Waterproof paper maps were available but not sure whether still are.
AllTrails and WikiLoc seem to be OK in mainland Europe. I've used WikiLoc a few times in Spain.
paper maps
Buy from Stanfords, they have shops in London and Bristol. Otherwise bookshops in Belgium and NL stock paper maps, of large scales, personally always my preference for route planning and riding 🙂
I use Hiiker which has topo maps for many countries. £15 for a year via this link:
https://hiiker.app/uk-offer?utm_source=uk-fb-july-14-99
Really nice app that is under constant development, now supports android watches too which is dead handy if you are following a route.
don't forget mapy.cz for topographic maps
If you create a free account you can download 1 country for offline use. If you pay the annual subs you get to download everything.
@Edukator gave me a link to really good maps. Its on an old phone that I need to power up to get the link. Hopefully Edukator sees this but if not I'll post it up tomorrow
This is probably the one TJ found useful because when you zoom in it shows all the cycle paths and cycle routes.
https://www.weserradweg-info.de/de/tourplanner/?cat=21896084
I also use the IGN app but that's a case of working it out for yourself, and mapy.cz if I'm road cycling.
thats the one ta
Currently in France and pootling along the Seine and Loire on our bikes and have found both the
- Regional tourist offices/websites
- Geovelo App
to be very good. I just download the .gpx routes on to my Garmin via Garmin Connect.
Apologies, but I cannot recall the Apps I used in the Netherlands and Belgium last year.
