Going to France tomorrow, taking the bike doing some xc, just crossed my mind I really should have a map. Can I pop into waterstones and buy something like an OS.
yes - IGN maps. They do a really good 1:25000
You might struggle in Waterstones, though - near that London place? They definately have them in Stanfords or just buy one when you get there.
Rachel
Actually, failing that, IGN maps are available on Viewranger I think, if you have iPhone or similar thingy.
yes IGN even better than OS. If you can't find them in the UK, do not worry you'll probably be able to get them at the local newsagent in France
You can get IGN for MemoryMap if you visit dodgy website.....
You aint seen me right?
yeah IGN maps
edit Doh computer being too slow.
How'd you work out that IGN are better than OS, juan?
Oh wait, you're French, I remember now 😉
Just call in somewhere like Auchan in the area you're going to and they'll have maps.
Yes they are all online interactively at www.geoportail.fr
You can plot them google earth style with they're software too. Cracking for checking out routes.
Just come back from riding in France ... IGN maps are good but OS are still better.
Most big supermarkets sold them so you shouldn't be stuck.
Thanks everyone, IGN it is then, I'll wait till I'm local and buy the paper version. I do have all the gadgets but I find theres just no substitute for a map first time round.
Thanks again STW'ers
The best maps for France tend to be the Michelin ones. Why not just Google Earth it and print it out?
Cotswold Camping do them, but Stanfords have a more complete range.
Nowhere near as good as OS maps.
OS are best. na na.
I used to be a cartographer. OS are definately best.
You want the Blue ones for 1:25 000. [url= http://loisirs.ign.fr/5554362/serie/top-25-and-serie-bleue-hiking-maps.htm ]Clicky[/url]
Michelin? at 1:100k / 25k ?
Nah, IGN, they are better than OS for reading trails- they stand out more. The paper isn't great quality though.
word. IGN bleu.
If you know your onions, you'll know the OS is notoriously inaccurate.
I travelled with some Dutch cartographers (map makers) a while back and their stories of how "approximate" the OS mapping system was and how they make things look good but completely out of scale and with a high level of inaccuracy really opened my mind to the possibility (fact) that my once held belief that the UK's mapping was the very best and super accurate, was in fact, the butt of most of the world’s cartographers.
Sad but true. 🙁
Ti29er - Member
If you know your onions, you'll know the OS is notoriously inaccurate...
Ah, so it's not really my fault I get lost so often 🙂
IGN maps are available at Go Outdoors too.
Inaccurate where? Only things I've found have been paths missing from the map or the ground in certain places. Which is understandable to a point since paths move and change.
It sounds like maybe those Dutch cartographers hadn't got their head round the British National Grid. Whilst the OS has a lot of faults, notoriously inaccurate is not one of them.
Of course you can't draw roads to scale when you're making 50k maps if you want them to be visible, but that doesn't mean they're inaccurate.
From Wiki:
Ordnance Survey's flagship digital product, launched in November 2001, is OS MasterMap. This is a database that records every fixed feature of Great Britain larger than a few metres in one continuous digital map
Holy cow, that's some map!