Buying maps for tour, what Scale? Amsterdam->Bruges->Brussles->Troyes->Paris

Hi there, a few of us from Dublin heading to the mainland to do a bit of touring.

Amsterdam->Bruges->Brussles->Troyes->Paris

We have a route picked out from a guidebook that goes this way but the book is really old. Planning to get maps so we don't get lost and can see whats around. but not sure what scale to get or what would be overkill.

Went looking yesterday and found a few at 1: 800,000 and 1: 1,000,000. From experience can anyone help. We might be camping rough some nights so a more detailed map might be good for figuring where to head for (near rivers or beach or lakes). I expect that i'd need a really detailed map to figure some of that out, but can't really afford to buy a load of maps.

Thinking now maybe I should buy a large scale map for now and buy smaller scale over there if we find we need them.

1:1

thats a lot of paper to carry :)

1:25,000 maybe 1:50,000 I think. You need a few and they are expensive. I used car maps though and they're shit. Germany had a little double boxed set of bike-specific maps I bought but I never found any or could justify the expense for the other countries I was in.

You don't need small scale maps for navigation in the Netherlands - just use a large scale one to know where you need to get to, then use the plethora of bike route signs to get around.

Obviously that is no use when looking for good camping spots, but that's half the fun of touring, shirley?

1:25,000 maybe 1:50,000 I think. You need a few and they are expensive. I used car maps though and they're shit. Germany had a little double boxed set of bike-specific maps I bought but I never found any or could justify the expense for the other countries I was in.

This. 1:50,000 of the OS maps is pretty alright, but they are stupid expensive if you're covering a big distance (or not even that big, Exeter to London was something like 8 maps!). Last tour I just printed out route sheets based on screen shots of google maps and made sure my phone was always ready to point me in the direction of the nearest whatever-we'd-need (i.e. pub). Was a lot of paper, but it was a lot cheaper too.

That's a good point.. making it up as you go along based on signage is fun, it's when you are lost, knackered and it's getting dark that you really wish you'd packed some decent maps..

When I toured I didn't have a phone with GPS and Google Maps - with these I'd be far better off than I was with nothing.

You don't need small scale maps for navigation in the Netherlands - just use a large scale one to know where you need to get to, then use the plethora of bike route signs to get around.

Obviously that is no use when looking for good camping spots, but that's half the fun of touring, shirley?

+1. Tear out the relevant pages from a road atlas just to give you the names of places you should roughly be heading towards, and then go freestyle.

When I toured I didn't have a phone with GPS and Google Maps - with these I'd be far better off than I was with nothing.

First time I went proper touring was 2003 (UK, Norway, Denmark). We came from Canada with our bikes, never been to the country, and used a couple of AA road maps and a CTC cheat sheet (for the UK, for Norway we used the North Sea Cycleway Guide - which is awesome - and I don't remember what we did in Denmark.. Got off the ferry and went looking for a train to Copenhagen mostly).

We got lost a couple of times (and lost a map once as well), but we managed.

I had a photocopy of a road atlas for the UK (and was pulled off the M2 by the police - whoops) and then nothing until a few weeks into Germany when I decided I'd been lost too often and struggling to find proper camp sites. You can manage with nothing, all I'm saying is, it's nice to have a good map or a gps or some backup in place.

signage always tries to drag you on to the biggest roads, not brilliant for cycling.

signage always tries to drag you on to the biggest roads, not brilliant for cycling.

This is especially true in France.

Road atlas maps should be good enough provided they cover the back roads. Collins maps have served me very well in the UK with occasional print outs from google maps of town centres to help aviod having to roll into town on huge dual carriageways.

France has an equivalent of OS, which is the IGN and they do specific cycling maps (wide coverage, good topography and geography) although I don't think they do full national coverage. Best to head to Stamfords and have a root around. Holland is really well marked and often you will have to stick to cycle routes, even where roads are close and a bit quicker. The upside is that routes are incredibly well signed so navigation against a road map should be pretty easy. I've only done the North Sea Route in Belgium but it's small and well signed so shouldn't be a big challenge navigationally.

Thanks for all the advice guys. Think were probably going to go for the Mechelin 1:200,000 series for Netherlands and Belgium and then try get the relevant IGN maps for France. I reckon we'll need 7/8 to cover the areas were going which between the 4/5 of us shouldn't too big a hit on the pocket.

Is it hard to find the IGN maps over there or should we sort them all before we go? Camping shops and larger bookshops would have all the maps for ireland in stock over here in Dublin, is it reasonable to expect the same in France.

I'm keen to preserve some of the spirit of adventure of the trip and feel things out on the ground, but dont want to get hopelessly lost, or end up on a massive road when theres a quieter/slower road nearby.

Any tips on where is good to go looking for campsite info? or any where on the way that people would recommend? Any hostels in Amsterdam with secure areas to lock bikes?

This travel bookshop in Amsterdam is fantastic.
http://www.piedaterre.nl/
It has a specific section for touring by bike - with books, maps and camping info, not just for the Netherlands but everywhere on your route. It also has a cafe with large tables where you can take maps and books, and make plans over coffee and cake without actually having to buy the books.

On the same street (Overtoom) there are three decent bike shops and two good outdoor/camping shops.

Right vext to Overtoom is Vondelpark, which has a very good bike-friendly hostel right on the edge: http://www.stayokay.com/index.php?pageID=3207&hostelID=356022

Dude!! most helpful post ever, thanks so much. Will make a beeline for both those places and stock up on gas and other non-airplane friendly stuff in the camping shops.

No worries mate, glad to help. Drop us a line if you guys fancy a ride/beer when you get here!

That sounds great dude.

Were arriving the 13th July round lunchtime. The original plan was to have the afternoon/ evening around Amsterdam and then head on the next day.

Now we might end up hanging around for an extra day and set off on the 15th instead.

I'll be in touch again closer to when were heading off, do you wanna PM me your email address?

Ah shame, I'll be on my way down to Geneva then for the European Bike Polo Champs so will miss you, but have fun and a great ride.