Touring England and Scotland... maps?

[engrafted]

So I'm a student in York right now. School ends in two weeks. I'm going to take all summer and tour around Europe. I'm going up into Scotland, back down through England into France, through Belgium into the Netherlands, back down through France to Mallorca, Spain for school next term. What kind of maps does everyone think I should use? I don't want to have to carry around tons of very regional maps, but the maps I was looking at were not specific enough for touring I don't think. Should I just wing it. I am camping all summer, after all, so I don't have to worry about getting lost. I have over 100 days to find myself. Anyway, maps?

 

[stokell]

The very best maps of the United Kingdom are from Ordance Survey. Once on the continent I would say it will be Michelin. Never wing it when dealing with maps. Consider photocopies and dispose of them as you go.

Your trips seems quite ambitious. Think about doing 100 km or less a day.

 

[VeloSpeed]

Can't really comment on the mainland part of your tour but for the UK side the sustrans site must be worth a look. www.sustrans.co.uk. There are routes that will take you from York right into Scotland. The coast and castles route goes through some lovely parts of Northumberland. The maps they sell are good. You would need many OS maps to cover the same ground. The only downside is they only cover a narrow strip so if you wander too far off the route you may have a problem!

David

 

[peakecentral]

Without doubt, Ordnance Survey are brilliant maps of the UK, but they are fairly expensive and you would need lots of them too. If you are planning a definite route through the UK you could use multimap.com and make a personalised map - they're good quality at the right resolution. It would take a fair old while, though. Try going to a proper map shop - there may be one in York - or call the Upton Map Shop (01684 593143, themapshop.co.uk) who are really helpful.

For France, use IGN maps.