Next year we plan on renting a house in the Dordogne for 3 weeks. We were there in 1999 but stayed in hotels. After being Slow Travelers in Italy this year we finally saw the light!

In Italy we used the Touring Club Italiano maps which were super since they are so detailed. Is there anything comparable for France other than Michelin?

Also, what guide books do you recommend? We used Cadogan for Italy as well as Frommer's and Thomas Cook books that had specific driving itineraries.

Thanks.
Edna

Edna,
I'm sorry I can't help with maps for France - I'm sure someone else will chime in. Re: Guidebooks: I've become a fan of the Cadogan guides, too. I like their style, and am impressed with the accuracy of their information.

I love the Blue Guides, but their guide for the Dorgogne is out of print - perhaps you could find a used copy. (Assuming you're looking for detailed info on art, architecture and history in the area.)

A book that I've seen recommended frequently on AOL is "Three Rivers of France," by Freda White. About the Dorgogne, the Lot, and the Tarn rivers. Unfortunately, it is also out of print...

How about, "The Most Beautiful Villages of the Dordogne?" I'll bet the descriptions will give you some ideas of the towns you'd like to visit during your stay.

The NY Times travel has an article on B&B in the Dordogne through the Gites of France. It has a nice slide show.

I have used one of the Michelin 'regional maps' in the Provence area and found it to be as useful as the TCI maps for Italy for driving. I think these are the most detailed. It is much better than the national map. I am not certain which area would cover Dordogne.

I personally like the Rough Guides and there is one for the area. The Hachette Vacances guides are a French based guide book. I think these guides are also published in French under the Routard Guides. I have not used these guides but I have noticed them being used a lot by French tourists. I also think some shopkeepers or restaurants will have a sticker in the window saying they are mentioned in these guides. Has any one used these guides before?

Marta

Maps: IGN (Institut Géographique National) covers France in 16 excellent maps. The Dordogne is covered by map 110, "Bordelais-Périgord". I bought my set of IGN maps in Chicago several years ago; in France, one occasionally finds the Syndicats d'Initiative or Offices du Tourisme carrying them, free to boot, in specially superimprinted versions on which all the little churches and castles and caves and such are neatly marked out.

For guidebooks, don't forget to look at SlowTrav's own France Planning Books page.

What is the scale of those maps Bill? For Italy, I seem to prefer the 1:200,000 scale maps. For England, 1:250,000 gives good detail.

Grinisa (Anita) posted this website Travel Guide Warehouse - books and maps on AOL a few days ago. I just looked at their maps for France, and see that although they have a page for IGN maps, it's not active at this time.

Colleen, great link for the bookstore. It is even somewhat in my neighborhood. Okay.. it is a day trip away.

The Michelin regional maps are mostly 1:200,000. I am not familiar with the scale. Is a higher number a more detailed map or lesser number?

Marta

PS: I just received a Tabacco map for hiking in the Dolomites. It looks very cool. The scale is 1:50,000.

The lower number is more detailed. 1:250,000 equates to about 1 inch to 4 miles (or so it says on my England Road Atlas). Many of the Michelin maps are a much larger scale, with not much detail.

For hiking in Italy, a 1:50,000 scale is good for getting an idea of the hikes in the area, but when you are on the trail a 1:25,000 scale is best. Those are the ones where they even mark the houses. Many trails in Italy are not well marked and you depend on your map.

Marta, I want a full report of hiking in the Dolomites. I bet the trails are better marked up there than in Tuscany.

I just found another US source for maps on the web. The company is Omni Resources in NC and it looks very complete. I wanted to find some other quadrant Italian hiking maps and found this site on Google by searching Tabacco maps. They have information also on the IGN and other maps of France.

I don't have any experience with them but it looks interesting.

Marta

Beat you to them Marta! We have them listed on our Driving Maps page as a good US source for the TCI maps for Italy.
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drive/maps.htm

If you purchase from them, let me know how it goes.

Cool. Thanks Pauline. That's a great reminder for everyone to check all the resources on the web site. I haven't decided for certain if I'm going to order another map, but I will definitely followup if I do order from Omni.

Marta

I’m coming in on this thread a bit late – I’m just back from 4 nights in Provence, and so my mind is buzzing with all things French… The Michelin yellow regional maps are, as Marta says, 1:200,000; just the same as the TCI Italian maps. IMO they are a lot clearer and more detailed, though: the TCI maps seem very dated, typographically. They remind me of the UK road atlases that I grew up on: and that was in the 60s. I also prefer the Michelin to the IGN 1:250,000, but at larger scales, IGN are very useful (and, mostly, unrivalled). They do a Serie Verte at 1:100,000 (1 cm = 1km), and a blue series (not, confusingly, called serie bleue on the ones I could find) at the useful-for-walking scale of 1:25,000. These larger scale IGNs are readily available over there: we always wait until we’re in the area and then buy them from the local Maison de la Presse or supermarket.

Guidebooks: If you read French at all, the new Michelin Guides Verts are excellent. Not to be confused with their Green Guides in English: these latter are translations of the old Guides Verts, with their line drawings and rather dated feel. But the new French ones are very well illustrated with colour photos, and each main entry has a carnet pratique listing (with brief reviews) a few hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. I followed several of their recommendations last week in Arles and St Remy, and found them all excellent. The one that covers the Dordogne is called Perigord Quercy.

Jonathan