Map Of Poland
GPS Is Better
Using A GPS Map In Poland
If you are going to travel in Poland, investing in a GPS map can be quite rewarding.
The roads in Poland are a bit difficult, to say the least, to navigate. And given the aggressiveness and lack of patience exhibited by many Polish drivers, it is best to know where you are going so you can concentrate more on driving than on navigating.
If your primary interest is in getting GPS maps and information about a GPS system, here are some quick links for you. The first is to Maps of Poland and the other is to GPS systems.
And now more about GPS and Poland.
The GPS maps for Poland are really quite complete.
But you have to be careful because they do not always distinguish between dirt roads and paved roads.
In many areas around Poland there are extensive networks of dirt roads that go through fields and forests. They are serviceable roads that are used by the local folk. And they are dutifully listed on the GPS maps that cover Poland.
The maps are generally good at showing the roads in the larger towns and cities. But the addressing is incomplete. So when you look for directions to a particular address, you may not get a result.
Then you have an interesting problem to solve. If you use just a street name you may be taken to the beginning of the street. And that can be confusing if you are in heavy traffic and the road signs are not easy to find.
When you get into a situation where your chosen street address is not displayed, try numbers up and down from your choice until one pops up. At least you will get into the neighborhood and you have a good chance of finding what you want.
And if you are going out of the cities and will be going to small towns, check the route that the unit recommends against what you see on a printed road map atlas. Make sure that you are sent over paved roads. You can get road atlases here. Polish Maps
In one case we were traveling from Gdansk, Poland to a small town called Chmielonko. The GPS system did not have the street name, and of course, the number of the building that we wanted.
So we headed for the town.
As we neared the town the road turned from normal pavement to concrete pads. Then it turned into concrete strips set car wheel width. Then it turned into dirt road. Then sand.
Slowly it reversed itself and we came to the town where we asked some people and found our address.
We were informed that we had come in to town the "back way".
Fun it was. But doing it at night would have been disconcerting.
There is no doubt that with time the GPS maps will be upgraded as more data is gathered. There are not that many users of GPS maps in Poland yet but as it moves forward in the EU, that is sure to change as the people's disposable income increases.
And in spite of the interesting situations in which you can find yourself, if you use one to go off the main routes and outside the main cities, it you are going to drive in Poland, a GPS mapping system is a recommended tool.
And of course, if you are driving across Europe with Poland as only one of the countries that you will be visiting, a GPS system is highly recommended. GPS