maps?
 

I've been told that it's best to get your maps before heading to central and south america and was wondering what you folks would recommend as the best ones to get.

Thanks,
HughC

Hi,

I've got them from "world maps" They are nice. Also Selles is very good becourse they mark points of interest on the map, but I don't think they have S_america.

Maarten

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- www.maartensworld.tmfweb.nl -

Yes , thats SO true . The only country with good maps is Chile , available in the Turistel Touring guide , at 10 USD in Nth , Sth and Central versions .

In Antigua Guatemala, at a bookshop on the Parque Central, you can get good maps of all the CA countries. Published in Canada, I think, so you pay more.

The German company, 'Nelles' has great maps of many South and Central America countries. Also 'Auto Mapa' of Argentina has very good maps of Chile and Argentina. Though not always up to date as pavement is moving towards civilization!

ofcourse when I wrote "Selles" I ment to write "Nelles".
I guess my keyboard was confused or something...

How-ever I did not know they had also S-America. Then I would absolutely go for them, they are very very good and show all the interesting site's as well.

Maarten

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- www.maartensworld.tmfweb.nl -

I've found Nelles maps of every Latin American country except Brazil. Any recommendations for good maps of Brazil?

Thanks,
Hugh

hi

mexico: i had an american automobile association map

i don't remember much about the other central american maps, other than that they were poor.

in south america i bought all my maps locally:
ecuador: good military map (institute geographica militar???): on sale at big book shops in quito: 5 bucks

peru: ok map, from driving association. bought mine in piura in n. peru, 6 bucks. seemed to be the best of a bad bunch.

chile: excellent: sale at big copec gas stations : nice booklet format, 4 bucks

brazil: very good: by touring association. bought mine from a street vendor in belem. nice booklet format, 8 bucks???

having seen maps that came from north america, i feel the local ones are better/ more accurate.

bolivia: crap maps

argentina: the whole south/patagonia is on the chile map....

also go to south americas explorers club offices: the should be able to let you photocopy theirs (if you're a member...)

don't forget guide books:

looney planet: ok maps, very poor info

footprint handbook: poor maps, excellent info, including on roads.

i found it an excellent idea to see how long the guide book said the bus journey would take: for example: if it is 12 hours for 120 km, eg cajamarca to kuelap in peru, you can say the road is crap and it will take you 8 hours on a bike.... (great views and fun riding mind!!)

good luck,
ChrisB

Brazil maps

If you just want route planning then there are plenty of road atlases available. These are generally ok for the main routes but are woefully inaccurate when you start going for the smaller roads.

Decent topographic maps exist which match Ordnance survey/USGS/IGN levels of contour detail. Varying scales exist (1;25000 to 1;200000 (like the michelin french road maps). These are great when used with a GPS for getting through the remote areas.

I said these maps exist but are not sold in shops like the UK and other countries. You have to go to the relevant office of the national geog institute (there is a branch in Sao Paulo). They sell loose sheets there and if the area you want is not available then you can get a copy of a master map.

It's very frustrating - detailed maps exist which cover most of brazil but they haven't got round to thinking that they can make money by selling them freely to the public.

I guess some people like the idea of not knowing what is over the hill - just adds to the discovery!

If you have a serious need for a topo map in Brazil then I could see whether I can help.

cheers

Warren

Brazil: You can purchase a road book at any corner newspaper stand -- it is called Rodoviario Quatra Rodas and costs 22 reals (less then US$7)-- there is no better map for Brasil. This is not the guide book, but only the map book. It is a map book updated every year, divided by states, with excellent detail, and a variety of mileage grids at the back. It has about 56 pages of maps. City maps are only show the main roads, but that is the only thing that is not excellent. The same company also makes a guide book (Guia 4 Rodas), which lists hotels and comes with a huge (but detailed) fold out map -- the locals swear by the guide, but we found the most economical hotel recommendations a bit pricy for our budget. Stick with the usual foreign guide. Lastly, Quatra Rodas also makes a guide called Praias (beaches), also updated annually, rating the beaches (1 to 4), and very close detail of roads (1 page covers about 70km). It was a gift, but would guess similar pricing (20-24 reals).
http://www.uol.com.br/portalviagem/s...as/index.shtml

Merca-Sur (?) -- Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brasil: There is a map book we bought in a book store in Buenos Aires. It is about 60 pages of maps, and gives better detail of Argentina (some 36 pages) as it is made in AR, but the detail in other countries is still very good -- highly recommend. I have seen it with more than one cover, but do not recall the name(s). We found in a good book store, and paid 20 pesos (when the rate was 1 to 1). It is probably a few more pesos now, but not US$20. It may not be in every store, but we found it more than once in BA.

Good luck!
Chris & Erin Ratay


[This message has been edited by ultimatejourney (edited 30 October 2002).]

Any Updates???
 

Just wondering if there are any updates on the map situation, specifically for Peru and Bolivia??

map
 

You can view a map of Chile online at www.turistel.cl The map is in 6-7 sections starting from top to bottom. You can print it out. When you get to Chile go to a COPEC gas station(they are all over the place) and get booklet map for $3--$4. I tell people back home to go to the turistel.cl website to see where I'm at. Slick. Its the best map I've found for Chile.

Cheers Arlen,

That is a phantastic map-site! Can you buy the same map in chile?

map
 

The exact same map is available at COPEC gas stations in Chile for $3-$4. The COPEC map has a section of the same one on turistel.cl on each page as well as corresponding information about areas of that page. Map also shows location of all COPEC gas stations. Its the only one I use in Chile.... It shows location of border crossings and identifies if they have border crossing offices etc. Also shows locations of termas (natural hot-springs) and ferrys etc. Great map.

Excellent, I shall have me one of those...

Hi,
If it's any good...
I used rough guide maps for Chile and Argentina which were great road maps. showed all the roads and most tracks and plenty of points of interest...cheap too...
I saw that they also did the same quality maps for Peru,Bolivia and Uruguay..I guess they do more.
Have a great trip....z

Cheers Zade,

I have just ordered the Nelles maps for Bolivia and Peru...just to be on the safe side. Most places they are very good. When you say Roughguide maps, do you mean the ones in the guide book or do they sell seperate maps?

With regards to the good trip, I promise I will try! :)

Regarding the question above, Rough Guide do publish folded map only editions.

Argentina: (ISBN:184353231X) published late 2003.

Chile (ISBN:184353486X) published late 2005.

Does anyone have any additional suggestions aside from the ones already listed in this thread?

Thanks!

Hi,
in case you need maps which are good and helpful for planing, have a look on www.touratech.de. They sell old russian military maps from 1945. Ok, they might not be up to date, but I can tell you they helped me a lot. You will get them on cd-Rom and you since you have all the height-lines you more or less know exactely where you are at the moment and where you are heading. You can also use it with your gps (and I do recommend GPS as soon as you leave the major roads or as soon as you enter Bolivia. Mainly in Bolivia there are a lot of roads in very poor condition and you will be happy to have such maps with you to find out where you are at the moment.

Well, I hope you will have a fantastic trip, it is marvelous there.

Enjoy your ride
Burnout1

Ahh, didn't realise it was me who reopened this!

Trip was excellent and I will go back in December.

The only other update I have is that you can get a map similar to the COPEC map from YPF. Only difference being the YPF map also covers Argentina, and the very South of Peru and Brazil. It doesen't show the petrol station in Chile, though, as the COPEC map does...:thumbup1:

For Mexico you can try this: http://tienda.guiaroji.com.mx/produc...id=CDCARRM2006

also for printed maps, Guia Roji is the best maps we have for Mexico.

Good Luck
Humberto

Also, www.baja-almanac.com is the best available for the Baja states.

Get all the maps in advanced, it will be hard to get them on the road!
In Brasil it is easy to find good maps, every big gas station or bookshop is selling the Quattro Rodas (Exists one for all Brasil costs beetween 30,- and 33,- Reais, and than other ones for the different states of Brasil)! You see exactely which road is aved and not paved, or if it is in bad condition. It is nearly allways right, that´s what i can say after cruising 7 month through all Brasil! But what you will not see on those maps is the altidude!

Good luck, Appie!

Berndtson & Berndtson has excellent maps of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Argentina. They are clearly marked (e.g. paved / unpaved) and virtually every road & town listed was accurate in my experience.

Best of all, they're laminated -- will take a beating or a soaking and be just about as good as new.

You probably mean the Firestone map. Excellent map and good details where I havent found any mistakes. Still 20 pesos last year (aprx 7 US) and can be bought at the magazine stands as well.

Another Map Question?
 

I may have missed this in this thread (or others) but do any of you have opinions on the ITMB International Travel Maps. I was given two for South America but the scale was WAY to big (or small depending on how you look at it) :=) I purchased some for each individual country with a much smaller scale and they seem to show the roads well along with "tracks" and "trails" where appropriate and other "landmarks" as well as gas availability. Any use these maps and have an opinion?
Rick