GPS navigation

[tob]

I am off to walk a long distance trail in Italy in March - starting at Valle D'Aosta and walking to Rome (and possibly beyond). Due to my not speaking italian it has been difficult to get route details onlne. I'd appreciate any advice on GPS devices and software and how to use them to plot the trail and check my progress and get guidance etc real time.

thanks
tob

[photohiker]

Hi Tob,

Do you have paper maps, and have you decided exactly where you will be walking yet? I imagine there would be many ways of walking to Rome from there...

I put your start and destination into Google maps, and it came up with this. Not much help! At least they didn't suggest a Sea Kayak

Seriously, if you know where you want to walk, getting it onto a GPS shouldn't be too much of a drama. If you don't know then you need to work that out first.

I've not walked in Italy, but I have been near the start of your walk, but on the Swiss side of the border, so I know a little of what it looks like.

Cheers

[Liamy77]

Got a bit more info for us?
-what GPS unit do you have (if you don't have one yet i would suggest getting a mapping version with up-to-date detailed maps of the area first and playing with it to get used to how it works in the field ...) I use MemoryMap and it has global maps available (but i don't know about Itallian maps myself)
-Where are your start & finish points etc?
-Are you going alone or with a group (and what experience does your group have navigating)
-Is the track/s well marked?

Most GPS units will let you create a track in Google Earth (free) and upload a .gpx file of the route onto the GPS unit... But you want to be sure you have the GPS unit set up properly..... so test it out in a known environment first( city streets is good as you know EXACTLY where you are physically and can compare that to the GPS reeding)

But ultimately - if you have to ask, you need to practice a bit more first IMHO - have fun though!!

Cheers, Liam