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Rob

Jul 8, 2002, 1:46 PM

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Maps of Mexico

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I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. Any help appreciated.

Jul 8, 2002, 9:39 PM

Post #2 of 11 (906 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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: I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. If you're looking for the standard fold-out single sheeter to pull out from your backpack and gauge the distance between Culiacan and Veracruz, the AAA Mexico country map is as good as any I've seen and is free to members. For a higher level of road detail nationwide, I'd check out the Guia Roji Mexico Road Atlas ("Guia Roji Por Las Carrerteras de Mexico"). Guia Roji also publishes Mexican state maps, as well as a limited number of city maps. They sell them directly online, and I've found the road atlas sold by a number of US travel-related book dealers.City-specific maps seem to be a lot more difficult to come by than in the US, at least in anywhere but the city itself. If you ask at larger newstands in a given (large) city, they'll usually dive down and come up with a map of some sort (for sale). Some of these maps are pretty good, although nothing like the AAA maps in the US. Others are pretty awful, reminding me more of the city maps rent-a-car companies in the US provide, and having all kinds of odd markings and symbols for map sponsors. Asking for a map from a car rental company in Mexico is generally met with a fair degree of consternation.The built-in western hemisphere basemaps in the common mapping GPSRs currently being sold have the major Mexican interstate highways on them, as well as an amazing number of cities and towns. Beyond that I haven't encountered loadable high resolution map segments for Mexico from either Garmin or Magellan, both of who use their own proprietary map data formats, blocking third-party vendors.

Bob Emerson

Jul 9, 2002, 8:25 AM

Post #3 of 11 (892 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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: I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. Any help appreciated.

Rob

Jul 9, 2002, 10:23 AM

Post #4 of 11 (905 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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Thanks for the help. I'll be travelling on the Pacific Coast and not hitting too many major cities. : : I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. : If you're looking for the standard fold-out single sheeter to pull out from your backpack and gauge the distance between Culiacan and Veracruz, the AAA Mexico country map is as good as any I've seen and is free to members. : For a higher level of road detail nationwide, I'd check out the Guia Roji Mexico Road Atlas ("Guia Roji Por Las Carrerteras de Mexico"). Guia Roji also publishes Mexican state maps, as well as a limited number of city maps. They sell them directly online, and I've found the road atlas sold by a number of US travel-related book dealers.: City-specific maps seem to be a lot more difficult to come by than in the US, at least in anywhere but the city itself. If you ask at larger newstands in a given (large) city, they'll usually dive down and come up with a map of some sort (for sale). Some of these maps are pretty good, although nothing like the AAA maps in the US. Others are pretty awful, reminding me more of the city maps rent-a-car companies in the US provide, and having all kinds of odd markings and symbols for map sponsors. Asking for a map from a car rental company in Mexico is generally met with a fair degree of consternation.: The built-in western hemisphere basemaps in the common mapping GPSRs currently being sold have the major Mexican interstate highways on them, as well as an amazing number of cities and towns. Beyond that I haven't encountered loadable high resolution map segments for Mexico from either Garmin or Magellan, both of who use their own proprietary map data formats, blocking third-party vendors.

Jul 10, 2002, 12:04 AM

Post #5 of 11 (893 views)

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GPSR Note

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: The built-in western hemisphere basemaps in the common mapping GPSRs currently being sold have the major Mexican interstate highways on them, as well as an amazing number of cities and towns. Just to make sure there's no confusion, on the built in basemaps on the Garmin and Magellan GPSRs I've worked with, the locations of towns and cities in Mexico show up in relation to highways and rivers on the lower resolution (larger scale) settings. As you zoom in to higher resolutions, unlike the US basemaps there's very actual little street detail, with maybe a dozen or so large streets being offered up in addition to the major highways crossing around and through Guadalajara, and maybe one or two for all of Mazatlan.

Ernie Gorrie

Jul 10, 2002, 10:22 PM

Post #6 of 11 (893 views)

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GPSR, Roads and Cities

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I have a little experience with a Magellan Meridian in the Zihuatanejo area.While the maps are not too bad for the major highways in the area, (e.g., Ruta 200) they don't locate the cities correctly. Coastal cities like Lazaro Cardenas, Ixtapa, Acapulco and Puerto Escondido are all shown as being several kilometres inland. (Zihuatanejo isn't even shown.)Our beachfront home in Troncones (along with every other beachfront location in Troncones) is shown as being several kilometers into the Pacific.I wonder if Magellan is already publishing maps based on the coastlines that are predicted due to global warming! :)

mexicodan

Jul 13, 2002, 7:46 AM

Post #7 of 11 (893 views)

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Try www.maps-of-mexico.com

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www.maps-fo-mexico.com

randy in los altos

Jul 19, 2002, 8:54 AM

Post #8 of 11 (894 views)

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Throw the AAA maps of Mexico away...

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...unless you are just going to stay on the cuotas.This fact was driven home in May 2001, when I was at the (future) family ranch for the first time. Miche & I were looking at my AAA map of Mexico. He told me there was a town called Jesus Maria just five kilometers away from where we were. Well, this town of 22,000 souls wasn't shown, and neither were major roads in the area; very incomplete, IMO.Luis laughed and said I needed to buy a new map.Needless to say, I burned the AAA map, and bought a Guia Roja map of Mexico, which was so much more complete in every way than the AAA map...Randy

jonathan

Jul 19, 2002, 10:56 AM

Post #9 of 11 (891 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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Watch out, if you are planning to stay on the small roads--we just took back roads from the coast back to Guadalajara, and found little correspondence between the guia r maps and reality. No harm was caused, as we enjoyed getting lost, but it would be frustrating if you were in a hurry. (But then you probably wouldn't be on the small roads...)
: Thanks for the help. I'll be travelling on the Pacific Coast and not hitting too many major cities.

roger

Oct 13, 2002, 10:34 AM

Post #10 of 11 (889 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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: : I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. Any help appreciated.

Roger

Oct 13, 2002, 10:36 AM

Post #11 of 11 (893 views)

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Maps of Mexico

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: : : I am travelling through Mexico next year and am trying to find the best maps to use to get around. Any help appreciated.A company called Guia Roji has the best road map.