Sat nav in france

[TOM_374341461]

I am using sat nav on the continent for the first time this summer (TomTom XL Europe) Do the french post code numbers work or do you have to put in the site address or lat long, any suggestions much appreciated.

Texastom

 

[nelmo]

I've just come back from a motorbike tour of France - yes, postcodes do work but not as well as in the UK. The French postcode (a 5 digit number) only really seems to get you to roughly the right road but no better than that...and French road names are not well posted (in rural areas anyway).

So make sure you take the phone number of where you are trying to go, so you can call them for the final directions.

I never tried using the lat/long coordinates - might work better...

 

[MikeJE]

I too will be using TomTom XL Europe in France soon. Where can you find the lat/long coordinates for a site please? Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[GeorgeB]

Tom,

Using French post codes is a total waste of time as their post codes relate to a district or area & not to streets & about 20 houses as in the UK, the best thing to do is to enter the town/district then use the street name

 

[MikeJE]

GeorgeB,

Have just followed your idea of entering the town then street name for a French site. Needs a very gentle touch to the screen but I got there in the end. Need a bit more practice I think. Very many thanks for the info.

 

[MAM]

I've used a Tom Tom One - Europe in France and Germany on a number of occasions. I've never tried using French post codes as I didn't believe they worked. I've used the Lat/Long positions with 100% success.

I've used a site www.poihandler.com to find the lat/long of all the destinations in Europe. I usually use Google maps or mappy.com to see an aerial photo of the site to ensure I've got the right place.

 

[ShadySadie]

Many European post codes cover a wide area and you can find yourself on the right road a mile or two from your destination if you use them.

The mouse pointer on Google Earth shows the latitude and longditude at the botom left of the screen.

If you enter those in to your sat nav it will take you right to the door. Google Earth is very good for planning out routes in to sites or through narrow roads. (That's the advice from my sat nav forum users)

 

[TOM_374341461]

Thanks very much for all the tips, on the subject of lat/long coordinates, they are often on the site websites or in the site books.

Tom

 

[wendylois]

Thanks very much for all the tips, on the subject of lat/long coordinates, they are often on the site websites or in the site books.

Tom

I can thoroughly recommend a website which enables downloads of co-ordinates for foreign campsites: http://archiescampings.eu/eng1/. Recommended by someone on Camping Cheques' website forum, and have downloaded them to our TomTom with great success. Lists separately the Camping Cheques sites (which scheme I can thorough recommend if caravanning out of season). Also ACSI campsites and sites along the highways. Makes finding the campsite a breeze now as we had great difficulty finding them in previous years; just had to follow the site's instructions once we'd navigated to the town. Also gives Google Earth downloads so you can see the scenery round the site before you go - brilliant!!!

 

[wendylois]

Sorry - posted this as a comment instead, so now a reply.

I can thoroughly recommend a website which enables downloads of co-ordinates for foreign campsites: http://archiescampings.eu/eng1/. Recommended by someone on Camping Cheques' website forum, and have downloaded them to our TomTom with great success. Lists separately the Camping Cheques sites (which scheme I can thorough recommend if caravanning out of season). Also ACSI campsites and sites along the highways. Makes finding the campsite a breeze now as we had great difficulty finding them in previous years; just had to follow the site's instructions once we'd navigated to the town. Also gives Google Earth downloads so you can see the scenery round the site before you go - brilliant!!!