Ski-ing here at Tignes

Thanks Neiltoo,
It does look as though they've made the border do a dog leg bend so that you can get to the back of the airport on a French road.

I definitely wouldn't fancy hiring a car at Geneva airport and trying to navigate through all that.

Ally

AllyG wrote:Thanks Neiltoo,
It does look as though they've made the border do a dog leg bend so that you can get to the back of the airport on a French road.

I definitely wouldn't fancy hiring a car at Geneva airport and trying to navigate through all that.

Ally

Sat nav's are a wonderful thing :wink:

Ian Wickham wrote:

AllyG wrote:Thanks Neiltoo,
It does look as though they've made the border do a dog leg bend so that you can get to the back of the airport on a French road.

I definitely wouldn't fancy hiring a car at Geneva airport and trying to navigate through all that.

Ally

Sat nav's are a wonderful thing :wink:

They are indeed, but they will try to send you via an auto route and your French hire car will not have the stickers for swiss motorways. Leaving the airport isn't much of a problem but finding your way back is a different ball game, or maybe I'm just navigationally challenged :shock:

Ally, if you rent on the Swiss side navigation is very straight forward.

Neiltoo wrote:

Ian Wickham wrote:

AllyG wrote:Thanks Neiltoo,
It does look as though they've made the border do a dog leg bend so that you can get to the back of the airport on a French road.

I definitely wouldn't fancy hiring a car at Geneva airport and trying to navigate through all that.

Ally

Sat nav's are a wonderful thing :wink:

They are indeed, but they will try to send you via an auto route and your French hire car will not have the stickers for swiss motorways. Leaving the airport isn't much of a problem but finding your way back is a different ball game, or maybe I'm just navigationally challenged :shock:

Ally, if you rent on the Swiss side navigation is very straight forward.

Most you can set to "A" roads if required

Well,
I forgot to tell everyone what happened to me when I tried out my new Tom Tom during my drive to Bristol airport for our holiday at Tignes.

I have been driving for nearly 30 years, after I passed my driving test first time with only 12 lessons in 3 months. So, I can actually drive pretty well. However, because we live about 50 miles from the nearest motorway I don't get much practice on the motorway. We also live about 60 miles from the nearest city, and I've only ever driven in a city about 10 times.

So, I was pretty worried about driving 120 miles or so to Bristol airport. And I bought myself a Tom Tom.

The first thing that went wrong was that my daughter asked me to drive to the Cardiff IKEA on the way to Bristol because there was something essential she needed and they wouldn't deliver it.

Well, she set the Tom Tom, and I tried to do what it said. Eventually it said we had arrived at our destination, when quite clearly we hadn't, and we were at a small roundabout in the middle of nowhere. However, I have been to IKEA before, with someone else, and I remembered where it was.

Then, coming out of IKEA, the signposts quite clearly said M4 one way, and the Tom Tom said a totally different road. So, I went with the signposts, until I realized that I'd end up going down the motorway in the wrong direction. Then I did what Tom Tom said and had to drive all through the suburbs of Cardiff, with no idea where I was going, until we eventually re-joined the M4, going in the right direction.

We then got stuck in a traffic jam on the M4 doing about 2 miles an hour for about half an hour (not Tom Tom's fault of course). And, after we'd crossed the Bridge, Tom Tom took a most peculiar route. I have no idea where we went, but we went down several motorways and then across tiny roads, and finally down a tiny single track lane in the pitch dark. At which point Tom Tom said we'd reached our final destination - supposed to be the Holiday Inn at Bristol airport. Which it clearly wasn't. So, I had a look at the map then, and the hotel is supposed to be on the A38. I turned round, went back up the tiny lane, and found, amazingly, the A38, with the hotel on it.

So, I think sat nav helps, but you still need a map, especially for the last bit, when you arrive at 'your final destination'.

I don't like the way it counts exits on roundabouts, because sometimes you don't know if a minor round counts as an exit or not. In fact, there is a school somewhere near Bristol airport, off a roundabout, and I was wondering if it was our exit, when I saw they had a sign up saying it was a road only to a school, so I should think they must have been fed up with hundreds of lost people following Tom Tom ending up in their school yard.

But at least I did get to Bristol (and back).

I think I will revert to going on the train for our next holiday. It is much less stressful, and quicker, after allowing for traffic jams and getting lost.

Ally

I have travelled all over Europe with my Tom Tom never had any problems, with out sounding rude they are only as good as what information you put in :D

Ian,
It's not the information I put in that's the problem, it's the mapping information that Tom Tom gets from ??? that's the problem. I've tested it out here, and it says a junction is a bend in the road, or vice versa, and as I said it counts exits wrong.

What I really need to know when I'm driving, is something clear like 'take the 2nd exit on the roundabout signposted A38'.

Ally

AllyG wrote:Ian,
It's not the information I put in that's the problem, it's the mapping information that Tom Tom gets from ??? that's the problem. I've tested it out here, and it says a junction is a bend in the road, or vice versa, and as I said it counts exits wrong.

What I really need to know when I'm driving, is something clear like 'take the 2nd exit on the roundabout signposted A38'.

Ally

Then take it back, they are not perfect and you do sometimes need to update the maps which again costs, but if your not happy with it take it back to the shop 8)