GPS/Mapping in Europe + hike recommendations

[Ktrain]

Does anyone know of a Caltopo-like site for European topo maps (specifically Iceland and Scotland)? I've been able to find maps for most of the places in Scotland I want to go but data on Iceland is a littler harder to find. At a minimum, map would include trail routes, topo lines, trailhead locations and be able to print the sections I'm interested in; nice but not necessary to have mapping functions like route drawing and waypoints etc.

Also, I never GPS here in CO but I'm a little more nervous of getting lost in a foreign country. Does anyone have a recommendation for a GPS app that will work in airplane mode overseas? Is the answer Strava? FYI, I'm a technological Luddite and have downloaded exactly zero apps in my smartphone life! Ideally, I would like to draw a route on the topo map and then be able to follow the trace on the app (or just draw routes on the app?). But as long as it can mark waypoints or trace my route so I can get back to the car then that is fine.

Lastly, anyone have recommendations for hikes in Iceland? My wife is planning that portion of our trip and has a more "winging it" style of planning than I would like I'd like to have some backup plans ready for when she runs out of ideas. We'll be focusing more on spending a few days in specific areas (Westfjords) rather than doing the whole right-off-the-ring road/touristy locations and have a 4x4 vehicle available. Recs for hippy-dip geopools hikes, cool coastline/interior valley hikes, lava tubes(?), mild glacier travel, and must-sees are appreciated. I've already read through the other Iceland threads.

Thanks in advance!

[pmeadco]

You will find many discussions in the forum for GPS apps. Crank up search and see what you find.

Personally, I like Backcountry Navigator. It provides many different map sources and can be used offline (with no cell service). In Europe and Nepal I used the 4UMAP as the map source and found it to be very useful. The trails marked on the map are usually accurate and trailheads and other waypoints are often shown on their maps.

[AlexeyD]

You mentioned that you've already looked through the Iceland threads, so you probably know that I came back from there recently. The app I found most useful was Avenza Maps. It's a little different than something like Gaia in that it doesn't let you plan routes on a desktop interface (at least not in the free version), but it's unparalleled in terms of the sheer number of different maps that you can access and download from all around the world. The way it works is:

1) Set up an account online (https://www.avenza.com/my-account/)
2) Download the app to your phone
3) Browse and download maps either through the app or the website (https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/search.html)
4) Once you've downloaded the map you want on the website, go to the app, find it in the list of downloads, and click on the download link to download it to your device
5) Voila - you can now use the map offline with full GPS functionality.

As mentioned earlier, a major downside of Avenza is the lack of a real desktop interface. This makes it difficult to print out paper versions of the map. It IS possible to do this, but you have to jump through some hoops. Basically you need to download a special desktop app that is able to read Avenza's map format. Instructions on how to do that are found here: https://www.avenzamaps.com/maps/pc-viewer.html

As for Iceland recommendations - we did not make it to the Westfjords area or anywhere near there, so I can't speak much for that area unfortunately. Also, our trip was more or less limited to one large backpacking route. That said, if this is something you're interested in thinking about, I'm happy to share more details.

Good luck! It's a very cool and special place.

[martinleroux]

Gaia GPS may be what you're looking for. If you select "Gaia Topo" as your map source then it provides world-wide coverage, including contour lines and hiking trails. You can download maps for off-line use. I've never been to Scotland or Iceland, but I've used it in the Dolomites and the trails were very accurate. No idea how accurate it is for Iceland, but it does show a trail to Iceland's highest point (Hvannadalshnjukur).

Screenshot_20180809-102149.jpg (493.79 KiB) Viewed 3187 times

[AlexeyD]

^I'm sorry to say, but Gaia sucks for Iceland for anything other than very rudimentary route planning. For any actual backcountry navigation it's pretty much useless (believe me, I tried). For comparison, here's a screenshot of the same area using the map I downloaded from Avenza (it just so happens that I was backpacking in the area you chose as an example).