SatNav, Software and the Road to Greece

Ian Shires

February 2008

Ian and Judit are planning to drive their lwb Land Rover to Greece from their home in Budapest during the summer of 2008. Their route will take them through Serbia and Macedonia and they may return via Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. Having explored the route with Google Earth, Ian has moved on to the use of a Garmin SatNav and some its associated software. Not least, he is keen to learn more about the location of campsites on his route. Ian writes:

Last time I was in the UK I was playing with my son's SatNav. Although I love my Magellan it has drawbacks, in that it does not tell you where to go - only where you are and where you have been. Therefore I splashed out on a SatNav for myself, the theory being that Bulgarian and Greek characters (letters - not hairy old men at the side of the road) would be a bummer to read in a hurry; so I bought a Garmin 250W.

It's very well appointed, covering the whole of Western Europe down to house number level. Central Europe is down to street level and other areas like Greece and Bulgaria show just the main roads. But the nice guys gave me a detailed Hungarian map, a Hungarian speed camera map and a detailed map of Greece. Stay with me because I'm slowly getting there.

The SatNav has millions of Points of Interest (POI). For example, I can ask for shops and it gives me a) the nearest to my location, b) nearest to my destination, or c) nearest to where I click on the map. It's really very accurate.

The internet has sites that sell or give away other POIs. Would you believe every Lidl in the UK, or every swimming pool in Germany? They also have more useful POIs such as campsites. I have been messing around finding the Greek ones and they seem to be fairly accurate. Rather than download them and blindly install them in the SatNav, I've been opening the files with MacGPS Pro and re-saving the waypoints as xxxxxx.kml files. These can be opened in Google Earth, so that I can zoom in and actually look at the campsite. The Greek ones seem fine but the Bulgarian campsite POIs are all over the place. The name may be Sofia, but the POI places it in another town. Most of them were bad like that - probably because a lot of these POIs are donated by the likes of you and me. I guess the Bulgarian guy had been drinking!

One of the POI sites is by GPS Data Team: http://www.gps-data-team.com/poi/greece/accommodation/Campground_GR.html

The good thing is you can click on each camp and see a map. It's a pity you cannot click on an area and look for a campsite, only the site name.

Another POI site that works quite well is POI-Plaza: http://www.poiplaza.com/. Click on 'Search' and you get another page. Select 'Country', then 'Service', and then your type of SatNav. To select 'Camping' you have to scroll down for about 5 minutes because camping is not under 'Accommodation' but under 'Tourism'!

Unlike the above, you have to download them before you can look at them. This is the one I've been working on and they look VERY accurate. I say VERY, but note that I've never actually been to Greece (I suppose standing in the middle of Athens airport surrounded by 20 Egyptians having a knife fight doesn't count).

All of these POI sites have their drawbacks. For example POI Plaza cannot find any airports in Greece. But it can find you a McDonalds if you need an emergency burger. I hope this is useful for now. When we get to Greece I will give you a report on the value of a SatNav.

So far I think I know my way around Budapest better than the Garmin. But if I follow it blindly, it does get me there. The problem is related to Hungarian roads. The map makers don't know what is a major road and what is a minor one ... NOR DO THE HUNGARIAN AUTHORITIES.