Tuscany GPS Waypoints
Life is grand when you are a geek. So, in planning out some of our travels for the honeymoon in Tuscany, I have been fortunate enough to receive advice from many different sources on places to eat and drink at. Everything from wineries to hit in Montalcino and Montepulciano to restaurants in the surrounding areas. But, using the Michelin map of Italy to find the hotels we are staying at, navigating out of Rome and figuring out where the hell we are going, doesn’t seem like a good idea. So, of course I figured I could use Google Earth and some kind of GPS receiver to map things out and help us to navigate our way around Italy’s finest winemaking region.
So, I picked up a copy of Microsoft AutoRoute 2006, which is like Microsoft Street Altas, but for the entire world. I have a small, USB GPS receiver coming today and my Thinkpad X20 laptop (3.3lbs baby) that are going to serve as my homegrown in-car GPS system. At first I thought I was too much of a dork to do this, but then I figured we would probably never be too lost. Plus, this is something that other geeks who are really into wine will likely enjoy having when traveling to Tuscany in the future.
So far I have run in to a few snags. For one, the Italians format their addresses funny. 
That was easy enough to figure out, but some of the roads that these wineries and estates are on, are probably not known to anyone that lives outside of the small towns they reside in. So, the AutoRoute2006 software is really not a perfect deal. But, it does know about 50% of them. I have been using the Michelin map, AutoRoute 2006 and Google Earth to figure out where a lot of these places are (kinda). Of course, I just opened our latest Wine Enthusiast magazine and they just happen to be covering the latest Brunellos. So, it looks like I have my work cut out for me.
The whole point of this post was to see if anyone has some GPS waypoints for Tuscany that I can take a look at. If you have some or know of a good resource online, let me know. I have been looking for a few days now and figured I would appeal to the geek squad to see what I can come up with. Also, any ideas on navigation in Italy is welcomed as well.
March 28th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
RE: Things I Don’t Like About Streets and Trips 2006
First, there should be a button to add my current location (I agree!!!)
Second, if you don’t use the route S&T plots for you, it does not seem to want to re-route itself to get you to your location. I know most in-car GPS (if not all) does this, not sure why MS Streets and Trips does not do that also. I may have to read more on this, but it doesn’t seem to re-route on its own or prompt me.
If you don’t like the route it generates, just add a waypoint or two along the way you wish to go and reroute (Of course, the ‘add my current location would make this a whole lot easier on the road)
September 4th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I decided that it would be better if I want some directions I have to buy one of those automobile GPS systems.This way I’ll know where I am at every moment.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:58 am
Hi there
I recently purchased AutoRoute 2007 which states it has over 5600 wineries, which I expected to see on the map.
Where are they??. Using the “Search on Windows Live Tab - I could find nothing in the whole of France or Italy.
Best I could get were about half a dozen around the Napa Valley.
Can you give me some guidance please.
Cheers - Bill