Using my Garmin in Europe

[foxglove]

I was thinking of taking my Garmin 800 with me when I go cycling in Europe. Could anyone tell me if it will record my route, even though I don't have European maps?

[Boognoss]

Absolutely. When you dump your rides into Garmin Connect, Strava, etc it will overlay your ride onto the map to go over your past rides.

[il padrone]

If you want to be able to use it to navigate (give your location, plan routes) you'll need some type of European map. I've just bought the maps for Europe from Garmin (City Explorer map), there are other sources including Open Street Map.

If you just want a map to refer to, Mapswithme has a great app that can be downloaded to your smart-phone or an Ipad/Android for viewing anytime. You download the countries you need for free and the data is quite detailed - includes many tourist features/facilities and shows bike paths as well.

[foxglove]

Thanks for clarifying this. I am planning to navigate the old fashioned way (maps!) this time, but thought it would be nice to have a record of my ride. Thanks also for the additional information, il padrone. The Mapswithme app looks useful.

[KenGS]

Be aware that your Garmin readings (Lat Long Elevation) will be in the language of the country you are riding in at the time

[Crawf]

Just load up some free OSM maps.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Plan ... a_extracts