Travel

2 Months on the Road with Sygic App GPS Navigation

For our latest two month trip through Europe we decided to install on our mobile the GPS navigation app Sygic. We are pretty good with maps, but we figured that a bit of extra help could not be bad.

Google Maps app is quite good, but using it off line during a trip abroad, without a data plan, is quite complicated. Not so with an app like Sygic. We knew before hand that we were going to visit eight European countries (hence Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland). Before the trip , using the WiFi, we have just downloaded at home the Sygic app (about 6 MB) and then the maps for these countries. The option of choosing which maps you want to download is really great, as you don't have to use more than necessary from your precious mobile memory.

We had a quick look over the settings and found it all quite easy to use. Things like Text to Speech, the option to change the keyboard, or the Sygic´s own social network were details that we found interesting, but not what we were looking for. On the other hand the possibility to attach a photo and share your location with our friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter was a nice surprise.

Sygic has also a hand Trafic Book feature. We liked the idea that the app was keeping track of all the places we were going to visit on our trip.

As we took the plane from Spain to Romania we kept the app closed, but as soon as we landed in Romania we fired it up. There was no need to look as usual for the closest Tourist Office to get a map. We had all the directions we needed right there on the screen. Through Romania we traveled by car and Sygic was a great help to find our way.

As it is a vast and beautiful country, there are many must-see places in Romania. Not many highways though, which makes driving on the narrow roads in the Carpathian Mountains although picturesque, a bit tricky. But Sygic was an extraordinary guide. We also found ourselves using at times the POI (Places of Interest) in spite of the travel books we had with us.

From Romania we started our InterRail trip and explored Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden by train. While on the train, we opened at times the Sygic app to check on where exactly we were and how far from our destination. It was quite useful in Poland. You can not see easily from the train in what train station you are, as the name of the city is only signaled once, nor do they have screens in the wagons to signal the name of the stations. But with the Sygic app we always knew our locations.

Due to the the Sygic app, in each city or town, we knew before getting off the train where our hotel was located and how to get there. We still stopped every time at the Tourist Office to get a map, as it is already a tradition for us, but the Sygic app was always patiently waiting in the pocket, ready to help. After leaving our suitcases at the hotel, we usually love to lose ourselves on the streets of every new place. It's a great way of discovering a place, without the guide of the map. Then, after such a walk we usually have to locate ourselves on the map to find our way again. This takes usually a bit, but this time it took just a quick look at the Sygic app and we knew immediately exactly where we were and what places of interest were close to us.

In Switzerland we used a car again, and this gave us the opportunity to test the Sygic GPS app on the road again, this time through the Alps. It brought us to our destinations without any complication. The Sygic app was such a great help to find our way in yet another foreign country.

In the mean time, we have returned back home, but we have decided that we are going to use Sygic again in our next trip (that might just as well be through South-East Asia), as it is a GPS app that you can truly rely on to show you the right way to your destination, whether you are by car on the peak of a mountain or walking through the streets of a big unfamiliar city.

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