I went to Rome with three guidebooks and this map. It was this map that was the most useful tool for negotiating the city. It is compact, yet very comprehensive, accurate and well marked. It was easy to find landmarks, tourist sites, piazzas, metro stops, etc., as well as even the tiniest streets in Rome. A big plus is the fact that the map is laminated – we were caught out in a heavy rainstorm, and this map held up admirably – the paper map we received from our hotel disintegrated. I would highly recommend this map to anyone travelling in Rome.

You can find an official (and free) map and important extra documentation at the Tourism Office of all European cities you plan on traveling to. These offices are right at the Train station or Airport. Even your hotel concierge will provide you with a decent map.

In my experience, all Tourism Office maps were better than the Streetwise ones I had bought for my trip. Some of the flaws I saw:
- Metro lines not drawn out, just stations. It helps to see the actual metro line when you are looking for other stations along your line.
- Map is a bit too shrunk down for some cities: street names are too close together and hard to read.
- No vaporetto lines for Venice.

… but the map is better than nothing. I don’t think you need it if you can spend the 5 minutes to stop at the Tourism Office.

There’s no disputing the point that there are more complete, more dtailed maps. However, that misses the point. One does not ordinarily need microscopic detail in negotiating an unfamiliar city. What one does need is a broad outline of the city that can be speedily referenced to orient oneself. For this purpose (primarily that of the tourist), Streetwise is THE superior product. If you need detail, buy a Mapsco. If you just want to quickly figure out where you are, Streetwise is the way to go