How to travel with a paper map

Phone maps are fine until a tunnel, a ferry, or a village with one bar of signal. A paper map does not ask for data. Mark the hotel, the station, and one cafe you can walk back to. That triangle is enough for the first afternoon.

Buy the map at the airport or a local bookshop. Write the date and your hotel phone number on the cover. If you get turned around, you can still show a street name to someone who does not speak your language.

Use the phone as a backup, not the only plan. Screenshot the walk from the station. Keep the paper map in the same pocket every day so you are not digging through a bag on a crowded tram.