How to Navigate Abroad Without Wifi

Use a paper map from the tourist desk.

Kidding! (but also do that – I love using paper maps)

Note: This info is for iPhone users.

I never buy a SIM card when I travel abroad short term. There’s always wifi where I’m staying so I can catch up on emails and plan my next day, and there’s usually wifi at restaurants and cafes so I can look up any info I need on the day. There’s no need for cell service to contact your travel buddy, as you can text and call them through apps that use wifi, such as iMessage, Facetime, Whatsapp, or Slack. You can even call your loved ones in another country, as these apps use wifi and don’t incur long distance charges.

These solo travel tips are invaluable when you find yourself without a signal, whether in Egypt or elsewhere.

So, how do you navigate when you’re out of that precious wifi range? Luckily, iPhones can track your location through Location Services (located under “Privacy” in your settings) even in airplane mode! Google Maps allows you to download maps to your phone so you can use them offline, which is a lifesaver. I downloaded a section of Iceland from the airport to Reykjavik, and I got turn by turn driving directions, all offline! It’s so detailed you can even search for restaurants and other places that might be recommended to you while you’re traveling! 

How to download a map offline in Google Maps:

Find the city you want to download, or a nearby city if you want a general area. Click on it.

Swipe up from the bottom so you can see the info section that usually shows you photos and the option to share. You should see a “Download” button.

When you click on “Download,” the app will allow you to zoom in and out and specify what you want to download.

Once you’ve downloaded your map, you can find it by going to your menu and hitting “Offline Maps.”

You don’t need to find the map each time you use it. Once you’re in the area, you can navigate normally!

This comes in handy when you’re lost in a maze of small crooked European streets and you’re looking for your next meal! You can follow the little blue dot that tracks your location on the map!

One of the downfalls of using Google Maps, however, is the lack of walking or public transit directions when you’re off wifi. It can only give you driving directions. Luckily, there’s another solution!

A more advanced navigation method for planners who want WALKING and PUBLIC TRANSIT directions:

I love the app MAPS.ME. Similar to Google Maps, you can download your city so you can use it offline. But, MAPS.ME offers walking directions and metro directions offline! It’s amazing. I like to use it in lieu of a paper map in that, I like to mark down the sites I want to see so I can head in that general direction and see it on the map. So, I use google.com/maps to mark where I want to go:

Navigating abroad also means ensuring your accommodation is safe, especially when couchsurfing safely.

You just type in your sites and save them to the map! In this example, they’re labeled with different symbols, but when you export them, they don’t carry over to the app, so don’t worry about that.

How to download your custom map to your MAPS.ME app:

Go to google.com/maps, search for your sites, and save them to your map.

When you’re done creating all your marks, click on the menu dots next to the title of your trip (“London Trip”) and click on “Export to KML/KMZ.” This will download the data to your computer.

Email this file to yourself (or you can save it to your Google Drive, etc. You need to be able to open it on your phone).

Open the email on your phone, and when you click on the attached file, it’ll ask you if you want to open it in the MAPS.ME app.

Voila! Now you have a detailed offline map with pinpoints of your must-see sites. I mark the location of my accommodations so I can easily get a walking route from wherever I am to back home!

While it may seem like a lot of steps, doing all of this research and planning before I go on my trip completely eliminates my need to do any planning while I’m traveling. I just open the app and walk towards a cluster of pinpoints I’ve already put in my map! It makes “winging it” a lot more efficient!