Most handheld Garmin GPS units come with a baseline road map that displays major roads for either the Eastern or Western hemisphere, plus the ability to display greater detail using uploaded map data. Garmin sells a line of CD/DVD disks with data for various parts of the world, and third-party sources offer maps with greater details for specific countries (a Google search should reveal even more). Many of these datasets are expensive, and data is unavailable for some areas of the world. There’s a cheaper option that offers worldwide data, including coverage of areas not covered by commercial products, but with some limitations in quality and detail.
The Wanderlust Worldmap is a community site slowly assembling and improving a worldwide map of roads, points of interests, and contours that can be uploaded to Garmin GPS units using the standard Garmin MapSource software. Full access to all the data requires a 25 GBP registration fee, but you can download a sample dataset for free if you register at the site. Here are some sample screenshots from MapSource, downloaded from the website (click on the images for a larger view):
Looking at the maps in the evaluation download, quality and level of detail vary enormously from one area to another. Some areas show detail rivaling that of standard Garmin maps, while other areas have less detail, and don’t even label roads with a name. Still, you can’t beat the coverage area or the price, and presumably with time the overall quality of the maps will improve as community members create and update new maps. At the very least, the evaluation version is worth a free look.
USGS Topo Maps, Aerial Imagery, And Scanned Maps On Your Garmin GPS!
Choose The Right Option For Your Garmin Handheld Model
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin Oregon! |
G-Raster For The Garmin Colorado/Oregon/Dakota/62/78 Series“… great (tool) for creating custom maps ...” GPS Tracklog Blog “… easy as 1, 2, 3.” gpsinformation.net “Works great!” GPSFix "Holy crap; this looks amazing.” GPSFileDepot Click here for more info on G-Raster |
 
Actual screenshots from a Garmin 60Cx! |
Moagu For The 60C(S)x, 76C(S)x, And Some eTrex Models"... Moagu rocks! This really is revolutionary!" GPS Tracklog Blog Click here for more info on Moagu |
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I travel alot in Europe, and east Europe..although I speak some languages I don’t read them voice command would be very helpful ,as they drive crazy in many parts of the world, and max attention to the road is important for survival..what Garmin rec. would be best for me, and what data bases are available?