Philip's Professional Driver's Britain and Ireland 2004
Cost £10.99 (spiral bound)
Tel 01903 828800
Website Click Here
Scale 3 miles:1 inch (1:190,000)
Size A3
Despite sharing identical mapping with its sister volume, the Road Atlas (see below), this volume has far more information. Excellent town plans and approach maps are provided, with two pages of central London mapping and a further four of the outskirts, plus both the North and the Republic of Ireland (though on a smaller scale). Unlike the AA Trucker’s Atlas (overleaf), the Philip’s also includes tourist information.
Verdict This atlas takes mapping a step forward with detailed town maps and information for tourists.

AA 2004 Big Road Atlas Britain
Cost £10.99 (spiral bound)
Tel 08705 448866
Website Click Here
Scale 3 miles:1 inch (1:190,000)
Size A3
One of four volumes we tested at this scale, and clearly the most popular size of road atlas for the majority of motorists, the AA’s 2004 Big Road features 48 town plans, and London is covered across two pages. The mapping in this UK-mainland volume is fairly legible and, although the colours are not as clear as those on the Philip’s maps, they are slightly easier on the eye. The touring information on this map is less easy to read because it is all in red – although this does have the effect of making the overall mapping less confused. However, the addition of coloured blocks to show smaller settlements only detracts from the clarity.
Verdict A well put-together product, but marred in some places by slightly unclear text and an over-generous sprinkling of blocky legends.

Philip's Road Atlas Britain 2004
Cost £6.99 (paperback)
Tel 01903 828800
Website Click Here
Scale 3 miles:1 inch (1:190,000)
Size A3
This atlas has more in it than its AA equivalent in terms of touring information and road detail, although this does leave the mapping looking rather cluttered. Apart from that, we would recommend it at this scale in the Professional Driver’s spiral-bound version (see above). Additional features include 53 town-centre maps with a good level of detail, car parks and a two-page London street map.
Verdict Excellent for detailed town plans.

2004 Super Scale A-Z Great Britain Road Atlas
Cost £14.50 (spiral bound)
Tel 01732 781000 (general enquiries); 020 7440 9500 (sales)
Website Click Here
Scale 2.5 miles:1 inch (1:158,400)
Size A3
It’s hard to fault this full-sized A-Z atlas, though it can’t match Philip’s Navigator (see right) for sheer detail. The mapping is crisp due to a sensible choice of colours and good quality reproduction. It also has the most hard-wearing binding on test, although this is reflected in the cost. There is plenty of touring information, but the only gripe is that the city-centre maps, while detailed, are a little hard to make out, despite being twice the size of those in the A4 sister volume.
Verdict Durable, and the maps are mainly clear.

Philip's Navigator Britain
Cost £19.99 (paperback)
Tel 01903 828800
Website Click Here
Scale 1.5 miles:1 inch (1:100,000)
Size A3
Without a doubt, this is the daddy of all the road atlases on test here. Although it weighs a ton, and the colouring of the mapping is not altogether soothing, you can’t fault the level of detail in the Navigator and that’s why it’s our winner. The other volumes on test here will struggle to help you find, say, a rally at a school playing field, or a pub along a country road. But with the Navigator’s very large scale Ordnance Survey mapping, you can venture forth with confidence in mainland Britain. No other road atlas enabled us to pick out minor recognisable details we knew to exist in certain areas of the country, and that’s the kind of detail we caravanners need. This is the most expensive of all the atlases we tested. However, it is perfect bound (i.e. its pages are glued into the spine) and it may not last for more than a couple of years’ regular use before the pages begin to come loose.
Verdict Top marks for this atlas’s astonishing detail.

2004 Collins Road Atlas Britain (& Ireland)
Cost £10.99 (spiral bound)
Tel 0870 787 1730
Website Click Here
Scale 3.2 miles:1 inch (1:200,000)
Size A3
Here you have a light, easy-to-handle atlas with mapping which is clear enough to get you around the UK. Including city-centre street plans and covering mainland UK (with a nominal map of Ireland) this is the most basic of Collins’ large atlases. Most of the products on test here are larger in scale, and more legible. (The company’s other atlases were not available in time for this test.)
Verdict The smaller scale could be ideal for those travelling long distances.

AA 2004 Easy Read Britain
Cost £14.99 (paperback)
Tel 08705 448866
Website Click Here
Scale 2.34 miles:1 inch (1:148,000)
Size A4
The clue’s in the title here: this map’s easy to read and it boasts the second largest scale on test here. It’s a handy A4 size and is over 350 pages thick. The mapping is clear and legible, though the reproduction quality is not the best and there are no city plans or coverage of Ireland. Road numbers and motorway junctions are easy to make out and most roundabouts are shown. Added information includes sites of interest such as National Trust properties, battle sites and monuments. The Easy Read makes a lot of sense if you want a detailed road atlas you can fit in your glove compartment.
Verdict Compact and detailed with some useful information.

Michelin Great Britain & Ireland Tourist and Motoring Atlas 2003
Cost £7.95 (spiral bound) Tel 01923 205240
Website Click Here
Scale 4.75 miles:1 inch (1:300,000)
Size A4
A slim, six-language volume, this has the smallest scale of those on test. Detail suffers, and legibility can be a problem due to Michelin’s practice of adding lengths and numbers parallel to the road itself. This is best suited to a visitor embarking on a whistle-stop tour. For those touring extensively, the other volumes tested here may be more practical.
Verdict Aimed at tourists, not caravanners.

2004 A-Z Great Britain Road Atlas
Cost £11.45 (paperback)
Tel 01732 781000 (general enquiries); 020 7440 9500 (sales)
Website Click Here
Scale 3.5 miles: 1 inch (1:220,712)
Size A4
Sold on the strength of its additional mapping, which features ports, airports, main city routes and city centres, this handy A-Z aims to cover every driving eventuality. And it does, although these extra maps only cover a small percentage of the UK. The main mapping is detailed and clear, although the colours are not always easy on the eye. As a consequence of fitting the UK into 250 A4 pages with maximum detail, the eye strains to focus on the necessary information – although there is a lot of it, which is good. Likewise, the city maps are comprehensive but can be hard to read.
Verdict Good extra detail but often unclear.

AA Trucker's Atlas of Britain
Cost £13.99 (spiral bound)
Tel 08705 448866
Website Click Here
Scale 3 miles:1 inch (1:190,000)
Size A3
This volume shares similar mapping with the more conventional AA road atlas, although there are no points of interest and the background colour for the mapping (a light shade of cream) is slightly less dazzling than the white used in its sister publication. The chief feature of the Trucker’s Atlas is its bridge height information, although few bridges are low enough to trouble most caravans. A caravanner’s atlas containing road width and car park height restrictions might be more appropriate, but if you prefer a map which is easy-to-read and uncluttered by touring information, this one’s for you.
Verdict The selection of information on offer might be very useful to some caravanners.