Siteseeing: Getting there made easier

By MONIKA FRY

In many countries it is a real effort to find a good map. Finding the one shop in town that sells them is often the first struggle. Finding a map written in a language you can understand is another. Even then the map's accuracy may be in question, particularly where there is a border or land dispute.

However, the internet cafe can now be found in most towns and cities. Logging on to www.multimap.com/ can solve most map difficulties. The London-based company Multimap, uses map data from Ordnance Survey, HarperCollins, Data and Europa Technologies to produce cartographically accurate, printer-friendly maps for almost every region of every country.

The search facility on the site enables one to search for a place, region or country. A search for Timbuktu in Mali and the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea returned two informative maps. Once the required scale is selected and the colour printer fired up, these maps can be downloaded for free.

Multimap.com's other strength lies in its access to street-level maps of Europe, travel directions and aerial photos of cities in Britain and an interactive London tube map.

The site also enables tourists to search for a location by postcode, street name and place name or grid reference.

Another feature is access to tourist information through links with websites of restaurants, hotels, pubs, tourist destinations and information providers. Although the service is so far confined to Britain, Multimap.com's services are available over WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), which gives users of wireless devices access to information services and the map and travel directions applications.