there is another possibility - buy a gps here. If hiring for a long time that can be cheaper - and you may be able to advertise it for sale when you return home or pay a little extra for lifetime map updates and use on another trip. This (cheapish) store has branches in most cities and sometimes more than one. http://www.argos.co.uk/v1/static/Product/partNumber/1087637.htm

Garmin and Tomtom are well known brands.

If buying a map look in places like W H Smiths, petrol stations on motorways usually have them too.

No need to hire a gps these days. Install Co Pilot app on your phone/tablet. It uses gps not your data allowance and I have found this to be accurate when using in the UK and Europe.

At the risk of sounding like a techno-dinosaur I manage perfectly well with a cheap road atlas - I get a new one every couple of years to cope with the odd new road or change of numbers. Cheap ones that cover Great Britain are widely available - as Buzzard2000 says - and at discount outlets such as The Works for under £10. Those that also cover Northern Ireland seem less widely available & more expensive.

Unless you download the maps from Google of everywhere you will be driving then you cannot rely on a mobile signal to use Google maps for navigation.

There are many GPS/SatNav apps available nowadays, some free, which are more than adequate. They install the maps on your phone which means you need no mobile phone signal to navigate. You can install one, or more, at home and use it to see which works best and which one you are most comfortable with.

The free app I use is as accurate and reliable as any I have paid for.

If you want a dedicate GPS/SatNav then it will probably be cheaper to buy a unit rather than hire one.

And cheap paper map is a great thing to have as well.

In towns or cities I've not found them good.

I choose and print a street map off Google Images that suits and mark the spots I want to visit and write opening times and bus numbers on the back. It's a lot quicker and if you get off your route it's easier to see where you are and where to go. So much quicker and lack of signal doesn't affect me.

Three times I've helped others in strange towns to find their way when they've had GPS or Google maps but using my paper one.

On the road the GPS or similar. Sometimes in heavy traffic road signs are partly obscured or directions are marked in the road which is covered by parked cars.

thanks. am downloading now to see if its good.

i read that there are several in-app purchases though

As I pointed out there are many free GPS apps, just pick one you like the look of or try them all. I use Navmii (and a couple of others) Never bought anything additional for it so totally free.

Clarification for a non-tech-savy traveler: Are you all saying that there is a free app I can put on my smart phone that will help me get around Scotland during an upcoming trip (coming from the US) that will not require me to have an international data plan? Usually when I am overseas, I switch my phone to "airplane mode" and just use wifi whenever I can get it. Would this described navigation technique work in my situation?

I am just curious.

As Google maps can be downloaded for offline use, what's the advantage of using apps like Co Pilot? Are there more features as opposed to the free Google downloaded maps?