The world is your oyster, but only if
you choose to explore it. Get out there and discover its pearls with the latest
and greatest travel tech
The great outdoors is incredible.
Unfortunately, its greatness as in its sheer size and variety often makes
finding some of the more amazing attractions and excursions around you quite
tricky. Indeed, beyond (sometimes odd) recommendations from friends, and the
rather silly option of just wandering around aimlessly and gawping at your
surroundings, it can be quite tough to work out the best way to start exploring
your environs.
The good news is that the solution is at
your fingertips with the latest PCs, tablets and mobile phones powered by
Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Put technology to work and you can safely
explore the world around you, then go out and enjoy it.
Start your search
The best place to start looking for great
things to do is Microsoft’s own search engine, Bing. Before you get alarmed,
this isn’t favoritism at work. We recommend Bing because it offers some unique
technologies that make finding great walks, castles, rivers, treks and general
things to do much easier. We recommend you start in the most simple way
possible: just search for your town or city and add the keywords ‘walks’,
‘treks’ or ‘walking maps’ to turn up some surprisingly useful results. You may
well be amazed at just how many cool things there are to do just outside your
front door; search for ‘events’ or ‘what’s on’ in your local town or city, and
several interesting things should pop up no matter where you are.
Bing
shows map information using the standard road map view great if you’re trying
to get to a start of a walk
Another way to track down interesting
things in your neck of the woods is to defer your search to a more dedicated
tool like Bing Maps and follow your heart a little. By default, Bing shows map
information using the standard road map view great if you’re trying to get to a
start of a walk, but a little limiting when you’re trying to find such a walk
in the first place. It’s much easier to spot areas of interest using the Aerial
and Bird’s Eye views because you can see where the great open spaces and rivers
actually are, and these are often great sites for starting a walk.
Obviously you’ll need to investigate a
little further, but even the most basic scan around the map can help highlight
potentially interesting places to explore. Once you’ve found an area that looks
appealing, you can switch to the Ordnance Survey view, which is one of the most
useful features of Bing maps when it comes to walking. The key point here is
that it shows public footpaths and rights of way on the map, whereas most web-based
maps just show the roads a subtle but essential difference if you’re planning
to leave the roadside.
You
can switch to the Ordnance Survey view, which is one of the most useful
features of Bing maps when it comes to walking.
The Ordnance Survey view enables you to
plan a walk easily, but you can also combine it with tools and features of the
official Ordnance Survey website to go a little deeper. Simply point your web
browser at http://getampa.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
and either sign up or log in as a guest. You can scroll around and zoom in as
you would normally to pick an area, then click on the ‘Leisure’ button in the
top left-hand corner to see the more familiar walking maps. You can even see
potential walks by exploring the ‘Find a route’ option on the left of the
screen and if the location is popular, you should find plenty of existing
public routes as well.
Once you’ve planned your walk you can print
out a copy of the map to take with you. Of course, Ordnance Survey is in the
business of producing quality walking maps, and although it has brought a lot
of its mapping tech to other devices including some smartphones, although not
Windows Phone yet – there’s still something strangely reassuring about a paper
map. We recommend getting a plastic cover to protect your maps from the
elements – these are available from the Ordnance Survey shop.
Although there’s no official Ordnance
Survey app at the time of writing, there is an alternative in the form of the
Leisure Maps app for Windows Phone, which you can pick up from the Windows Store.
Leisure Maps downloads the OS map for your current location and thanks to the
power of GPS can track exactly where you are (along with your altitude and
speed) to make sure that you don’t get lost. It’s very useful if the path isn’t
too clear, or you’ve strayed somewhere you shouldn’t be.
Other apps worth looking at, particularly
if you’re a regular walker, are MyFitnessPal and Endomondo Sports Tracker,
which are available for Windows Phone and most other smartphones. Both of these
apps will track your movement using your phone’s GPS signal, and show your
route on the map with the aim of letting you follow the same path again and
improving your time. This feature is also helpful for making sure that you get
back to your starting point, and you’ll get a great sense of satisfaction when
you realize that you’ve walked six miles and have managed to burn off lots of
calories. That’s something you can quickly undo by finding a local pub or café
at the end of your walk and unwinding, but never mind.
Lost and found
One of the key benefits of our phones
becoming personal GPS tracking devices is that they open up opportunities for
some clever location-aware fun. GPS is great for navigation, and it’s also a
central pillar of geocaching – a rapidly expanding and easily accessible hobby.
Geocaching is a great way of exploring new areas that you don’t know at all, as
well as looking at places that you think you know in a completely different
way. In order to find geocaches – small containers or canisters that often contain
logbooks and trinkets – you’ll need to follow cryptic clues to determine the
right location. Geocaching is best thought of as a modern treasure hunt, and
you’ll be surprised at what’s hidden – often, right under your nose.
Try
Bing Maps on your Windows 8 device for a handy pseudo-3D view
There are a few websites to head to if
you’re interesting in geocaching. Some are run locally by small groups with a
specific goal in mind, so it’s worth looking locally to see if anything is
being promoted, but the core geocaching website can be found at www.geocaching.com. Simply enter your
postcode and it will list caches near you. The accompanying information tells
you know far away with the cache is, as well as offering up clues and even
photographs of where to find it. Registration isn’t free, but by supporting the
site you also support the community and gain access to advanced features that
keep your found caches in check.
When you’re out and about, you don’t have
to rely on your memory alone to find the next geocache – you can turn to the
Geocaching Live app, which is available from the Windows Phone store. It’s an
attractive tool to get the whole family out of the house looking for little
boxes and canisters, and is great fun for everyone. Don’t be surprised if you
find yourself adding to the number of caches in your area, then start
monitoring the website religiously to see if anyone has found them. It’s easy
to see why geocaching has taken off so quickly!
World heritage
Tracking down good walks is all well and
good, but if you want a more interesting focus for your rambles, then the likes
of the National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk)
and English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk)
are a perfect starting point for any walking plans. Both of these organizations
have great websites, which are suitable for planning day trips and visits.
Check them out and you can find castles, houses and gardens near a location on
specific days - just enter your town, city or postcode and see what’s
available. It’s worth noting that most stately houses are closed from the end
of November until the beginning of March, but their gardens are usually open
all year round.
Website:
English Heritage (www.english-heritage.org.uk)
You don’t have to be a member to pull some
interesting information out of these institutions either – you can easily use
their websites to find interesting start and end points for a stroll. Such
places tend to have handy facilities for walkers too, such as cafes and
toilets, which can come in very useful for a day’s walk. Cafes tend to be open
to the public too, so you don’t even need to pay to enter the property if you
don’t want to, although it’s worth checking to make sure while you’re planning
your day out.
If your remit for destinations is a little
more widespread, or you just want to make sure you haven’t missed anything
special, then you could do a lot worse than looking up the UNESCO World
Heritage Sites close to you. There aren’t many in each country, but they’re
guaranteed to be something special – they wouldn’t be listed otherwise. The
main site can be found at http://whc.unesco.orgen/list,
and a quick visit will present you with a list of all the current world
heritage sites on a large interactive map. There is a wide selection of sites
available too, from ancient monuments to important cultural locations to
natural wonders. Interestingly, Italy has more sites than any other country.
Specific appeal
You don’t have to create a walk around a
specific location though – you could just be after an experience, if you’re
simply looking for a particular type of walk, then it’s worth being specific
about your aims in your searches. Popping back to Bing and entering, for
example, ‘riverside walks’ alongside the name of the county you want to walk
through can often bring up what you’re looking for. There are plenty of
non-professional walking sites available, and even if they only have a few
routes on them, there often still worth checking out.
Popping
back to Bing and entering, for example, ‘riverside walks’ alongside the name of
the county you want to walk through can often bring up what you’re looking for
One good site for anyone who enjoys walking
through woods and forests is www.visitwoods.org.uk.
Run by the Woodland Trust, this site is particularly useful if you want to walk
in peace; many forests and woods are privately owned, so it’s not always easy
to work out whether there is legal access through a particular area. Simply
enter your postcode in the box and you’ll be presented with a surprisingly long
list of accessible woods within a five-mile radius. You can specify a wider
area of coverage using the site, and find out whether toiler facilities and
wheelchair access are available. You can then browse the results on a map,
which makes planning your visit that much easier. You can even see photographs
of the forests before setting out.
If you’re serious about walking but want to
be a little more sociable on your trips, then the Ramblers (www.ramblers.org.uk) is a group that’s
worth investigating. Previously known as the Ramblers’ Association, the
Ramblers is a registered charity that aims to promote and protect the rights of
walkers in the UK, as well as caring for the environment. There are links from
the main website to local groups, as well as information for planning and
joining in group walks. You can search for walks by clicking on the ‘Walks
finder’ link. Along with the usual details about the walk, you’ll also find
information about accommodation and a five-day weather forecast for the area,
which is useful if you’re not sure whether to take waterproofs or sun cream.
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Finally, we’d recommend checking out the
local information presented by Tourist Information UK (www.tourist-information-uk.com).
It’s often easy to miss the things that are right on your doorstep, so looking
at the local tourist information sites should give you the inspiration to go
out there and see why people visit your part of the world.
Whatever your plans for getting outside,
technology can help you discover the more interesting areas around you and show
you how best to access them. Pop a smartphone in your pocket and you’ve got
pretty much everything you need to navigate your way around, and have some fun
too. Go no, stretch your legs!
