How it works
Getting the route onto your phone — two minutes
Forget Google Maps, which loses signal in the mountains and quietly drags you through tunnels. Your route comes as GPX: an open format that works offline and does not recalculate itself.
On your phone
Four steps. Do the first two at home on Wi-Fi.
- 01
Install an app
Mapy.cz is the simplest to use, Guru Maps redraws fastest in the mountains, OsmAnd shows even the smallest mountain lanes. All three are free and run on iPhone and Android.
- 02
Download the offline map
In the app settings, download the map for the region — around 500 MB for Switzerland. Do this at home on Wi-Fi. After that your phone navigates even on the pass where there is no signal at all.
- 03
Open the GPX file
Tap the downloaded file and pick your app. The route appears immediately as one continuous line, waypoints included.
- 04
Ride
Phone in the mount, paired with the intercom in your helmet, press start. The app follows the line exactly — it will not look for a faster alternative, so you will not miss a single view.
Why two GPX files?
GPX can carry two different things and each solves something else. You get both and decide on the road.
Track
The route point by point, exactly as it was ridden. Your device does not calculate it, it only draws it — so it has no way to shorten it or reroute you through a tunnel. In return it will not tell you "right in 200 metres".
Navigation version (route)
The same road built from shaping points, with the device working out what lies between them. That is what produces turn-by-turn voice guidance, just as if you had typed in an address.
Waypoints
Fuel, lunch stop, viewpoints. Kept separate so you can switch them on and off independently of the route.
Motorcycle sat-navs
Practically all of them read GPX. The file gets there by cable or through the maker’s own app.
| Device | How it gets there | Voice guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Garmin Zumo XT, XT2, Tread | Cable into the Garmin/GPX folder, or via Garmin Explore | Yes |
| BMW Navigator | Same as Garmin — it is a rebadged Garmin | Yes |
| TomTom Rider | Through TomTom MyDrive | Yes |
| Calimoto, Scenic, MyRoute-app | Import directly in the app | Yes |
| Mapy.cz, Guru Maps, OsmAnd | Open the file on your phone | Follows the line |
One setting that makes the difference
With the navigation version your device always decides according to its own settings. If it is set to "fastest route", it will wander off the good road — and nobody can switch that off from the outside. Before you set off:
- +Set route calculation to "shortest" or "curvy", not "fastest"
- +Turn on avoid motorways
- +Turn off recalculation if your device offers it
- +On Garmin, load the route as "Direct" rather than "On road" if you want to follow the track exactly
And one honest word
The route reflects the best information available when it was planned. Conditions in the Alps change fast — snow, landslides, closures. Always respect the signage in front of you and ride within your ability. Use is at your own risk.