The topographic Swiss map is available in three different versions: Switzerland East V2 on CDrom, Switzerland Full V2 on CDrom and Switzerland Full V3 on µSD/SD memory card - the CDrom Switzerland West V2 has been discontinued. The image below shows the coverage of the full map plus the coverage of Switzerland East.

These products provide very detailed topographic maps of Switzerland, see examples below. They are available on two different media: CDrom and µSD/SD memory card. What are the differences ?

The CDrom has the advantage that the detailed maps are installable on a computer where they can be used independant of the GPS or the memory card. On the other hand, the maps must be unlocked for a particular GPS device - you can unlock the maps for two devices. In addition, the detailed maps must be transferred from the computer to the GPS device, which might require a significant amount of time, depending on the amount of data you wish to transfer.

The µSD/SD memory card has the advantage that the maps are immediately available as soon as you plug in the memory card. In addition, you may use the maps on any number of devices, but only on one device at the time. The GPS has to have a SD or µSD slot. The data is stored on a µSD memory card, but an µSD-to-SD adapter is included. In order to use the maps on a computer, the free software BaseCamp must be installed and you must connect the GPS with the computer using the USB cable, see also MapSource versus BaseCamp. If your computer has a slot for an SD memory card, you may plug in the card into the computer directly, which provides faster access to the data.

CDroms come with Swiss Topo V2, memory cards with Swiss Topo V3. The information on the maps are identical - topographic map of Switzerland with elevation contours and natural features plus official hiking and biking routes which are clearly marked and indicated by their number or name plus support for autorouting. The only difference is the additional grid pattern view in V3, see images.

Note: Version 3 is only supported by the models Dakota 20, Edge 800, etrex 20/30, GPSmap62/62s/62st, GPSmap78/78s and by all models of the Montana and the Oregon series.

If you install the memory card in a GPS or transfer maps to a GPS which supports maps, the following features will be added:

• Significant increase of the level of details: If there is as built-in map, the map of Switzerland will overlay this map. Outside Switzerland, the built-in map is still available. Most GPS devices support enabling and disabling maps, so you can easily switch between multiple maps. If your GPS device supports profiles, you can bind different maps to different profiles.
• Extended search functions: Find points of interest, such as restaurants, hotels, attractions, entertainment, shopping, services, transportation, plus emergency and government addresses, but also geographic features such as mountains, lakes, rivers etc.
• Autorouting on the GPS: The maps of these products support the autorouting feature of the GPS models which are capable of computing routes.

If you install the software from a CDrom or connect the GPS with a computer rsp. insert the memory card in a computer where BaseCamp is installed, you can use the following features:

• Basic features: Manage GPS data on a PC, exchange data between a PC and a GPS device.
• Autorouting on a PC: Computes routes on a computer and provides elevation profiles of such routes. These routes can be transferred to a GPS device.
• Map on computer: Topographic map of Switzerland, shows elevation contours and natural features plus official hiking and biking routes which are clearly marked and indicated by their number or name.

System requirements for versions on CDrom see here. Topo Switzerland is only supported on Windows computers. This product does not include a cable for data exchange with a PC. If you need such a connection cable, see our selection of options.

• Map areas:
  • Topo Switzerland East: This map is divided into 129 areas and requires a total of 140.7 MB memory on a GPS, but a single area requires only 2.05 MB or less. Depending on the amount of memory available in the GPS device, one or more areas can be transferred to any GARMIN GPS device that supports maps.
  • Topo Switzerland Full: This map is divided into 248 areas and requires a total of 367.5 MB memory on a GPS, but a single area requires only 2.21 MB or less. Depending on the amount of memory available in the GPS device, one or more areas can be transferred to any GARMIN GPS device that supports maps.
• Disk space: Requires approx. 500 MB for full installation of Topo Switzerland Full, approx. 300 MB for Topo Switzerland East.

A very helpful supplement to the program MapSource is the software GARMIN BaseCamp, see www.garmin.com/support/mappingsw.jsp. This is especially true if you are using a GPS from one of the following model series: Colorado, Dakota, Montana, Oregon or GPSmap 62.

Note: The new version V3 supports the well known vector based display as with V2, but also introduces a new grid pattern based display which provides exactly the same look as the printed topographic Swiss maps. Version 3 is only supported by the models Dakota 20, Edge 800, etrex 20/30, GPSmap62/62s/62st, GPSmap78/78s and on all models of the Montana and the Oregon series. There is also an update available for previous versions of Topo Switzerland, see below.

Topo Switzerland V3 is only available on µSD memory card, there is no version on CDrom. V3 covers all of Switzerland, there is no version "east" or "west".

Important: For a successful update, you must own a previous version of Topo Switzerland. If you own a CDrom, please provide the 16 character activation code (to be found inside the CD cover) and the date of the invoice as a comment in the order form ! If you order an update for a memory card, you must return the memory card together with a copy of the invoice to us.

Hint: Click on the images for an enlargement.