This page is for you if you've heard people recommending that you should get a GPS system to help you navigate your way along the route, but you're confused by all the jargon, or you don't see how a satellite navigation system like the ones you see in cars could be practical for a walker (they're not; walking ones are rather different).

GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and it is made possible by a multitude of satellites circling the earth that constantly transmit signals down to (nearly) all points on the planet. A GPS receiver is fundamentally a device that picks up these signals and figures out from them exactly where you are, to within a few metres. It will display your location as latitude/longitude coordinates (and in other ways if you want, though latitude/longitude is what you'll want on the Lycian Way).

So if you have a map of the route with accurate latitude and longitude lines, you should just be able to get your GPS receiver out of its box, put in the batteries, turn it on and use the coordinates it shows you. If you don't have a USB-equipped computer at home, or if you're just about to fly to Turkey and don't have time, then that is what you need to do, taking with you a printout of our coordinates (see later). It should work in this way anywhere in the world.

However, a GPS receiver can do much more if you load it up with some waypoints before you leave. A waypoint is simply a latitude/longitude position with an associated name. Waypoints can be put into sequences called routes. Once loaded up in this way, your GPS will be able to display a simple map showing your position in relation to nearby waypoints. It will usually also tell you how far it is to the next one, and when you get there, even indicate which direction to turn.

With waypoints and routes like the ones on offer here, and suitable explanatory documents in the form of the walking notes on this site and Kate and Terry's book, you should find navigation much less of a problem most of the time.

You do need a map and compass as well, though, because satellite reception can be blocked by tall trees, cliffs or bad weather. In other words, just when you feel most lost because you can't see your way clearly, the GPS may be having the same problems. It will also have problems in the places where whoever created your waypoints got lost themselves! (We did a few times, but we explain where in the notes).

Sadly, the map that comes with the official book doesn't have latitude and longitude, but you can buy one that does in major tourist places along the way. It's called "A map of ancient Lycia", by Sabri Aydal; we got ours at Xanthos.

I have a Garmin eTrex GPS 60 (pictured), which is light, has good battery life, and is meant to be waterproof, though I never used it in the shower. It costs about £120 in the UK, and comes with software and a USB cable to enable it to talk to your computer. A pair of LR6 (AA) Duracell batteries gave up to 24 hours of use. It's 16cm in length and weighs 220g with the batteries inside. I found it very comfortable to carry while walking. Also, the manual is excellent, so that I didn't need to buy additional books on GPS. Other brands and models may be just as good or better, but I have no experience with anything else, and Garmin seems to have most of the market sewn up. Besides all this, our GPS told us walking time, speed and distance, altitude (interesting but not totally accurate) and the time of day, kept a record of exactly where we'd walked to upload and congratulate ourselves about after we got home, offered us a range of games, and was a source of fascination to many of the locals we met, who had never seen anything like it before and invariably assumed it was a phone. I now take it with me any time I have to find somewhere I haven't been before, not just when I'm walking

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