Need free maps for tourism site

Maps beyond the CIA factbook

[wolfadeus]

My website in an online travelguide for which I will require a decent map at some point - may I use google maps for that, if I want to use it for pdfs and such as well? If not, where else could I get maps from the public domain? Thanks you!

[hunderdown]

You should check the terms of use for Google Maps, but my hunch is that they won't permit you to use maps generated by them in PDFs.

Local tourist boards can be a source of maps.

Public domain maps can be hard to come by, though. Good maps are expensive to develop and so people don't tend to give them away.

[lcampers]

Several maps are available in public domain at the Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection online.

[balam]

I'll second the Perry-Castaņeda Library Map Collection [lib.utexas.edu] - very cool place, if you're into cartography.

From the PCL:

Are the maps copyrighted?

Most of the maps scanned by the University of Texas Libraries and served from this web site are in the public domain. No permissions are needed to copy them. You may download them and use them as you wish.

[wolfadeus]

thank you very much, i found what i needed! great source! best, w.