Hiking is the miller’s delight – at least that’s what an old children’s song from 1821 says. Even 200 years later, hiking is still very popular. Above all, thanks to many helpful apps that can be used to explore hiking trails in advance. But sometimes it’s not enough just to know how a route runs: If you’re not careful, you can quickly find yourself on narrow paths at dizzying heights. This can easily happen if you underestimate the steepness of sections of the trail. If you want to know in advance exactly what you are getting yourself into, you can avoid such a scenario with the help of practical 3D maps.
The “RealityMaps” app for Android and Apple iOS offers interactive 3D maps with high-resolution aerial photos and gives alpinists a detailed impression of the local terrain. Hikers, mountaineers and mountain bikers have well over 90 Alpine regions at their disposal – from the Zugspitze to the Dolomites and from the Berchtesgaden Alps to the Matterhorn, everyone should find their favorite regions in 3D.
RealityMaps: Standing on the roof of the Alps
In addition to detailed 3D maps, the app also offers 2D aerial photos and contour lines. Alpine dangers such as steep falls and areas at risk of avalanches are also displayed. Are you a true alpinist who is not only driven to the Alps in summer, but also in winter? No problem! Just change the season in the app. You get a view of ski slopes and cross-country skiing routes in the region you prefer.
In the free basic version of “RealityMaps” all 3D maps can only be explored online. If you would also like to use the maps offline, get over 2,000 tour suggestions with marked routes and altitude profiles and access other functions such as GPS & tracking, VR panorama and GPX import, you must take out a subscription.
In order to unlock the premium features, the provider currently requires a subscription from 4.99 euros. A month costs 9.99 euros, a whole year 39.99 euros. The subscription can be canceled at any time via the iTunes Store. If you want to get an idea of the Pro version beforehand, you can test it for seven days free of charge. Take out a subscription that you can cancel at any time during the first week.