Take the large view. Look at the full city map and establish basic locations. Notice features surrounding the city. Chicago, for instance, is on Lake Michigan. Knowing how the city follows the shore gives you a sense of the overall shape and a large landmark to orient yourself. Seattle has lakes within the city. Navigating Seattle involves knowing how to get around these bodies of water, not just straight across. Rivers, valleys and even Central Park in New York impact the shapes of cities and how you travel in them.
Try to determine how the city was planned when it became a city. The best indication is the way streets were named or numbered. Some cities are laid out in a straight-line grid. Washington is laid out by what is commonly known as the Kite Plan, which keeps even residents with a map trying to negotiate radial roads and traffic circles. The more you understand about the plan, the easier it will be for you to navigate.
Break the city into sections and study the ones you will be visiting more closely. It might help to copy sections on an enlarging copier and trace where you will go in transparent markers. This is particularly helpful if your map shows the printed names of neighborhoods. Looking closely at those areas and figuring out how they connect are what you need to know. The rest of the city can be ignored.
Use major highways as reference points if you will be driving. Remember they are often fairly recent additions. Understand the old plan and the new plan to get around.
Remember the importance of compass directions and practice using them on your map. Major traffic signs use them. You might also encounter more local signs indicating uptown or downtown. It's important to know whether uptown is north, south, east or west.
When you return from a trip, review how you got there. You might not be returning to the same destination the next day, but reviewing what you have accomplished will give you greater confidence for your next excursion.
