I have a Garmin Nuvi 250w that came pre-loaded with Canada + US. At a local store here in YYZ I bought the European maps. It was expensive and I hesitated for a quite a while, but I considered that Michelin maps (my preferred maps) that cover the same area would set me back quite a bit. In the end I bit the bullet and bought the Garmin European maps.

One of the best decisions I've made!^

The Garmin European maps work just as well in Europe as they do in North America. Turn-by-trun navigation is accurate down to the metre, and finding destinations works just as one would expect. Most of the hotels I stayed at are pre-loaded and finding gas stations, bank machines etc was always easy.

I was so impressed with the European maps that I have almost no hesitation at signing up for the lifetime update service that Garmin is now offering. For a one-time fee of $150 US (maybe it was $200?) or so, I'll get updates to the European maps and the North American maps forever.