I use Google in the early stages since paper maps won't show the bike paths or flag any alternate routes. That being said I don't travel with a smart phone so Google is not an option on the road. I do print out the directions as a cue sheet but once you depart from them they are impossible to use until you get back on route and that is easier said than done without a paper map so I always travel with one of those as well.

The scale of the map is important though. The map of Ontario that I used this summer showed the entire province and, even using both sides of the map to do so, the scale still remained pretty small.

So really it's a combination of three things for me: Google map cue sheet, local paper map at the largest practical scale and finally asking the locals for directions once I depart from (or can't interpret) the Google directions. The last option actually is the nicest. I like an excuse to talk to people and that is always an acceptable reason I've found.