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How to Make a Travel Itinerary with Google Maps

Last Updated: March 14, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was reviewed by Stan Kats and by wikiHow staff writer, Nihal Shetty . Stan Kats is a Professional Technologist and the COO and Chief Technologist for The STG IT Consulting Group in West Hollywood, California. Stan provides comprehensive technology solutions to businesses through managed IT services, and for individuals through his consumer service business, Stan's Tech Garage. Stan holds a BA in International Relations from The University of Southern California. He began his career working in the Fortune 500 IT world. Stan founded his companies to offer an enterprise-level of expertise for small businesses and individuals. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 84,726 times.

If you’re planning a trip, you might be wondering how to figure out where to go and in what order. Luckily, Google has a free tool that you can use in order to get a better sense of your travel plans. We’ll walk you through how to make a travel itinerary with Google Maps through its My Maps feature. In a few easy steps, you can master an excellent organizational tool that’ll help you plan the best trip possible.

Setting Up Your Map

• Unfortunately, as of October 2021, Google no longer supports the “My Maps” app on phones. If you’re on mobile, you’ll have to use your phone’s web browser to access the site while on the go. [2] X Research source
• If you don’t already have a Google account, setting one up is a quick process. A Google account gives you a number of benefits, including a new gmail address. Check out this link to start the set-up process: https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/webcreateaccount?flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=SignUp

• For instance, your might name your map something like “California Summer Trip 2022,” and you could enter a description like, “Places to see and eat during two-week California road trip.”

• For example, for a California road trip, you might enter “Golden Gate Bridge” into the search box. My Maps will automatically direct you to its location.

• For instance, if you’ve searched for “Golden Gate Bridge,” there will be a white box that offers some information on the location, and even a rating from other users. Click on the “Add to map” button to send it to your saved locations.

• For example, you might fill in the description to the “Golden Gate Bridge” box with something like, “Spend at least 1 hour here—must-see location.”

• You might consider changing the colors of your pins to match how important each location is to your trip. For example, must-see locations could be red pins, your housing spots could be green pins, and optional places to visit could remain as blue pins.

Creating an Itinerary and Planning Routes

• For example, you might have a layer titled “Places to see,” one titled “Places to eat,” and one titled “Places to sleep.” You can then put sightseeing destinations, restaurants, and hotels you want to stay at in their respective layers.

• You can add more than one location to a single route. For example, if you wanted to plot a route from Big Sur to the Golden Gate Bridge, and then to Palo Alto, you can add all three locations to your route layer and create a multi-stop path. [11] X Research source
• By clicking on the three dots next to the layer with your travel route, then selecting “Step-by-step directions,” My Maps will create a set of directions for your travel. Handy!

• For example, by using My Maps, you might notice that seeing the Golden Gate Bridge, walking around San Francisco, and eating at a restaurant in Berkeley are close enough to all be doable in one day, while visiting Big Sur might be better saved for another afternoon. My Maps can help you plan out the most efficient trip possible, so you can enjoy your travels even more.

• When sharing your map, you can also choose the option that allows others to edit the map as well. With this option selected, your friends can pick places that they’re interested in as well, so you can have them all on the same document. [13] X Research source

• Although My Maps can’t be viewed offline, you can download an offline map of any areas you’re interested in on your phone. Using the Google Maps app, type in a location into the search bar, tap the name of the location, then navigate to the option “Download offline map.” [15] X Research source

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024925?visit_id=637744367666134651-2428484219&p=lite_addplaces&rd=1
• ↑ https://9to5google.com/2021/07/20/google-my-maps-android-shutdown/
• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024454?hl=en&ref_topic=3024924
• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024925?visit_id=637744500327517491-717751493&p=lite_addplaces&rd=1
• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3024925?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3502610?hl=en&ref_topic=3024924
• ↑ https://support.google.com/mymaps/answer/3109452?hl=en
• ↑ https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS

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5 Travel Planning Apps With Live Maps to Plot a Trip Itinerary

These free travel planning apps show all your activities and attractions on a live map and help you plot an itinerary.

Since the pandemic, you need to plan your trips carefully. So many things can change in no time, and people, in general, are traveling more, so advance bookings are crucial. These travel planning apps will help you plot an itinerary and ensure you don't miss out on any activities or attractions.

All the apps in this list come with maps that show all the locations you're traveling to. It's much better than using a Google Doc to write out your plan. Each app does something a little different or better than the others, so you'll likely find exactly what you're looking for in a travel planning app.

1. Scout (Web): Best Travel Planner for Cities With Detailed Map

When you're planning a trip to a new city, either alone or as a group, you will usually list many places you want to visit. With Scout, you can add these in different sections and see them on a live map, thus making it easier to figure out which places are within close distance and create an itinerary.

When you start a new trip in Scout, you'll first have to pick a city you're visiting and set your arrival and departure dates. By default, you get sections for attractions, food, and accommodations. But you can always add more custom sections. Each section gets its colored pin marker (for example, all food places will show as blue pins). You can add a place by searching for it or typing out the full address. It's powered by Google Maps, so it'll be easy to find any place.

Once you've added the points of interest, open the itinerary view to see your dates. Drag-and-drop places from the first bar to any day's itinerary. Once you add multiple places to a day, the map will automatically create a route for that day, linking all the places. You can rearrange them to find the best route to take.

You can also share your Scout trip with others, so that they can add their own points of interest and update the itinerary to create a group plan. It's also a helpful way to get tips from locals, as they'll be able to add recommendations directly to your map.

Scout also lets you publish your map or itinerary to its directory so that others can discover your helpful recommendations. And of course, you can browse the directory to find what others have recommended.

2. Puffin (Web): Find the Best Commute or Route for Your Travel Itinerary

Puffin is similar to Scout, with a few minor differences. When you create a new trip in Puffin and add a city, it automatically gives you a few recommendations for interesting and unique tourist spots , which show up as flowers on the map. Then, you start adding places of interest by searching for them in the left sidebar when set to Places, after which they'll show up as pins on the map.

Once you've added all the pins you want, switch the sidebar from Places to Itinerary. Create a new "day" and drag places from the map to that day. Puffin will automatically create a commute for you in the order of the places. Rearrange the places to get a better commute. You can also set a custom color for all the places and routes for a day.

For a detailed view of your entire itinerary, toggle the "View Full Schedule" button at the top of the sidebar. This will show a kanban board-like view of all your days. You can quickly drag and drop places between different days.

Puffin trips can also be shared between friends to build a trip collaboratively. Other users can comment on any place, so you can have a chat within Puffin on whether that place is worth going to or not.

3. Travel Trove (Web): Detailed Travel Planner for Multi-City Trips

Travel Trove is an excellent app if you go to a new country and plan to visit multiple cities. First, add the country you'll be going to, and then add the places you want to visit. For example, if you were going to Italy, search for the Colosseum and for the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and add both. Then, in your sidebar, Travel Trove will automatically list them under the different cities of Rome and Pisa.

For every place you add, you can also put in a few notes about it. Travel Trove also automatically scrapes information from Google Maps like the website, timings, and address of that place.

Once you've added all the places, switch to itinerary mode (and select all the cities in your trip when prompted). Now you'll be building a day-by-day itinerary for your visit. Each day has an "accommodation" slot and more slots for AM and PM to plan your holidays. Simply drag-and-drop your places to these slots to build the plan. You can also add notes for each day.

Travel Trove lets you quickly filter places by categories you have set while adding them, like must-visit, food, accommodation, etc. You can also add Packing Notes to your itinerary to ensure you don't forget anything. Once you're done with the travel plan, you can share it with others too.

4. Travel Mapper (Web): Google Sheets Travel Itinerary With Live Map

When you're planning the itinerary for your next trip, you usually want to visualize it on Google Maps too. Travel Mapper is a custom Google Sheets template that lets you create your travel itinerary, share it with friends, and instantly add the locations to Google Maps.

Travel Mapper is simple to use. Once you download the add-on, open a new Google Sheet and go to Extensions > Travel Mapper > Start Here > Generate Template . Add the date, time, activity, location, links, costs, and any additional notes in the sheet. The sidebar shows the Google Map for your itinerary, which you can update when you make any changes.

The map is customizable. You can add color codes for different elements and filter activities to see your map differently. The Google Maps in the sidebar can also be used to discover other places of interest nearby to any location. It's one of the best Google Maps hacks for travel trips .

Travel Mapper also includes a to-do list, a packing checklist, and a favorites list to ensure you don't forget anything. You can also share your newly created sheet with friends, who can add their own locations to the map.

5. Plip (Web, Android, iOS): Mobile-First Collaborative Trip Planner With Maps

The apps mentioned above in this list are all made to be used on computers. However, Plip bucks the trend by being a mobile-first travel planning app so that you can plan your entire trip on your phone or tablet. Plip also has a web app if you want to use it on your laptop.

Register for an account once you create a new trip; otherwise, your travels won't be saved. You can keep the trip private or share it with a group by adding others' emails.

When you want to add a new entry, there are eight types of plans to choose from: plan (generic), flight, reservation, lodging, restaurant, event, vehicle rental, and transit. The default details to fill for any entry are the title, the location, the start and end date and time, and any notes if necessary. Certain plans have additional entries, like "Provider" in events or "Confirmation number" in lodgings.

You can quickly filter your entries by the type of plan to view them in a list. Otherwise, switch to the Map view to view all your places of interest marked on the map, and scroll through a pane at the bottom.

Download: Plip for Android | iOS (Free)

Plan Well, But Look for Last Minute Deals

These apps will help plan out your entire trip, giving you a clear idea of when and where you will be. But don't yet rush to book it all.

The travel and hospitality industry has a lot of last-minute deals on flights, hotels, and tourist attractions. You should try to take advantage of these where you can. Since you will plan out your trip, add a few alternatives or flexible dates with flexible itineraries so that you can wait a bit more and benefit from these deals.

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Discover top attractions as well as hidden gems and plan your trips day-by-day. Your trips can be synced with the Sygic Travel app to guide you on your travels.

SYGIC TRAVEL MAPS APP

The Sygic Travel Maps mobile app displays the best tourist attractions, museums, restaurants, shops and more. Discover top places as well as hidden gems sourced from travel editors and fellow travelers and create your day-by-day trip plan directly in the app.

Download offline maps and guides for your destination to keep on track even in the most remote areas. Your trips can be seamlessly synced with the Sygic Travel Maps web.

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Trip Planner | Travel Itinerary Planner | Plan a Trip

Are you looking for an itinerary planner to plan your next trip? We know creating a customized travel itinerary manually is an overwhelming task. You have to put a lot of time into selecting destinations, booking hotels, flights, and comparing prices. On top of that calculating budgets & booking hotels and flights is another challenge that makes itinerary planning tough.

But what if all of this is done within a few minutes for you? Yes with TripHobo trip planner you can do this smartly. We have observed that many travelers end up spending more time in researching information than enjoying the actual trip. Not only first-time travelers but also experienced travelers struggle in creating perfect travel plans.

Even though it is a tedious task to create a customized itinerary, everyone agrees on the importance of itinerary for an enjoyable holiday. So Triphobo came up with this easy to use automatic itinerary planner.

How Trip Planner Works / Steps to Plan a Trip

Do you want to create your travel itinerary quickly & easily? Are you ready to use this tool now? TripHobo's trip planner plays a major role to ease the itinerary creation process and helps you overcome the pain in the trip planning .  Follow these 4 simple steps to plan a trip & let us know your experience.

1) Choose Your Destination & Dates when you want to travel

Visual algorithmic trip planner lets you choose destinations you want to travel to. You have the freedom to choose the real dates from the calendar. After selecting travel dates, planner runs algorithms to optimize a trip. It starts suggesting activities, sightseeing spots, tours and transport options with the details. For every attraction, it suggests open/close timings, time to spend, and nearby restaurants.

You can drag & drop activities and complete your itinerary within a matter of minutes. You can book yourself a nice vacation once you are sure of all the details, making you plan your trip very easily.

2) Refer to User Created Itineraries

If you have a lot of travel ideas but confused about where to start? Don't worry. Thousands of other people have visited the same destination before and created itineraries with us. Choose from a pool of more than 1 million user-generated itineraries around the globe. You can view other travelers’ itineraries for any location and duration to inspire yourself and then customize them to suit your own preferences.

3) Book Hotels and Flights

TripHobo always tries to offer the best from the travel industry to our valued planners. It has formed alliances with Expedia , Skyscanner, Zomato and Booking.com. Its ratings and reviews come courtesy of TripAdvisor whereas Google (as well as other partners) powers its location data.

TripHobo aims to cater to travelers at every stage of the travel planning process. It provides one platform to create personalized itineraries and hassle-free bookings .

4) Get Ready with a Perfect Itinerary

Once you’ve created your customized itinerary, you can print it. Save your plan for future reference or share it with your friends. When you’re ready, you can finalize and have a perfect travel itinerary ready.

Why Is TripHobo a Smart Trip planner?

There are few things included in the Triphobo planner algorithm & app which builds itinerary within minutes.

• A free virtual map-based trip planner with a smart algorithm
• International trip planner with about 1,50,000 popular destinations
• The largest repository of user-generated itineraries
• Hassle-free booking options for hotels, tours & flights
• Provides local transit options like metro, rail, bus, and car
• Calculates an estimated budget
• Provides options to save, print and share itinerary
• Strategic Partnerships with leading travel companies

TripHobo: Around the Web

• Trip of Your Own
• Traveling made easier with TripHobo
• Making The Southeast Asian Travel Connection
• Ex-HCL employee’s led ‘TripHobo’ is on a mission to become a global brand – a goto place for travel planning!
• Interview: Praveen Kumar, Founder & CEO of TripHobo
• TripHobo inks partnership with Zomato
• How a trip planning startup can succeed
• Karthik Ramachandram Co-Founder COO, TripHobo - Phocuswright Conference

Here's what travelers have to say about our travel planner

• Excellent 238

Great and genuinely wonderful website that makes a proper vacation plan simple, like it should. All reviews are 5 stars. The only suggestion I have to enhance this fantastic website is to include a mobile application. Even paying for a version without ads wouldn't bother me.

Every traveller should use this!

So much easier & more helpful than a travel agency, given lots of fantastic ideas, and was extremely helpful for planning the trip. Would strongly advise my family and friends to use this!

Great tool for trip planning. Impportantly it's free and automatically tailors travel plans to your preferences and is completely customisable. The integration with skyscanner and booking.com, and other OTA like priceline and expedia makes it very easy to plan the whole trip along with the bookings in one place.

Google Maps

• Google Travel

How to get ready for a road trip using Google’s travel site and Maps

Due to the pandemic, travel has been slow this past year, and you might be a little rusty when it comes to picking up and traveling somewhere to visit friends and family or just planning a getaway. Whatever the case, Google has a few helpful tools in Google Maps and Google’s travel site to help you get started on making those plans and staying safe along the way.

Table of contents

Getting started with google’s travel website, using google map’s road trip feature, planning a trip around covid-19 restrictions.

Google’s travel website is meant to be a companion site that can help you plan all of the details of your trip. You can use it to book flights, make an itinerary, and even explore interesting places to visit at your destination. If you have a Gmail account , there’s a good chance that any flight reservation you make will automatically appear the next time you use Google’s travel site, making it that much easier to plan the trip’s details. If not, Google Travel may suggest locations based on your search history and interests. While that may be a little creepy, it can also be pretty helpful.

If no destination has been chosen yet, Google will suggest locations in the “Explore” tab. You can filter these locations based on flight and hotel cost, giving you a pretty good idea of where a nice place to go would be. After choosing a destination, Google gives you a few options as far as what you’d want to know. There’s a “Discover” section that will break down various points of interest. In bigger cities, you may find the number of things to do or see endless. Fortunately, you can filter out locations and activities based on your personal interest.

If there are a few places that pique your curiosity, or you already know you want to go there, Google allows you to save them to the trip and pin them to the trip’s detail page. This serves as a sort of to-do list when you get where you’re going.

If you don’t plan on flying and want to avoid certain COVID-19 hotspots, Google Maps is probably the way to go. Just this year, Google added a feature to the Maps website that allows you to add stops along the route when planning the trip. Previously this was possible on mobile, but it didn’t lend itself well to planning out a road trip to be shared with friends and family. Adding stops along the way with Google Maps on mobile was best for impromptu stops.

Once you’ve defined a starting point and destination, you can add stops along the way. You can add anything from a city to rest stops and gas stations. You can do this by either manually entering a stop you already know you would like to pause at, or by choosing one of the criteria towards the top of the screen. Google Maps lets you narrow down your search by these criteria:

When selecting from one of these criteria, Google will also suggest a few filters. For instance, choosing hotels will bring up a “Guest rating” filter, as well as an “Amenities” filter, so you make sure that you’re getting free wifi. Of course, if none of these fit the bill, you can always just search for what you want. The nice thing is that these suggestions can add a little flare to the trip by suggesting something you would have never thought about, making the road trip that much more exciting.

Once you find a point of interest, hit add stop , and Google Maps will automatically insert it in the right spot on the planned route. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a way to define how much time you plan on spending at that stop, so the trip time might have to be calculated manually. Besides that, Google Maps has become a handy road trip planner with enough tools to get you where you’re going and let you have some fun along the way.

The major caveat to traveling right now is the looming risk of COVID-19. Fortunately, the travel website by Google and Maps both supply some great tools for managing risk and assessing where you plan to go.

On the travel website, you can find up-to-date COVID-19 information for your destination pretty easily. You can access this information by searching for and clicking on the destination . Under the main card that lists the date of your trip, area name, and weather, there will be a COVID information section. This section has useful information like the CDC’s travel advisory website, COVID-19 stats for that specific area, and the number of local cases.

Clicking on the “Travel advisory” button brings you to the CDC’s COVID-19 map. This map is a risk assessment of most destinations in the world, color-coded depending on how risky it is to travel there. The second button will search Google for COVID-19 information on the location you’re traveling to, detailing data like news, statistics, and testing locations. The “Local cases” button will show even more detailed information about active cases, vaccines administered, and deaths in the area. All of this is fantastic information to have when traveling and comes in handy when planning your trip.

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"Throughout my day, I am constantly fantasizing about travel in my head. Whether for an upcoming or far-future trip, I use Pebblar to keep track of the cities I want to visit, sites I want to see, restaurants I want to try; and to plan the possible path between location. Pebblar is amazing for helping me organize my ideas in easy, virtual form." Chloe Skye

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My itinerary

This is a free demo version of our mapping software.

Create an account to save your current itinerary and get access to all our features.

Otherwise your data will be automatically deleted after one week.

Create Your Free Travel Map

With minimal effort you'll have a beautiful map of your travels to share with friends and family.

Map and visualise your trips. It's fast, simple, fun and free.

Start mapping your trips now!

• Plan your upcoming trips and map previous travels
• Add notes, photos and blog entries to build a rich story of your travels
• Embed your trip map on your own blog
• Save your map as a high resolution image
• Draw custom routes between your trip stops
• Unlimited trips on one map
• Bookmark websites and save them to your trip plan

See how easy it is to make a trip map in this video

Try it yourself!

Create an itinerary map to plan an upcoming trip

Our free travel mapping tool can be a great resource when you are planning your trips. If you are travelling to multiple cities and want to get an idea of which itineraries are going to be the most efficient, just map all your stops out and see what the route looks like. Once you have worked out the route, you can add notes and bookmarks to each stop to keep all your ideas in one place. Also, don't forget to tap into our amazingly helpful community of travellers by asking for trip advice in our forums .

Map out all your old trips

We spent a lot of time making this as easy to use as possible, especially when mapping out lots of stops and lots of trips. You can very quickly add new stops to trips with minimal detail. For example, you can choose to add dates to each stop. Or not. This mapping tool is flexible that way. Mapping out all your travels can be a huge amount of fun, as it's a great way to relive memories.

Add photos to your trips

Travellerspoint allows you to upload as many photos you want. And if you geotag them, you'll find they will automatically link to stops near where the photos were taken.

Embed your map on your blog

If you are just looking for a simple route map to add to a blog post you're creating then this will do that for you nicely. You can either use the standard embed code or customise the map tiles to various other looks as well. A beautiful interactive travel map will ensure your blog entry stands out from the crowd.

Generate stats for all your travels

Some map samples.

Would you like to see examples of some trips people have mapped out? Click on any of the maps below to see a fully interactive version.

Questions and Answers

What are some typical users of this mapping platform.

• People wanting to map out an upcoming trip
• People wanting to map out all their previous travels
• Travel agents wanting to create a trip map for their clients
• People wanting to explore different destinations for an upcoming trip

Create your map

What tool do you recommend people use to map out their life's travels?

The Travellerspoint mapping system is the perfect tool for this job. It can map out lots of trips in broad strokes or in great deal.

How many stops can I add to a trip?

There is no limit to the number of stops you can add to your trip map.

Is there a limit to how many trips I can map?

No, you can map all your life's travels on one map. We have members with over a hundred trips mapped!

What mapping platform do you use?

We use Mapbox GL JS which is a competitor to Google Maps. We allow you to choose which map tiles you use with options available from Mapbox.com and Maptiler.com

How can I use the maps I've created on Travellerspoint?

Once you've mapped out your trip, you can embed the map in a blog on Travellerspoint or elsewhere. You can also generate a shareable link that shows the map in a standalone way.

Can I save the map as an image?

Yes, we offer an easy button save the map as a high resolution PNG. Perfect for photobooks or for printing out.

How long has Travellerspoint been around for?

Travellerspoint has been around since 2002. Our mapping tool has evolved over the years from a simple log of countries to the detailed trip mapper it is today.

Where do you get the travel information from that's used in the map?

We have our own member created travel guide. When people view your trip map they will see content from that guide included with the locations.

Can I turn off the guide content that's included?

Yes, if you are a supporting member you can turn off the guide content.

Can I get turn by turn directions from this tool?

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Yes, it's possible to create custom routes. This is particularly useful when you are plotting a boat trip that we don't have any routing information for.

Looking for a Step by Step guide?

This How To Create a Map of Your Travels guide will take you through the process of creating your travel map in a series of easy to follow steps.

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• Unlimited photo uploads. We also feature our members' best travel photos

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The Trippy road trip planner automatically calculates the optimal itinerary including stops recommended by Trippy members, favorite restaurants and hotels, local attractions and things to do based on what people who live in the area have suggested, and more.

Once you have a quick trip planned, you can customize every detail, adding or removing stops, or changing what time you leave in the morning or how long you stay at each stop. Then you can save your custom trip and share it with friends and family.

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TripIt: Travel Planner 4+

Trip itinerary & alerts.

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Join nearly 20 million travelers on the world's highest-rated travel planner app for trip and itinerary organization! TRAVEL ITINERARY As soon as you book a flight, hotel, rental car or other travel plan, simply forward it to [email protected] and we’ll automatically add it to your comprehensive itinerary. Seamlessly sync travel plans to your calendar or share them with anyone you choose. RESERVATION DETAILS No more frantically searching through your inbox for important details about your travel plans, like when your flight gets in or the confirmation number for your hotel. Find them in a flash with TripIt — even when you’re offline. Access this information hands-free with Siri shortcuts! Upload PDFs, photos, boarding passes, digital passport QR codes and more to your travel itinerary, so you can track everything in one place. MAPS AND DIRECTIONS The TripIt app includes all the map-related tools you’ll need on-the-go (it’s great for road trips). - Plot out your entire trip on Google Maps or Apple Maps - Quickly pull up transportation options and driving directions between two points (powered by Rome2Rio) - Easily locate the closest restaurants, parking, ATMs and more TRIPIT PRO For roughly the price of checking your bags, upgrade to TripIt Pro to access exclusive travel perks all year long. When you upgrade, TripIt Pro will do all this for you (and more!): • Share real-time flight status alerts and check in reminders • Notify you if you're eligible for a refund if your fare price drops after booking • Track your reward programs and alert you if points are expiring • Navigate you through the airport with interactive maps • Keep you informed when a potential disruption may impact your trip Your iTunes account will be charged when the purchase is confirmed. Your TripIt Pro subscription will be good for 1 year, and automatically renew each year at $48.99 unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before your term ends. To manage your subscription, including auto-renew, visit iTunes Account Settings. FREE TRIPIT PRO FOR SAP CONCUR USERS If your company uses SAP Concur, you may receive complimentary TripIt Pro benefits that most travelers have to pay for. Make sure you’re connected to TripIt to get itineraries created for you as soon as you book, and receive a complimentary subscription to TripIt Pro, if you’re eligible. For more information, see the TripIt User Agreement (https://www.tripit.com/uhp/userAgreement) and Privacy Policy (https://www.tripit.com/uhp/privacyPolicy).

Version 18.4.1

• Introducing our newest TripIt Pro feature, Risk Alerts! Get proactive alerts about events that have the potential to disrupt your trip, so you can modify your itinerary if needed and still enjoy your trip. Alerts may cover inclement weather, unplanned airport closures, protests or strikes, public health events, and more. Enable these push notifications by toggling “Risks and Disruptions” to “On” within Settings.

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Top 3 of all apps. All time. Ever.

Since I started using this app, I have travelled 1,482,337 miles. I LOVE this app. I travel a lot for work (and holidays) and being able to email my booking confirmations, private and work and have them all in one place is fantastic. It changed my travel routine. Rather then show up with a folder of different printed confirmations, it’s all laid out in one place. My wife and I share our itineraries and it’s great for family trips where we book different parts. Its like I have a brilliant assistant with programming knowledge. Just bring a battery pack for your phone after a long flight :-) I try hundreds of apps each year but after many years using this app it is still the most useful thing on my phone after the calendar and mail app. Seriously, I have emailed booking confirmations as PDF’s, word docs, email etc from some really funky airlines and it’s rarely missed a beat. My only suggestion to the developers to improve on perfection might be to tie in with one of the flight map apps so I can see on the plane which country I am flying over. Those guys have nothing like the capability you do, so a tie in could be cool. Thanks again for all the travel hassle you guys saved!

Favorite App

I travel often both for business and with my big family. This has been a game changer. Not to have to print out anything and have everything in order with added details on telephone numbers, weather, directions links. besides the ease of just forwarding play tickets, car rentals, hotel and flights, it takes a cruise itinerary and put some in the correct day saying where you’re going and when you get off to the ports and when you have to be back on the ship etc. So excellent. A side benefit I found now that I’ve been using it for 10 years is I have a whole travel journal right here in the app. Can look up previous hotels, miscellaneous companies used for transportation and whatever. Request for the developers: when I have a listing of flights etc. (particularly for more than one person), the apps at-a-glance screen does not have the name listed. So you have to go into that plan and scroll down and Click under passengers and in that page it’ll show you who the reservation is for. It would be much more convenient to have the name on the first or second line for a quick reference.

I adore TripIt - Sharing Trips with others needs work

I adore TripIt — I’ve been using it In some form or another since way back in 2008 - yikes I’m old! It really is effective in getting itinerary into one app and then integration into my device’s calendar is also great! I really like the auto import via a gmail account (usually the app has been focused on flying but I’m thrilled that the train itineraries are a bit better - especially Amtrak) I will say one area that really needs to be streamlined is sharing plans with non-TripIt users. In the app there are a few options, all of them not great. In the app, sharing a plan results in a mumbojumbo of unformatted texts, the iMessage feature doesn’t seem to be accessible to non TripIt users although they can see the thumbnail. I know inner circle can see plans but I think there needs to be a more streamlined process. What I do when sharing plans as a work around? I simply screenshot and message. Perhaps that’s all that needed in a future update! Anyway like the product some areas could’ve streamlined but this is definitely one of top three apps I use for travel!

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How to Use Google My Maps to Plan a Trip (Ultimate Guide)

Note: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. More details are  here .

I love a good map. I’ve got maps hanging on my walls. I go to the bookstore to read maps. Whenever I navigate my way home using only a map, I feel like I must have some innate bushcraft skills. And if you’ve read my posts about traveling in Maine , you’re probably sick of me talking about the DeLorme Atlas by now.

But while reading paper maps will always inspire a sense of get-up-and-go adventure for me, I’m not totally opposed to using tech for planning my trips and navigating on the ground.

And one of my favorite techy solutions? A secret little trip planner called Google My Maps, buried inside of everyone’s favorite map tool.

Google My Maps lets you create shareable custom maps with multiple layers, plus location pins with icons and notes. It’s a great way to brainstorm travel plans or create a trip itinerary from a desktop. And since the map can be viewed in the Google Maps app, you can use it to navigate on the go. 

To give you an example of what this post will show you how to do, here’s one of the custom Google Maps I’ve created for a trip.

Keep reading for an overview of how to use Google My Maps to plan a trip, plus a video tutorial of how to set it up—all updated in 2023. I’ll also share answers to commonly asked questions and some lesser known tips to help you get the most out of this tool. 

A quick note: Creating a custom map in Google My Maps is distinct from Google Lists of saved places. Check out our Google My Maps vs Lists comparison to see all the differences and our full guide to using Google Maps Lists .

8 Top Google My Maps Features

(AKA Why It’s Awesome)

Google My Maps allows you to see your trip itinerary. 

This is so helpful, especially if you’re a visual person or enjoy using maps. But even if you’re not, it’s still really useful to see where everything is in relation to each other as you plan your trip, vacation, or holiday because it helps you be realistic about your plans.

It connects with other Google apps. 

Setting aside my (ahem, very rational) fear that they may take over the world soon, I love all things Google. My Maps stores a copy of the map in whatever Google Drive account you’re using. (Am I the only one who has six of these?) So if you like to create Google Docs or folders to store trip planning information, documents, photos, or itineraries, it’s nice to have your map easily accessible in the same folder.

You get additional location information since it’s part of Google Maps. 

If a location is on Google, you can see their website, phone number, address, reviews, and website when you add it to your custom map. (Note that you can’t see this information when clicking on your saved pin from the Google Maps app, but you can from desktop.)

You can add your own extra notes and photos.

Customize your map even more by adding notes, photos, or videos. Use the notes during planning to add website, hours, or tips. If I hear about the location from a particular website, I usually add that link and what was noted in the article about the location (e.g., it’s a great sunset spot, which dish on the menu is recommended) so I can reference it later.

You can view your route by creating a layer with directions. 

When I traveled to Burlington, Vermont, I wanted to see the length of the bike trail on the map, so I used the directions feature to show the whole route. (Check out the Burlington travel guide for an example of the travel map I created that includes the bike path route.) And while I haven’t done this yet, you could also use Google My Maps to plan a road trip itinerary for a longer adventure. 

Caveat: As I’ll discuss later, you can’t use directions layers to get turn-by-turn directions (but I mention an alternative below). For this reason, I only use these layers to visualize my route.

It’s highly customizable. 

Don’t mind me while I swoon over the color coding and organization options over here. Use custom icons, layers, and colors so it’s easy to see what things are at a glance. For example, you can give different locations individual styles: a coffee cup icon for cafes, a bed icon for hotels, and a swimming icon for beaches. You can also use layers in many different ways, such as one layer for each day of your trip or one layer for each category (like dining, lodging, and things to do).

In-depth planning on your computer. Easy, on-the-go access from your phone. 

While you can’t edit the maps from the Google Maps app on iPhone or Android, you (and anyone you’ve shared them with) can view them. You can click on icons and see your notes, as well as navigate to those locations. 

Note that there used to be a dedicated My Maps app on Android, but this has been deprecated. 

It’s easy to share it with a friend or with the world. 

If you’re planning a trip with other people, it’s easy to share the map with others . And if it’s something you want to make available to everyone (like I do on my travel guide posts), just change the privacy setting and share the link or embed it on a website.

3 Ways to Use Google My Maps

Brainstorm and store ideas for future “maybe” trips. 

I often come across a really interesting hotel, restaurant, or fun thing to do in destinations I want to travel to in the future, and I want to make sure I don’t forget about them. I have so many bookmarks in so many places (Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram), but Google My Maps is the place I’ve started storing ideas for future trips.

Plan your trip itinerary. 

Want to use Google Maps for route planning? When you’re ready to plan an upcoming trip, plot it out visually by using Google My Maps to create your itinerary. If you like structured itineraries, you can easily create a detailed day-to-day plan. 

Or, you can use a looser itinerary structure like we usually do by adding all the places you might like to go. 

For example, on a day trip to NYC, we added tons of places to eat on the map (thank you, Tiktok). As we were walking around doing other activities and started to get hungry, we were able to easily see which saved restaurants were closest to us. 

Navigate on the go.

Whether you’re using your map loosely for ideas or for a structured itinerary, you can pull it up on your phone anytime and get directions to your next location. 

Not sure what you want to do today, or want to see what the closest restaurant from your list is for dinner? Pop into your custom map to jog your memory from the notes you made or to get directions to your next location.

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How to Use Google My Maps to Plan a Trip

How to create a new custom map.

Go to Google My Maps from your desktop browser . Check the Google icon in the top right corner to make sure you’re using the Google account you want to. Click “Create A New Map” and a window will open with a blank map. To give your map a name and description , click the map name (“Untitled Map”).

You can also change the color and style of the base map if desired. At the bottom of the layer panel on the left, click the arrow next to “Base Map.” You’ll get a window with nine options, including terrain, light political (a very light version of the standard Google Maps), satellite, and some different colored versions. Note that changing the base map style on desktop won’t change anything when viewing on mobile in Google Maps.

How to Add and Edit Layers

When you create a new map, the first layer will already be created, so you’ll probably want to rename it. To give your first layer a title , click directly on the title name like you did with the map name, or click the 3 dots next to “Untitled Layer” and then click “Rename Layer.” Clicking these 3 dots next to a layer title is also how you can delete a layer if you add one accidentally or change your mind. In this example, I’m changing my first layer to “dining” and will add all restaurants to this layer.

You can use layers any way you want to, or simply stick to one layer if you don’t need multiple. To add new layers , simply click “Add Layer” in the gray section below the map title and description.

To move a pin between layers , click the pin on the layer and hold down the mouse, and then drag it to the desired layer.

How to Add Location Pins

There are various ways to add location pins to a layer. First, make sure the correct layer is chosen by clicking anywhere in the white area on the layer. You’ll see which layer is selected by looking for the blue bar on the left of the layer.

• In the map search bar, type either a place name or an address. Click “Add to Map” to add a pin for this location . This is how I add most pins.
• If you don’t need an exact location or don’t have an address , you can click the pin marker button below the map search bar (“Add Marker”). It will turn your mouse into a T and you can click anywhere on the map to add a blank pin. You’ll immediately be prompted to add the pin title and description.
• If you’re dealing with very remote locations (or you just like geeky map stuff), you can also use latitude and longitude coordinates in the search bar.

To delete a pin , simply click on it and click the trash icon.

A few tips and best practices for adding pins:

• If the place you’re searching for does not have a listing on Google, you’ll have to use an address. One thing to note is that sometimes Google Maps listings aren’t correct or don’t take you to the right place, so you may want to double check the location if you’re not using a street address to add the pin (especially if it’s a small business without a website).
• I have also found that hiking trail heads are frequently on Google Maps, but they’re not always correct in terms of navigating there by car. I usually add them to my map to get a basic idea of where they are while planning, but I use a paper map or atlas to find them while traveling.

How to Customize Location Pins

To change the title and add notes to your listing, click on the pin on the map, and then click the pencil icon (“Edit”).

To change the color and icon of the pin , click the paint bucket icon (from the pin itself or directly in the layer). Click “More Icons” to view all the icon options. You can color code by type of activity, by layer, or any way that makes sense to you.

To add photos or videos to a pin , click on the pin on the map, and then click the camera icon (“Add Image or Video”). This is another way to make your map interactive, especially after you’ve visited a location and want to share it with others.

How to Add A Directions Layer

I find that directions layers are helpful for showing the route of a walking tour, bike path, or road trip you want to take, but I don’t find them useful for directions while traveling since I can simply use the maps app to navigate. 

I use directions layers whenever I want to show an entire route on a map , rather than a specific location. Think of this as the 2024 version of mapping out a trip with AAA paper maps and a highlighter (if you’re old enough to remember).

Click the arrow icon underneath the search bar, which will create a new directions layer. On the legend, click “Driving” if you want to change this to walking or biking directions. Add a location name or address to Points A and B in the legend. If you find that the pins are not exactly where they should be, you can drag the points on the map.

Continue adding points by clicking “Add Destination” on the map. You can either type the information into the legend or hover your mouse to a spot on the map and double click it. (This is especially useful if you’re tracing a route on something like a bike path or hiking trail that won’t have an address.)

Rearrange the order by dragging the items around in the legend. Just like altering directions on Google Maps navigation, you can click on part of the route and drag it to a different road if you want to change part of the route after it is complete.

If you need to access the directions so you can see the distance of your route or the time it will take, click the three dots on the layer and click “Step-by-Step Directions.” Note that you can’t actually use this to get turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps.

How to Share A Google My Map

There are several options for sharing your Google Maps trip plan.

Open up your map, then click the share button in the gray bar above your layers. To allow others to view your map (which includes embedding on your website), click “change” under the section “Who has access.” For embedding, you will need to make this setting public.

Otherwise, if you want to allow others to edit your map, add their email address in the “invite people” section.

How to View Your Custom Map in Google Maps (iPhone or Android)

Open Google Maps and go to the Saved icon at the bottom. Scroll to the bottom of this screen and click “Maps.” Choose the My Map you want to view. The layers with your custom icons will now be visible on your Google Map. You can click on any pin to view your details (such as description or photos), as well as to navigate there. 

To close a map, click on a pin and then click “View Map Legend.” There, you can click the Close icon.

From the Map Legend, you can also toggle layers on and off, and then backing out to the main map (don’t click Close—just the back arrow or back button).

How to Navigate with a Custom My Map (iPhone or Android)

To navigate to one of your pins, open your map, find the pin for where you want to go, click it, and then click “directions.” When you do this, you won’t see your custom map anymore but will be looking at the regular navigation of Google Maps.

You can’t use a My Maps “directions layer” for navigation. If you’re looking for that functionality, I recommend just creating a route in Google Maps and sending it to your phone (or sharing with others). See here for more details. 

How to Import Locations from Google Sheets, CSV, or Excel

Importing locations to a My Maps layer can be helpful in a few scenarios:

• You have a significant amount of locations to add to your layer
• Your data is already in the form of a spreadsheet
• You want additional fields included besides the default Name and Description
• You want to create groupings of pins (for example, a list of 50 restaurants could have a column for “Cuisine,” which will give you the option to group and style the pins by cuisine)

The process is simple, and you can import a variety of file types, including CSV, Excel (XLSX), or directly from Google Sheets. There are also special file formats that import map data from other programs, but this section is focused on spreadsheet-type files that you create and format.

Create a spreadsheet with the desired column headers. At a minimum, you need place names and either addresses or latitude-longitude information . 

If you want to group your pins by some type of categorization, you should include that as a column. Other columns you could include: website, phone number, description, or notes. While Google Sheets allows you to include photos in a cell, Google My Maps will not import photos in this way (it will include the column as a field, but will be blank). 

Once your spreadsheet file is ready, click “Import” on a blank layer (if your map already has layers, you will need to add a new layer to see this option). If uploading a CSV or XLSX, do this from the Upload tab. If using a Google Sheet, click the Google Drive tab and choose your file. 

Choose which column has location data (address or latitude-longitude) and click “Continue.” Choose the location name column next and click “Finish.” 

To change the icons individually, click “Uniform Style” next to the paintbrush on your layer. Under “Group Places By,” choose “Individual Styles.”

To change styles by a category column (such as Cuisine), click the link next to the paintbrush and choose to group places by the desired column. You can then give each category its own color or icon.

You can manually add new pins to this layer, and they will include all the fields you imported from the spreadsheet columns. 

You can also add more items to your spreadsheet, and import this new data. Click the three dots on your layer. Under “Reimport and Merge,” click “Add More Items” and choose your file. It will add the new rows to your layer.

How to Import a Route from Google Maps Timeline History (KML) or GPS Data From a Fitness App (GPX)

Google My Maps can import routes and locations you’ve already traveled to via special file types that are very easy to download from certain apps. This could be useful if you want to share a walking, biking, or driving route that you’ve taken without having to recreate it on a directions layer. 

Note that this only works as well as the GPS satellites were able to track your location while you were traveling.

If there are a lot of clouds, dense forest, buildings, or anything else blocking the GPS signal, your tracked route will be much less precise. I’ve noticed that Google Maps sometimes has my route showing somewhere I couldn’t have walked or driven. 

If you have your location history turned on in Google Maps, you can download a KML file from a trip, which will include the route traveled and location pins for any stops. Sometimes it misses a location name or adds a pin in the wrong place, but overall it’s pretty good.

Go to your Google Maps Timeline and locate the day you want to export. Click on it, and you should now see your route highlighted along with any stops you made. Now click the gear icon on the bottom of your map, and click “Export this day to KML.” Go to your My Map and on a new layer, click “Import.” Choose the KML file you just downloaded. You can now edit each portion as needed—changing the color and thickness of the route line, changing the location icons, as well as adjusting the route where desired.

If you have other apps that track your location, such as fitness apps, you may be able to download a GPX file that shows the route you took. The instructions for doing this will vary from app to app, but I was able to easily find it in Samsung Health by looking at the detail of a particular workout/walk and clicking the three dots to download a GPX. The import process to Google My Maps is the same as above.

With both methods, you can make adjustments to points/stops along the way or even add more pins. With the Google Maps KML file, you can also adjust your route by moving the small white dots.

Google My Maps Tutorial

Here’s a walk through video to show you how to use Google Maps to plan a trip, along with several of my own Google My Maps itinerary examples. Coming soon: a 2024 update!

Google My Maps Examples

Here are a few more examples of My Maps I’ve created for sharing recommendations, trip ideas, and actual vacation planning.

Google My Maps FAQs and Tips

As great as Google My Maps is for planning a trip, there are some limitations to using it. Lots of questions have also come up about more specific uses and ways to use its features. Thanks to all the readers who have asked or shared tips in the comments as I’m always looking to make this a more robust guide. I’ve organized the questions and tips here since it makes it easier than scrolling through the comments.

How many layers can you add to a map?

Google My Maps limits you to 10 layers. If you are planning a longer road trip and want to create a layer for each day, this limitation may prove frustrating. 

Here are a couple of workaround ideas: You can create 2 maps, and have the entire master route as 1 layer on each (showing the very basic route for all 12 days—say from city to city) as a reference. Then build individual layers for each day. As a second option, you could add multiple days to 1 layer and change the titles to start with the day they correspond to (so it would be “1 – Name of Place” instead of just “Name of Place.”) However, this option may not be ideal since you can’t see the titles until you click when you’re on the phone.

How many location pins can you add to each layer?

You can add up to 2,000 pins per layer, and the entire map cannot exceed 10,000 lines, shapes, or places total. I haven’t tested the limits, and it’s possible adding this amount of items could slow things down. My guess is that most travelers wouldn’t need anything so large, but it is possible according to Google . 

Are custom Google My Maps available offline?

No, but keep reading for a workaround and alternative. 

One of the biggest complaints about Google My Maps is that you can’t download your custom map and pins to use offline, unlike the rest of Google Maps. 

However, I have been able to use it in areas with spotty reception. I pulled the map up when I did have reception, and I left it running in the background. It would stay loaded in the app and I was able to pull it up to look at it later when I was out of reception. I’m not sure I would rely on this as a surefire workaround, but it can work in a pinch.

Another alternative, especially if you’ll be traveling in another country where you’ll be completely offline, is to use Google Maps Lists, which can be edited from desktop or your phone but don’t offer the option for separate layers, unique icons, or adding photos. 

Is there an app for Google My Maps?

There is no separate Google My Maps app, but you can view your maps within Google Maps. Just make sure you’re signed into the same account, and all your maps will sync. 

(There used to be a dedicated My Maps app on Android, but this was deprecated in 2021.)

Can you create or edit maps from your phone?

No, the maps cannot be edited from the Google Maps app. Google My Maps can only be created or edited from the desktop version of the site. This is another huge advantage Google Lists has over Google My Maps because Lists allow you to add new places or entire lists from any device—iPhone, Android, tablet, laptop, or desktop.

Is there a bridge height filter?

No. For RVers and others who need to plan ahead for height limitations, there is no bridge height filter available in Google Maps. Since I haven’t had to use this feature myself, I am not confident in an alternative to recommend. However, from a bit of digging around, there are some apps and GPS units for truckers that may be a good place to start looking if you have an oversize vehicle.

What is the difference between Google Maps Lists and Google My Maps?

They both allow you to create custom maps with pins, but there are some key differences, such as offline access, layer capabilities, customizable pins, and creating/editing within the app. Check out the details on how Google My Maps compares to Lists (including a features comparison table).

How many stops can you add on a directions layer?

You can only add 10 stops per directions layer. This is also the maximum number of stops you can add for navigation in Google Maps. As some readers have pointed out, this can be limiting when you want to use this feature for a long road trip.

Can you use the directions layers on your phone for navigation purposes?

No, you cannot create a directions layer and then access those turn-by-turn directions for navigation in the Google Maps app. 

So…are directions layers totally useless? What’s the point of having a Driving Directions layer in My Maps?

Personally, I still like to use these layers, but only to show a route for my very visual brain, rather than to actually create custom directions. 

Can you send a custom created route (layer) to someone else so that the other person will take that specific driving route on google maps?

No, you can’t do this from My Maps, but there’s a workaround I can suggest.

Forget My Maps, and use Google Maps from desktop or mobile to plot a route. You can add up to 10 stops, and then you will be able to share your custom directions. 

From desktop, there’s an extra step in first sending the directions to your phone. If you’ve created the directions in the mobile app or once you have them pulled up there, you can share them with anyone by clicking the 3 dots next to your list of locations (sharing must be done before clicking “Start”—if you’re already in the navigation, you need to back out of it to share). When you share, it will list all the steps as well as send a link for the other person to open the directions in Google Maps directly. 

An important caveat to sharing custom routes: Google Maps will reroute the directions as it normally does according to current traffic at the time of driving, so this method cannot be relied upon if you’ve mapped a specific route for bridge clearances. As a workaround, you can add “stops” on the desired interstate (zoom in and add this literally on the road itself so navigation doesn’t try to take you off an exit), which will force Google Maps to take the driver that way. This is what I do when driving south from Connecticut to PA because Google Maps always wants me to take its beloved George Washington Bridge and I always don’t want to. I add a stop to force my route across the Tappan Zee Bridge. However, I’m not sure I would rely on this workaround as a sole method for RVs or truckers.

Can you see how much time the directions will take?

Yes, on desktop you can view the details if you want to know the distance or how long a route will take. To view distance and time for a directions layer, click the 3 dots on the laye, then click Step-by-Step Directions. 

Of course, this doesn’t really help when you want to get this information on your phone or use the directions for navigation. As mentioned elsewhere, the “directions” layer functions best as a way to visualize a route. If you need turn-by-turn directions, see the steps mentioned above to save and send directions in Google Maps. 

This post was originally published on July 27, 2017 and has been updated in May 2023.

Travel Photographer | FAA Certified Drone Pilot

Naomi is the coffee-loving, crazy-about-Latin-America writer and photographer behind everything here. She's guided by curiosity and a belief that every place has a story to tell–whether it’s through the intricate details of nature, history that has shaped a culture, or the people who call a place home. Learn More

How to Plan A Trip With Google Maps in 4 Easy Steps

by  Annie  

Published:  March 8, 2022

Google Maps is a powerful tool that can help you save time when you’re putting the pieces of your next adventure together. My personal maps are full of places I want to visit and I create custom maps for my clients when helping with their itineraries. Learning how to plan a trip with Google Maps is super easy and, when you're done, you’ll have everything you need right at your fingertips while you’re out exploring!

There are a number of ways to customize your Google Maps . You can add routes between destinations, color code your location pins, and create multiple layers so you can change what you see on the map. In this article, you’ll see how to do each of these with simple steps and screenshots so you can easily follow along. Below are the basic steps you’ll use to plan a trip with Google Maps. 

How to Plan a Trip With Google Maps in 4 Steps

Create bookmarks regularly. Add them to your “Favorites”, “Want to Go”, “Travel Plans”, or “Starred Places” list or create a new list.

Create a custom map for your trip by going to Your Places > Maps > Create Map. 

Add the starting point for your trip to the custom map. Then add your next destination and the driving route. Do this until all destinations are added to the map. 

Create new layers for each destination and bookmark sights, accommodations, restaurants, etc. Customize each type with a color and icon so it’s easy to see. 

Download your custom map in your Google Maps app and have a great time!

*** This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the link, I receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps me keep the lights on around here. 🙂 I ONLY recommend products and services I personally use and love. * **

Tips for Customizing Your Google Maps

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly coming across new places you want to visit! Maybe it’s a pretty picture on Instagram, a destination you read about, or a place you saw in a movie. You want to make sure you don’t forget them so start bookmarking them in your Google Maps!  

The images below will show you how to create bookmarks for the places you want to visit. You can put them all on the same list or make customized lists to organize them however you want. I put all of mine in the “Starred Places” list and then organize them when I’m making a custom map for a destination, which we'll cover in a bit.

This is what it looks like when you add bookmark places on your Google Maps.

When it’s time to plan a trip with Google Maps, you’ll already have a head start if you’ve been bookmarking spots! When you’re deciding where to go and how much time to spend, you’ll be able to see if there are places in the area that you’re already interested in visiting. It’s also helpful to add bookmarks as you’re researching your destinations so the highlights are already on your map when you arrive. 

Planning an Itinerary With Google Maps

One of the hardest parts of putting together a trip is choosing a route and timeline. It’s one of the travel planning elements I help clients with most often. You can use Google Maps to show your different options in one place and get a picture of your trip! For the rest of this article, we’re going to say we have two weeks to spend on a trip and that will start in Berlin, Germany and end in Prague, Czechia. 

Choose a starting point. There are few ways to choose where to start your trip -- find a cheap flight to a destination you’re excited about, use these questions to help you narrow down your bucket list, or choose based on what type of indie traveler you are and the experience you want to have. 

Brainstorm routes. Look at the map and bookmark or make a list of places you’d like to visit along the way. You can make a loop if you want to start and end in the same place, or choose another destination to fly home from and choose stops along the way. You can also choose somewhere to base yourself and take day trips from there! I recommend planning at least 2-3 nights in each place, if you have multiple stops. Packing up and moving every single day gets old! 

Step 1 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Create A Custom Map

Google Maps lets you create your own maps! Create a custom map (screenshots below) and then we'll start putting in the routes from your brainstorming session. You can change the name of your map and add a description if you’re going to be sharing it with others later.

Start by searching for your beginning destination and adding it to your map. Click on the “directions to here” icon to start building your first route.

Step 2 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Add Your Major Stops

Now you’re ready to finish building your first route! Continue adding places along with the driving directions. As you continue to add places and directions, you can drag them up or down to put them in any order you’d like. Google Maps will adjust the routes to match the order of destinations. Unfortunately, you can only choose driving directions and not public transportation but this will give you an idea of distance and travel time between stops.

Once your first route is built, create your next route using the same steps. Click on your starting point again and when you add driving directions, it will begin a new layer for you to create another route.

Once you’ve created the additional routes, you’ll see them all on the map at once. You can choose to turn a route on or off by clicking the checkmark next to the name of that layer. Rename the layer by clicking on the three dots at the end of the name.

You can see the step-by-step driving directions, distance, and driving time between destinations for each route. Click on the three dots at the end of the name and choose “step-by-step directions”. At the top, you’ll see the total distance and drive time for your route. Next to each major stop, you’ll see the information between the current stop and the next.

Once you’ve chosen a route for your trip, it’s time to create a customized map for each stop along the way!

Step 3 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Add Destination Info

One of the other great features that helps you plan a trip with Google Maps is the ability to color code and customize sights, restaurants, etc. Your original starting point will still be on the map, making it easy to get started. Start by deleting the city marker because you’ve already built your routes.

Now we’re going to add in the places we want to visit in our destination. Start by renaming the layer to match the destination so it's easy to see which city you’re viewing. Search for each attraction, restaurant, etc. in the search bar and add it to the layer. Adding similar places together will make them easier to customize as a group. We’ll start with museums so you can see what that looks like.

To customize the color and icon, hover over the place and click on the paint bucket you see at the end.

Choose the color and icon (click on “more icons” to see additional options) you want. If you choose an item from “more icons” you’ll see it there when you customize the next one, making it quick and easy to use it on similar places.

You can do as much or as little of this as you like. You can drag items up and down to put them in any order you want. Once you’ve finished adding places to your map, you’re ready to share and download! To share your map with others, simply click on the share option next to “Add Layer” and choose the settings you want. 

Download the map onto your phone by going to your Google Maps App. Click on “Saved” (the little bookmark) and choose “Maps” at the bottom. This will pull up customized maps you’ve created. Choose the one you want to see and you’ll see your map in addition to the usual Google Maps.

Step 4 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Outline Your Itinerary

Now that you have your route selected and a personalized map of your destinations, it’s time to nail down your itinerary. Start by deciding your “must see'' places. These are the spots you’re not willing to leave the destination without visiting. This is the hard part, my friend! You’re not going to see it all so make peace with that now. It’s okay. You’ll either go back or go somewhere new, but there’s no way to see every single thing unless you’re going to spend weeks or months in a place. 

Your custom map will help you decide how many days to plan for each stop. I recommend no more than two major attractions in a day. Yes, you can see more, but you will want some unplanned time to wander aimlessly, get a coffee in the cute little cafe you find in the morning, or have a picnic in the park. I promise, many of your most memorable moments will come from the things you didn’t plan. Leave room for the magic to find you instead of running from one thing to the next.  

When you plan a trip with Google Maps you’ll have everything right at your fingertips. Once you finish at one of your “must see” spots, check your map to see what else is nearby. Walking from place to place is a great way to see more of your destination too!

Now that you know how to plan a trip with Google Maps, have fun with it! On the weekends, I love to get a cup of coffee and see what kind of amazing itineraries I can dream up with this tool. Yes, I’m a travel nerd through and through! 🙂

If you’ve enjoyed this article, sign up for emails so you’ll know when I publish new ones! While it does take some time and effort to put your own international trips together, there are some additional tips and resources that can make it easier. Below are some of the most popular articles to help with travel planning!

• 7 Tips for Finding Cheap Flights to Anywhere You Want to Go
• 5 Different Types of Accommodations that Can Save You Money on Your Next Trip
• How to Plan a Travel Budget + Tips to Save Money on Indie Travel
• Planning A Europe Trip: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Trip You’ll Love

If you don’t have the time to plan every single bit of your trip or would like to get insight on your plans, check out these consulting services created specifically for indie travelers like you. I’d love to stay connected! You can find me on Instagram and Facebook too. If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around!

Now get out there. The world is waiting for you!

Did you learn anything new about Google Maps in this article? What are some of your favorite tools for planning itineraries and mapping your travel routes?

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How to make flexible travel plans: 5 tips to save time & money, how i found cheap flights to peru: see the research, routes, and prices.

About the author 

Fun Lover. Food Eater. Bold Explorer. Big Dreamer. Annie is a fiercely independent traveler who loves to create unique and interesting experiences. She thrives on finding the magical moments and hidden gems waiting around every corner. Her passion for helping others make their travel dreams come true fuels her work as a travel planner, consultant, educator, and community builder.

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That was a super helpful post, Annie.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

I love Google Maps and it’s such a Godsend while traveling! That said, you’ve given me some new insight into other neat features – I had no idea you could customize the color of the icons!

I totally agree! Google Maps has made getting around new cities SO much easier. I’m glad you learned some new tricks too. 🙂

Wow, Annie, this is so helpful and detailed. I use Google Maps for all my trip planning and thought I knew a good bit but you just blew my basic knowledge out of the water and I love that! I had no idea every little detail could be customized. I will be coming back to go through this as I finish my next trip. I appreciate the step-by-step instructions, it will ensure what I learn sticks with me! Thanks for sharing!

Ah, I’m so glad it was helpful! I love to play with all the fun features in Google Maps. Have fun! 🙂

I never could figure out how to use Google Maps to make up my itineraries- thanks for the clear instructions.

You’re so welcome! I’m glad they were helpful. 🙂

So how do you add saved locations (from Favorites or Travel plans lists) to the map?

If you search for the place on Google Maps, you’ll see a little bookmark icon that says “Save”. If you click on that, you can add it to a pre-made list or create a custom one of your own! 🙂

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10 Best Travel TRIP PLANNER APPs To Have in 2024

In a fast-paced world where the stress of work and school is overwhelming, we all need a break to de-stress our minds. Traveling is one good way to take your mind off of stressful things – a breather. And a scheduled vacation gives you something to look forward to.

Whether it’s a local trip alone, a family holiday, or a getaway with your best friends, it just excites you to wish the day would come faster. 

10 Best Trip Planner Apps in 2024

The freeform app.

• TripIt: Travel Planner

Hopper – Flight & Hotel Deals

• Sygic Travel Maps Trip Planner

Roadtrippers: Trip Planner

Tripadvisor, travelspend: track travel expense & trip budget, tripcase – travel organizer app, travel planning apps for your next trip.

The Freeform app is an endless whiteboard that lets users add information from a variety of websites, photos, videos and files.

Because the boards are kept in iCloud, they can be accessed from any device anytime inspiration hits. While you and your travel companions plan your dream trip, the specifics can be shared with several individuals working together on the same whiteboard, making them an ongoing work in progress.

The Freeform app is free to iPhone users on iOS 16.2, iPad users on 16.2, and Mac users on Ventura MacOS Venture 13.1. 

Download the brand-new app here .

Read our full post: Apple Launches New Travel App Freeform – What to Know

Wanderlog Trip Planner App

Wanderlog is your all-in-one destination for planning future trips, sharing travel guides, and blogging past trips.

Its trip planning features are incredibly flexible: you can research destinations and activities, organize reservations by connecting your email, and map out a day itinerary with start/end times. You can also add notes and links all throughout.

Everything is stored offline so you can access your itinerary when traveling abroad. For road trips, it calculates the time and distance between places and exports them to Google Maps (and there are no limits to the number of stops you have on a trip!).

Plus, there’s a fun social component: collaborate with friends on itineraries, write your own travel guide, and blog about past trips. Wanderlog is available on the web and on your smartphone, so you can seamlessly plan while at home and on-the-go.

iOS  /  Android

TripIt: Trip Planner App

If you need any help organizing the dozens of itineraries, TripIt is the app for you. Users simply need to forward your flight, hotel, restaurant, and car rental confirmation emails to [email protected] and the app will create a free master doc for each of your trips. The best thing about this app is that you can get access to your itinerary anywhere, even without an internet connection. 

In addition, the Pro version will find you alternative routes for canceled flights and send out notifications for delayed flights, cancellations, and more from the airlines. 

iOS / Android

Rome2rio is a versatile travel planning app that simplifies the process of finding and booking travel options. It’s a handy tool for travelers seeking to explore various transportation choices between destinations. Rome2rio offers users a comprehensive view of travel options, including flights, trains, buses, ferries, and even driving directions.

Key features of Rome2rio include:

• Route Information: The app provides detailed information on different routes, including estimated travel times, costs, and the number of transfers required.
• Booking Integration: Users can book flights, train tickets, and other transportation options directly through the app, streamlining the booking process.
• Map Integration: Rome2rio integrates with maps, allowing users to visualize their travel routes and explore nearby attractions.
• Multi-Modal Travel: It offers options for combining various modes of transportation, making it easy to plan complex journeys.
• Accurate Pricing: The app provides real-time pricing information, helping users make informed decisions based on their budget.
• Offline Access: Rome2rio offers offline access to previously searched routes, which can be handy when traveling without a data connection.

Hopper is an amazing trip planner app to have on your phone. The app predicts airfares up to 1 year in advance, with 95% accuracy. It analyzes over billions of flight prices and hotels within the day – telling you whether to book your trip now or wait for just a little longer.

Here’s how it works: Key in your destination and a color-coded calendar will display the cheapest and most expensive date to fly. The app will then recommend you to either book the flight now or sit it out and wait for airfare to get cheaper. Also, you can filter predictions to custom-fit your trip – remove long layovers, extra fees, restrictions, and more. 

And if you worry about missing out the cheap flight bookings, don’t be! Hopper will send you a notification when fares have dropped to its lowest point.

SYGIC Travel Maps Trip Planner

Sygic Travel Maps , the new version of Sygic Trip Planner, is the first travel app to display all of the attractions and places a traveler needs to see and visit on a single map.

Sync your trips with the Sygic Travel app and find hidden gems in all cities you visit. The app boast a large database that allows you to find the best hotels, tourist attractions, museums, restaurants, bars, and stores wherever you go.

This mobile app also let you download offline maps and guides, which come in helpful when traveling to remote locations with poor or non-existing Wi-Fi.

It also has a dedicated section to worldwide places of interest for travel business. Get location information for individual cities, countries, continents, or the entire planet.

The app is available in 18 languages.

iOS / Android iOS

Planning on a cross-country road trip ? Roadtrippers is the app for you! Not everyone is fond of waiting long hours at the airport while sitting through your red-eye flight. Hit the road with your friends instead.

Roadtrippers provides everything you need to know on your road trip. Just enter your starting point, destination, and let the app do its work for you! From camping sites to rest stops, outdoor activities, exciting adventures along the way that you didn’t know existed. This app is the perfect buddy for your road trip regardless of your mode of transportation – a sedan, a rental car, or a huge family RV.

Most of us dream of going to places! But planning an amazing trip to places we have not been to is pretty hard as you don’t know where to stay, what to do, places to eat, and adventures to try. We mostly rely on recommendations, most of which are not even right, that we find online. 

TripAdvisor has over millions of travel recommendations on hotels, top dining spots, must-do experiences, and treasured gems to over 8 million destinations at your perusal. It is an all-in-one app that lets you book tables at restaurants and compares low prices on hotels and flights.

You can also follow friends and travel experts for advice that match your interests, watch videos, and read articles. In return, you can share your experiences, reviews, and helpful guides for other users too!

Setting up a budget for your trip is easy, however, sticking to it is hard. TravelSpend will help you with that. It starts with entering your budget and expenses over multiple days so you don’t go overboard. The app helps you in sticking to your budget effectively.

Being in another country is not a problem at all: enter your expenses in any currency and the app will automatically convert it to your home currency.

Track your travel expenses whether going on a solo around-the-world trip or backpacking holiday with your best friends. The app allows you to share your trip with your friends and track your expenses together. Pay debts, split bills, and check your balances – all in the app!

TripCase, a comprehensive travel organizer app, has emerged as a popular choice among travelers seeking a streamlined and efficient way to manage their journey details.

Here’s a breakdown of its key features and functionalities:

Centralized Itinerary Management : TripCase allows users to consolidate all their travel details, including flights, hotels, and car rentals, into a single, easily accessible itinerary.

Real-time Flight Alerts : The app keeps travelers informed with up-to-the-minute notifications on flight statuses, including delays, cancellations, and gate changes.

Itinerary Sharing : TripCase offers a sharing option that enables users to send their travel plans to friends, family, or colleagues.

Travel Directions and Maps : To aid navigation in unfamiliar locations, the app provides directions and maps.

Nearby Recommendations : TripCase offers recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other services close to the traveler’s location.

Document Storage : For added convenience, the app allows users to store essential travel documents digitally, ensuring that important information like passport details, visas, and insurance policies are readily available.

Customizable Notifications : Users can customize their notification preferences, choosing what types of alerts they receive and how they are notified, tailoring the app to suit individual needs and preferences.

iOS / Android 

Hi, great List. I couldn’t travel without my Apps! I have one App you could check out =) Its called ” ATM Fee Saver” and it gives a list with all ATMs and their fees and limit. I found it super helpful and it really helped me to save some money. Best regards, Charlotte

Thank you for your suggestions! Those apps are very useful and various

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7 Free Travel Planning AI and ChatGPT Apps to Get an Instant Itinerary

Quick links.

• PLAN by ixigo
• Trip Planner AI
• Vacay Chatbot
• Layla, Wonderplan, and PLAN by ixigo are AI travel planning apps with customizable itineraries.
• iplan.ai offers detailed itineraries for popular tourist cities based on interests and budget.
• Curiosio plans road trips on all continents, while Trip Planner AI helps with activity selection and cost estimation.

You can tell a travel agent your preferred dates, the place you want to visit, and your budget, and expect a full itinerary of what to do there based on your preferences. But can AI do the same job?

These free travel planning apps use AI and machine-learning tools like ChatGPT to prepare an itinerary for you in a few seconds, and we took them for a spin.

Layla describes itself as an AI trip planner, meaning you can use it to decide your vacation destination, create itineraries, and find suitable hotels and flights.

If you are uncertain about your destination or would like suggestions, you can ask Layla for advice regarding your trip. Otherwise, enter your destination and ask Layla to create your itinerary. Within a few seconds, you'll get a detailed plan for your trip.

As Layla is a chatbot, you can enter a prompt to ask it to change your itinerary. For instance, ask it to focus more on outdoor activities or include local restaurants. If you're unsatisfied with the activities planned on any particular day, you can give instructions and ask Layla to regenerate that part only.

Once you've perfected your itinerary, you can share it with your friends via a URL or add it to your bucket list.

2. Wonderplan

Wonderplan is a wonderful AI tool for planning your trip. To create your itinerary, Wonderplan first asks you to enter your destination country and city, your budget, the number of days you'll be staying, and your interests.

It then creates a travel plan within a few minutes, displaying various places to visit, their descriptions, and the time usually spent at each location. Although Wonderplan doesn't show the trip map, it does provide a link to Google Maps for each place.

It also displays different types of accommodation available (like Airbnb, hotel, or hostel) and their respective costs. Similarly, there are details about transportation, food, and activities. This way, you can estimate the potential cost of your trip.

In addition to your itinerary, Wonderplan also shows essential information about the country you're visiting. These include the currency conversion rate, electricity plug type, languages spoken, weather, and popular conveyances.

3. PLAN by ixigo

PLAN by ixigo starts by asking you about your dream destination. Then, it provides an option to describe the type of experience you want to have. This is just like a ChatGPT prompt, so you can enter anything you wish.

For example, you can specify the duration of your stay, your interests, the kinds of activities you're looking for, whether you have a family with you, and so on.

But if you can't think of any prompts, PLAN by ixigo provides a few trip ideas, so you can always select those. PLAN by ixigo then shows a day-wise plan, showing what you can do in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

However, if the suggested itinerary doesn't sound appealing, you can again enter a prompt to edit it.

4. iplan.ai

While iplan.ai doesn't mention which AI or machine-learning algorithm it uses, the results are fantastic enough to gloss over that. The app works beautifully on phones to give you a full itinerary for any one city at a time, depending on how many days you have there.

The app first asks you to name the destination city. As far as we checked, iplan.ai works best for popular tourist cities, not offbeat or obscure travel. Next, note how many days you will be there, and then choose your free time each day—a cool step to ensure a better itinerary if you already have some plans, but not a whole days worth.

Tell iplan.ai if you're traveling solo, as a couple, with family, or with friends, and then choose your interest among topics like history, art and culture, nature, entertainment, shopping, food, sports, relaxing, etc. Finally, choose between an economy, normal, or luxury budget.

After a few minutes, iplan.ai gives you a day-wise itinerary for your trip. It's plotted on a map so you can see all the locations, and each point of interest has a brief description along with estimated travel time.

The app has both free and paid plans. With a paid account, you can share the trip plan with your friends and access it offline. Another limitation of iplan.ai is that you can't get an itinerary for a multi-city trip. For now, you'll need to make a plan for each city you're visiting, one at a time.

Download: iplan.ai for Android | iOS (Free, Paid)

5. Curiosio

The easiest last-minute travel plan is to get into a car and drive. Curiosio specializes in helping you plan an itinerary for a road trip to several major countries on all continents. It doesn't cover every single place, but the existing collection is impressive enough.

Curiosio uses its own AI engine, Ingeenee, which is trained on several crowdsourced travel-based resources, such as Wikivoyage, Wikipedia, Wikidata, Freebase, DBpedia, GeoNames, OSMNames, and OpenStreetMap. Through this dataset, it can chart an itinerary that meets your requirements across various parameters.

You can set options for a round trip or a one-way trip with starting and finishing points. If there are any places you want to visit on the way, add them in. Then set the number of travelers, dates of the journey, what vehicle you're using, total budget, and whether you want to visit places that spark curiosity or are obscure. The AI will usually give you multiple plans and routes for these options.

The itinerary includes a map of your route and a day-wise breakdown of where you'll be going and what you'll be seeing. Each point of interest is clickable to find more information about it. There are easy ways to share your itinerary with co-travelers, print it out, or even export it to Google Maps. Curiosio is one of the best road trip planners for your next adventure .

6. Trip Planner AI

Trip Planner AI plans a perfect trip to your dream destination. Begin creating your itinerary by entering the city you wish to visit and traveling dates. You can add multiple destinations here.

Then, select the kinds of activities you prefer, the number of people, and whether you're traveling with friends or family. Trip Planner AI asks you about your dietary preferences and budget.

As an optional step, you can specify the place where you'll be staying so that it creates an itinerary accordingly. If you haven't decided on your lodging yet, you can explore hotels suggested by Trip Planner AI.

Finally, Trip Planner AI generates a detailed itinerary, a map, and basic information about the city you're visiting. For each destination, it provides the details of the place, expected traveling time, and cost. Though it provides a complete plan for your trip, you can manually add or remove activities from your itinerary. You can also invite your friends to edit the itinerary and download it as a PDF.

7. Vacay Chatbot

Vacay Chatbot is not a dedicated itinerary maker but an AI chatbot that acts like your travel advisor. So, you can ask it to give travel recommendations, compare different destinations, and, of course, create an itinerary. If you've previously used AI chatbots like ChatGPT, you'll find this trip planner easy to use.

Just enter a prompt specifying your destination and trip details and ask Vacay Chatbot to create an itinerary. You can include details like your trip duration, budget, preferences, number of travelers, etc. The more details you provide, the better your itinerary will be.

One of the downsides of using Vacay Chatbot is that it doesn't provide a map for your trip. However, you can use these apps to plot your itinerary on a map .

All these travel planning AI apps urge you not to use the itinerary as-is and only treat it as a template or guide to begin planning your trip. This is because they currently have several limitations, like databases that aren't recently updated or require specific prompts from the user.

A real human travel agent will still give you a more customized itinerary, but it will cost you a few bucks. If you want a free base guide, more basic travel planning apps are a good starting point.

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Google Maps and Search gain new features to help you travel sustainably

Published on April 17, 2024

• Maps will soon provide public transit and walking suggestions next to driving routes if the travel times are comparable and practical.
• Search is expanding a feature for finding information on long-distance train routes and adding support for buses.
• Maps will also introduce a few features to help you find chargers for your EV.

Google is about to introduce a bevy of new features to Maps and Search. These new features are centered around making sustainable travel easier for everybody.

Today, Google announced some updates to Maps and Search will be coming soon. These features range from eco-friendly travel suggestions to electric vehicle (EV) charger placement and more.

One of the updates coming to Maps will help the user find alternative travel options that produce fewer carbon emissions. Said to be landing in the coming weeks, this feature will allow Maps to provide public transit and walking suggestions next to driving routes. This feature will be available in 15 cities including: Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Montreal, Paris, Rome, and Sydney.

On a related note, Google says it is expanding a feature in Search that allows a user to see schedules, tickets, and links to complete bookings on the results page for long-distance train routes. This feature will now be available in 38 countries, such as Australia, Japan, Greece, and more. In addition, the firm is adding support for long-distance bus trips as well, which will be available in:

As for flying, Google is making it easier to see the carbon emissions created by your flight. The company plans to make travel impact model (TIM) insights — which provide emission estimates — available as a developer API that can be applied on any website or app. This will also be available as a Google Sheets add-on and a calculator on the TIM website.

Moving on to EVs, Maps is getting some features that make it easier to find chargers. Google says in the coming months, the app will start showing AI-powered summaries that describe where a charger is located in an area, like a multi-level parking lot. On top of that, Google is adding the ability to see chargers on the in-car map, joined by information like real-time port availability and charging speed. This is expected to roll out globally in the coming months, starting with vehicles that have Google built-in.

The final two features deal with planning your trip with your EV. Last year, Google debuted a feature that shows drivers the best charging locations for EVs with Google built-in. The company is now expanding that feature for multi-stop trips. Along with this, google.com/travel will now display hotels that offer EV chargers.

If you’re trying to lower your carbon footprint, these features should come as a welcomed addition to Maps and Search.

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Google announces new features for travel.

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Google has announced several new features for Google Maps and Google Search aimed at helping people find less carbon-intensive ways of traveling and commuting.

One of the key additions is a new EV filter on google.com/travel, enabling users to locate hotels that offer onsite EV charging facilities. Additionally, numerous updates have been made on Maps to facilitate the discovery of charging stations.

When planning a trip, users will now have access to suggested charging stops, forecasted energy consumption, and more.

Google Map EV Charger Stations Updates

Furthermore, in addition to the EV updates, Google Maps will now assist users in finding lower-carbon travel alternatives.

Highlights from Googles Press Release: More sustainable ways to commute & travel:

• Driving alternatives in Google Maps: When people look up driving directions, we’ll soon show a public transit or a walking suggestion next to driving routes, if travel times are comparable and practical (coming to 15+ cities).
• Trains & buses in Google Search: You can now see train schedules & ticket prices directly in Search, for rail travel in 38 countries around the world (including the US), as well as long-distance buses in 15 countries. This is an expansion of an existing feature.
• Train suggestions on Google Flights: In the months ahead, when you’re on Google Flights and there’s a reasonable rail alternative, you’ll see train route suggestions in the flight search results. This builds on similar suggestions we already show in Google Search for flight queries.
• Travel Impact Model: You can already see estimated emissions in Google Flights, powered by our Travel Impact Model methodology. Now, estimates from the Travel Impact Model are also available through a developer API , a Google Sheets extension and a calculator on the TIM website .

Electric vehicles:

• Google Maps (all features coming soon):
• EV Charging Station Pins: We’ll highlight nearby EV charging stations for in-car Maps, with information about station availability and charging speeds.
• AI-powered summaries for EV charging stations: AI summaries from user reviews will better help users pinpoint charging stations.
• Multi-waypoint EV trip planning: When users create a multi-stop trip, in-car Maps will suggest required charging stops.
• Google Search - Hotels:
• You can use the new EV filter on google.com/travel to find hotels that offer on-site EV charging. This is already live.

Bitcoin Suddenly Braced For A 35 Trillion Halving Price Earthquake

New google play biometrics warning issued to all android users, apple watch series 9 hits all time low special offer price.

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Fjords, Pharaohs or Koalas? Time to Plan for Your Next Eclipse.

If you can’t get enough of totality, or missed out this time, you’ll have three more chances in the next four years in destinations like Iceland, Spain, Egypt and Australia.

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By Danielle Dowling

Are you still a little giddy from the magical moments of totality during Monday’s solar eclipse? Or did clouds swoop in to block your view? Maybe you just couldn’t make it to the path of totality this time. No matter what, the question now is “ Where and when will it happen again?”

“People who have never seen it before, the first words out of their mouth after the totality ends is ‘I’ve got to see another one, this is incredible, this is unbelievable.’ That is when you become addicted to these things and end up traveling no matter where the next one is,” said Joseph Rao, an eclipse chaser and guest lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium.

So, if like Mr. Rao, you’ve developed a raging case of umbraphilia — the love of eclipses — you’ll have three chances over the next four years to see the moon blot out the sun. The first, on Aug. 12, 2026, will start above Greenland, then strafe the west coast of Iceland and move along the Atlantic Ocean and over Spain. Almost a year later, on Aug. 2, 2027, another will skirt the Mediterranean coast of North Africa then cross Egypt and part of the Arabian Peninsula. The third, on July 22, 2028, will cut across Australia and the southern tip of New Zealand.

Future Eclipses

Eclipse chasers will have several more chances this decade to view a total solar eclipse .

Last week, as Victoria Sahami , the owner of Sirius Travel , was preparing to guide a group of tourists in Mazatlán, Mexico, for Monday’s big event, she was also planning for these other upcoming eclipses. Ms. Sahami joined the ranks of the eclipse-obsessed when she witnessed one in Venezuela in the 1990s. “Like many people, I was hooked. There was no going back,” she said.

Total solar eclipses happen fairly regularly — about every one to two years — in locations scattered around the world. “That’s the great thing about them: You wind up in places that you don’t normally go,” Ms. Sahami said.

A major spoiler is weather, which will be a big variable in the 2026 eclipse — one Greenland, Iceland and Spain will see.

“Iceland normally has a lot of cloud during that time of year,” said Paul Maley , who runs Ring of Fire Expeditions . “The data shows Spain to have the higher good-weather prospects of all three. However, the sun is low in the sky and the eclipse ends as the sun hits the horizon at sunset.”

Because of Iceland’s mercurial meteorology, Ring of Fire Expeditions is going all in on Spain, with a 10-day excursion on the mainland. Sirius Travel is offering not only a five-day trip to Majorca but also an eight-day tour around Iceland. It will be based in Reykjavik, and the itinerary will remain flexible on the day of the eclipse so the tour can easily pivot toward the location with the least cloud cover. Ms. Sahami recommends the trip for those who already have a few eclipses under their belt and would be happy just to take in the sights of Iceland if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

The 2027 eclipse, on the other hand, promises to be truly stellar: Luxor, Egypt — the site of numerous ancient temples as well as the Valleys of the Kings and Queens — sits right in the middle of the path of totality and will be bathed in darkness for a full 6 minutes 23 seconds. Weather-wise, it is what Ms. Sahami called “a slam dunk.” “You know you’re going to see it. You know that you’re not going to get any clouds,” she said.

But for all its potential, those considering Egypt should be aware that the State Department has a Level 3 “Reconsider Travel” warning for the country because of the risk of terrorism.

The 2028 eclipse will darken the skies over Sydney, Australia, for 3 minutes 49 seconds. It will be the first time the city has experienced a total solar eclipse since 1857. Ms. Sahami has her eyes on a trip based out of there, while Mr. Maley has chartered a cruise ship off the northwest coast of Australia. It will be winter there, he said, but that isn’t likely to mean bad eclipse-viewing weather.

If you want to see any (or all) of these eclipses, you should get started on planning and booking now, particularly if you want to sign up for a trip organized by a tour company. One of Sirius Travel’s excursions to Luxor is already full.

Scrutinize refund policies and look into insuring your trip. Several companies will fully refund your deposit if you cancel a year in advance. A lot can happen, Ms. Sahami said, “but if you think you’re going to go, why not?”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Map reveals where new rail routes could be introduced across the UK

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New and more frequent rail services could be on the way for millions of Brits, as independent operators roll out plans to launch extra trains around the country.

The Scottish city of Stirling and Carmarthen in south-west Wales are among the places that may soon have direct links to London under proposals from prospective open-access company Grand Union Trains (GUT).

It’s just one of several operators hoping to fill gaps in timetables and give rail travel a boost – while also offering lower fares.

They’ve been backed by the UK government , which says the rise of open access gives customers more choice and increases passenger numbers.

Rail minister Huw Merriman said: ‘It’s not just a question of us having rail operators compete with each other.

‘There’s an opportunity for rail to take passengers that may otherwise fly or indeed drive.

‘Open access is such a positive.’

Mr Merriman added: ‘There’s no industrial action on open-access operators, perhaps because it’s a fresher way of working with the workforce rather than on an old rule book basis.’

During recent rail strikes, companies like Lumo and Grand Central have been able to continue running services due to their separate status.

GUT is also consulting on a possible service between Edinburgh and Cardiff. There is currently no direct route connecting the Scottish and Welsh capitals.

Other would-be open-access operators include Go-Op, which aims to run services between Taunton and both Weston-super-Mare and Swindon, and Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway, which hopes to create a route between London Euston and Wrexham.

Lumo also plans to extend its route between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh to reach Glasgow, while FirstGroup wants to launch a service between the same London terminus and Sheffield.

What is an open-access rail operator?

Most of the major rail operators in the UK are either owned or paid management fees by the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments.

LNER, Scotrail, CrossCountry, Avanti West Coast and many, many others fall into this category.

But the tracks can also be used by open-access operators, which set their own fares, take full commercial risk, and don’t receive any taxpayer-funded subsidies.

They include companies like Lumo, Grand Central, Heathrow Express, Eurostar and Hull Trains – with several more due to spring up soon.

Proponents say the availability of these other options increases competition which drives down fares.

But critics argue that the companies are simply taking advantage of a ‘false economy’, and it would be better for passengers if the large operators just simplified their timetables.

Grand Central managing director Ian Yeowart said: ‘It’s not only good for passengers – as whether (the operators) survive depends on how good they are and what their customers think – but there are no handouts from the government.

‘Like every other business, if people don’t like it and don’t come, it won’t survive.’

But Gareth Dennis, an engineer who writes about the rail industry, said open-access services should not be permitted in the UK because of the complexity of fitting the trains into already crammed timetables.

He said: ‘The argument on the Continent for open access operators is that they provide competition, but there’s no meaningful competition on a rail network that’s as saturated as ours.

‘What you need is a simple, repetitive timetable that moves huge numbers of people.’

Mr Dennis argued that the operators could charge lower fares because they use depots that exist for other companies and can recruit staff that had been trained already rather than training their own.

He added: ‘It’s a false economy really.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

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