google trip planning

How to use Google Maps as a trip planner and make a full itinerary

• You can use Google Maps as a trip planner through the "Places" and "My Maps" features.
• Both the Google Maps website and app let you save locations to lists, which you can then get immediate directions to.
• When getting directions, you can look up reviews and add multiple stops to your route.

Google Maps has become an essential part of any road trip. After all, it's a GPS, business directory, and reviews platform all-in-one.

But if you spend some time with it, you can integrate Google Maps even more seamlessly into your next vacation. Google Maps has a variety of features you can use to plan your trip and save any interesting spots you find on the way.

Here's how to make Google Maps your trip planner, using the Places feature, My Maps, and more.

How to use Google Maps as a trip planner

Use the 'places' feature to save points of interest.

Let's say you're traveling, and happen to stumble upon the cutest coffee shop you've ever seen. You want to visit, but don't have time right now — what's the best way to remember it?

Google Maps' Places feature can help you out. Both the Google Maps website and app let you save any location on the map to a list, which you can then easily find later.

1. Open Google Maps and click, tap, or search for the location that you want to save.

2. Find the Save icon , which has the icon of a bookmark. You'll find it right under the location's name, but you might need to swipe to find it in the mobile app.

3. Pick where you want to save the location to. You've got three lists to start with — Favorites , Starred places , and Want to go — but you can make a new one by tapping New list .

4. Once you've saved the location, you can find it again by opening the list. In the mobile app, tap Saved at the bottom of the screen; on the website, click the three stacked lines in the top-left and then Your places .

Tap on a location in your list to have the map jump straight to it.

Look at Google Reviews to find the best shops

Nearly every point of interest on Google Maps has a section for user reviews. Similar to sites like Yelp, these reviews can be a great way to see which stops are must-sees and which you can pass.

To check out reviews:

1. Open Google Maps and find the location that you're interested in.

2. At the top of its information page should be a star rating and a number, showing how many people have left reviews.

3. Scroll down until you hit the Reviews section, and you'll find reviews from other users who've visited the location. They'll include a star rating, a date, and occasionally a picture.

If you're interested in leaving a review of your own, check out our article on how to write Google reviews .

Make a custom My Maps page to share your road trip plan

Only available on a computer as of this month , Google's My Maps program lets you make a custom map or plot out a route with as many waypoints as you like, and then save and share it with others.

1. Head to the My Maps homepage and click Create a New Map .

2. You'll be given a world map. In the menu in the top-left, click the Untitled map name to give your map a name.

3. Use the search bar at the top of the page to find any location, then click Add to map to save it. You can add as many points of interest as you like.

4. You can also save multiple separate lists of locations to the same map; just click Add layer in the top-left menu.

5. To save directions between multiple locations, click the Add directions icon that looks like a curved arrow. It'll add a new layer that you can use to plot a path.

6. When you're done, click Share or Preview in the top-left window.

Add multiple stops to one trip

Driving from one city to another is simple. But if you want to make stops along the way — lunch, the beach, a mall — things get complicated.

Luckily, you don't need to start a new Google Maps route for every stop. You can create one navigation route that includes every stop from the start, giving you a clear way to see how long it'll all take.

1. Open the Google Maps app and start navigating to another location.

2. On the screen that lets you pick your starting and ending location, tap the three dot icon .

3. Select Add stop .

4. A third waypoint — labeled "B" — will appear. Tap it to choose your second destination, or drag it to reorder the waypoints.

On a computer

1. On the Google Maps app website, find a location and start getting directions to it.

2. Underneath the menu that lets you pick your starting and ending location, click Add destination . 

3. A new field will appear. Enter your third waypoint.

4. Once you pick a new waypoint, you'll be able to click Add destination again and pick another one, as well as reorder them.

You can add up to nine destinations on both the website and mobile app.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

• Main content

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

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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 87,891 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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• 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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How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner

With so many different travel apps and websites available, it’s now easier than ever to keep yourself organized while planning a trip. One of my favorite tools to use, regardless of where I’m going, is Google Maps Trip Planner. 

If you’re the type of person that gets easily overwhelmed when putting together an itinerary , you’ll want to follow this step-by-step guide which details exactly how I use it. Google Maps Trip Planner is not only a highly-visual way to get your bearings of an area, but it’s extremely useful for figuring out where you can realistically travel to during the duration of your trip.

It’s a fantastic way to use Google Maps for multiple stops in a single itinerary , and also comes in handy if you’ve received a TON of recommendations from friends, because you can add destination after destination, and then refer back to the map as you’re out and about exploring.

For example: if you’re visiting NYC and find yourself in Soho looking for a cute cocktail spot , rather than endlessly scrolling through Yelp or TripAdvisor, you’ll be able to pull out your trip planner to see if you’re near places that your friends have recommended! It’s also a particularly handy tool to use when creating a road trip itinerary.

Here’s the step-by-step outline that we’ll go over:

• Create a new Google map for your destination.
• Choose categories for your map.
• Start adding your locations and ideas.
• Customize and color-code your map.
• Decide which activities to group together.
• Plan your day-by-day itinerary.
• Download the Google Maps app on your phone.
• Share your map with friends.

This will all make more sense once I walk you through everything with screengrabs.

Whether you’re thinking about a girlfriends getaway or a honeymoon , Google Maps Trip Planner will be a game changer for you. Take my word for it! Here’s a step-by-step guide to using Google Maps to coordinate your next getaway — with a completely flawless travel plan.

How to Use Google Maps Trip Planner

1. make a new google map..

To get started, you’ll need to create a new Google Map by visiting this link .

It will take you to the main maps page, which you’ve likely seen before. (Make sure you’re logged into a Google account, and if you don’t already have one, you can sign up for free here .)

Once you’re signed in, simply click on the three bars icon in the top left corner and select “Your Places” from the menu.

Next, you’ll want to click on “Maps” in the far right corner of the menu.

You won’t see anything listed yet, unless you’ve created a map previously.

Click “Create Map” (which is at the bottom of the menu.)

After that, you’ll be directed to an untitled map that you’ll want to name and add a description to.

Do this by clicking on “Untitled Map” and a text box will appear and allow you to fill out this information. Remember to be as specific as possible so you stay organized throughout the entire planning process.

2. Categorize Your Map.

Create a list of all the things you want to spend your time doing on your trip. Here are the categories I typically use:

• Restaurants & Bars
• Cities & Towns (this is good if you’re road-tripping or visiting multiple destinations during a single trip)
• Hotels (I’d only use this category if you’re staying in more than one)
• Activities (beaches, hikes, Instagram spots, etc)

Now that you have your category ideas solidified, you’ll create a “layer” for each one by clicking on the “Add Layer” button on the left hand-side of your screen.

Be sure to name each individual layer by clicking on “Untitled Layer” text box, just like you did when you first named your map. I named my first layer “Hotels” as an example.

More: How I Use Points & Miles to Travel for Free

3. Add Your Ideas to the Google Map.

If you’re planning a trip to a destination you’ve been thinking about visiting for a while, it’s likely that you already have some things on your bucket list, whether it be from friends, bloggers, travel sites, or Instagram.

This is your chance to put those thoughts in one organized space and see which ones you’ll be able to make time for. (Shameless plug: I have guides for Tokyo , Maui , New York City , Thailand , Mykonos , Santorini , Positano , Miami , St Barths , and more. Feel free to use them for inspiration should you be heading to any of these locations!)

To add an idea you have for your trip, click on the layer (the category) that you want to add a location marker to.

For example, I added this hotel to my map by checking the box on my “Hotels” layer and then typing the hotel name into the search bar. When the place you’re searching for pops up on the menu, click “Add to Map” and you’ll see that a marker is placed on the map. You’ll also notice that the name of the location is added underneath the layer description on the left side of the screen.

• If you accidentally put a location into the wrong layer: not to worry. You can easily drag the location and drop it into the correct category.
• If the place you’re searching for doesn’t auto-populate: it’s probably because Google hasn’t made a location for it yet. But don’t fret! You can just as easily add that spot to your map by typing the address into the search bar and writing the location name manually.

Need some trip inspiration? Check out my travel guides, go-to airport looks, and carry-on essentials here.  

4. Customize Your Map.

One of the best ways to keep things visually organized is by color-coding your markers by their category.

To do this, click on the paint bucket that’s located at the bottom of the location marker’s pop-up window.

You can also add additional notes about a location (i.e. “LindsaySilb’s favorite bar; order their signature Bloody Mary) or write down other ideas that you have for that place by clicking on the pencil icon directly next to the paint bucket.

To remove an idea from your trip, just click the trash can icon that’s on the same panel.

There are a number of ways to use color coding:

• For example, you could mark all the restaurants that were on your “Must Visit” list in red, the ones you’d like to go to in yellow, and the ones you would stop by if you have the time in green. This will help you make sure that you get everything checked off of your “must-see” and “must-do” list first.
• For example, pricier sit-down restaurants can be marked in blue, while casual “grab and go” places could be labeled in green.
• You might have just one layer named “Activities” but instead of color coding all those places green, for example, you could mark the museums in purple, mark parks in blue, and stores in gray.

Pro tip: Even if you don’t want to color code everything, I recommend changing the default color from blue to something brighter, like red or yellow. In my experience, the blue location markers can be a bit hard to find on the map.

When you’re done organizing your categories, hit the save button and you’ll notice that they all show up underneath their accompanying layer.

Each location should be saved along with its phone number, address, and website information. This is super helpful because if you decide you want to make a reservation at a restaurant or purchase tickets to a theater show, you have all the tools you need to get there in one space.

5. Decide Which Activities to Group Together.

At this stage, you’ll be able to see a zoomed-out version of the map, with all of your points of interest plotted.

This might help you make decisions about which neighborhood to stay in, which hotel to book (if you’ve been debating between a few), which restaurants you can walk to, or which activities should be grouped together.

It’s nice to see your entire itinerary on a map and use a process of elimination approach to determine which pitstops make the most sense on which days. Seeing things on a map also makes it easier to keep track of the amount of time you’ll need to dedicate to get from place to place.

6. Plan Your Day-by-Day Itinerary.

I like to create a Google Doc that has a little outline of each day of the trip. I also use the doc as the place to store hotel confirmation numbers, car rental info, and flight info.

If you’re planning on driving when you get to your destination, you can easily pull up directions to your first stop by clicking on the arrow icon on the bottom of the pop-up’s panel.

This will automatically create a new layer on the left side of your screen with the location’s name on it. You’ll need to type in your starting location, like the airport, in the text box above it that’s labeled “A” and then click on the icon with the three dots to get step-by-step driving directions.

7. Download Google Maps on Your Phone & Log In.

Finally, to make the map you created accessible on your phone while you’re traveling, you’ll need to have Google Maps downloaded if you don’t already.

Then, be sure to sign in with the same Google account that you used to first create the map. Once you’re signed in, go to “Your Places,” and scroll to the last tab on the right called “Maps.”

8. Share Your Map with Friends and Travel Buddies.

One of the best parts about using Google Maps Trip Planner is being able to share the map. If you’re traveling with a group, sharing the map ahead of time will ensure that everyone is on the same page about where things are located.

And better yet, after you’ve returned from your trip, you now have a full list of everything that you can share with friends who are headed to that location.

To share the map on desktop, simply open the map like you’ve done previously. You’ll notice the “share” button directly underneath the title of your map. Click it, and you’ll have the option to share via Twitter, Facebook, or email.

To share the map on mobile, open the Google Maps app, then click the three bars > your places > maps. Select your preferred map, then select “View Map Legend,” and finally click share. You’ll be able to share your map via text, airdrop, Facebook, Twitter, email etc.

If you’re feeling particularly generous, I recommend going back into the map and adding notes about places that you went, what to order there, places that were worth skipping, etc. Your friends will thank you for it!

The verdict? This tool is a travel game changer .

Rather than sifting through an endless number of routes on Google Maps each time you want to go somewhere, using this process will help you streamline all of your travels. You can put together so many trip itineraries by using Google Maps Trip Planner, and it honestly offers the perfect way to plan a road trip.

Are there other apps or hacks that you use to plan trips? I’d love to hear about them. Drop your suggestions in the comments below.

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10 comments.

I do that all the time Lindsay! Since 2009, believe it or not! I always add a google maps to my travel posts so that people can follow exactly what I did. It’s so helpful!

This is the best thing ever! I love Google maps for making places I want to go but they were always just on my”normal” map and it really bothered me that I couldn’t colour code. I won’t be doing any work today I’m the office, just rearranging my whole maps! Thank you for this amazing tip & detailed guide!

Lindsay Silberman

yay!! So happy you found it helpful!

I had no idea about this, wow!!!! Incredible. Thank you, Lindsay 🙂

I love this and the Visit a City app, which figures out the grouping for you!

This was a great write up explaining the how to… only thing missing is multiple people cannot edit the map.

Actually, multiple people can edit: Just share your map with editor rights

How can you share the map with editor rights? I’m trying to do this right now, and I can’t quite figure it out! Thank you!!

How do you view all maps at once ?

love this tutorial!! thank you

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Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools

• Updated: 10/28/2023

Google offers a suite of travel planning tools to help you travel better. These tools will make your life easier by saving you time and money and keeping you more organized at every stage of your trip. 

Learn which tool to use and its special travel planning features in the sections below. 

Table Of Contents

Overview: 8 Tools for Better Trip Planning

These eight Google trip planning tools are free, easy to use, and sync seamlessly across devices for excellent on-the-go access anytime and anyplace. Use them for their wide-ranging and flexible travel features.

• Google Maps . More than driving directions—create custom lists and maps.
• Google Explore . Discover where to go anywhere in the world for your budget and dates. 
• Google Flights . Research flights and track price changes for most airlines.
• Google Hotels . More than a hotel search engine—learn the best neighborhoods to stay and ideal times to visit.
• Google Things to Do . Search for top sights, attractions, and activities for any destination.
• Google Chrome . Keep track of trip-related websites across devices.
• Google Docs . Use for itineraries and mobile note-keeping.
• Google Calendar . Schedule bookings and create shared calendars.

Google Maps

If you plan to use any Google tool to help with travel planning, use this one. Its functionality far exceeds driving and walking directions . Use it to create your own custom destination information and route plans in shareable lists and maps called “My Maps.”

See examples of a custom Google Maps list for Saugatuck, Michigan, and a “My Map” for the top things to do near San Ignacio, Belize, below.

How to use this map:  In the map header, click the square tab to the left of my logo or click the enlarge frame to the right to view detail. You can save the map to “Your Places” on Google Maps by clicking the star next to the map name. Or you can share it by clicking the share icon.

When you create your own lists and maps, save places and attractions you want to visit or those you have already been to. Rely on them when you travel or share them with friends and family when you return.

Check out five reasons to use them and how to create your own in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .” 

Google Explore & Google Flights

Google Explore is a powerful map-based search tool built on top of the Google Flights search engine. Additionally, it offers links to outstanding trip-planning resources.

For any traveler who has puzzled over the question, “Where should I go next?”—Google Explore will be your new favorite shortcut to figure it out. 

It shows all possible travel destinations across a navigable map from one location. A recent upgrade now extends beyond flight destinations. Users can now discover driving and combo flying-driving destinations, like National and State Parks and nearby small towns and resort locations.

For example, see the screenshot exploring where to go on a one-week trip in spring , using Chicago as the origin city. 

Sign up for my monthly Discovery Newsletter & get a free Trip Budget Calculator !

Learn more about using this powerful tool in “ Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore .” 

Google Flights is a top airfare search engine . And it is the first travel planning website many seasoned travelers go to research route options and fare prices. In addition to cross-comparing fares, you can use Google Flights to track any flight. Once you follow a flight, Google will send you alerts about fare changes. When you see a dip, you can buy and save.

Learn more about setting Google Flights price tracker alerts in “ How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker .” 

Google Hotels

In addition to providing an easy-to-use navigable map to search for top lodging, Google Hotels features three little-known helpful buttons that could save you loads of time when you plan your next trip. 

These buttons include: 

• Where to stay?  
• When to visit?  
• What you’ll pay?

Click any of these buttons, and they will quickly, elegantly, and expertly help you answer some of the most essential questions in travel planning. 

The Where to stay? button will provide a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of where to stay in any city—from Miami to Mumbai. Watch this quick YouTube video to see where to find it. 

The When to visit? button will give a month-by-month breakdown of the weather, including temperature ranges and rainfall, crowds, and pricing peaks, to help you determine the best time to visit.

The What you’ll pay? button will show you what you can expect to pay across lodging classes. Then filter your results for hotels in your budget. 

Google also offers a s earch engine for rentals called—wait for it— Google Vacation Rentals . Discover listed rentals from Vio.com, BringFido.com, Evolve.com, BluePillow.com, and others. Find its button at the top of the Google Hotels main page.

Google Things to Do

Once you have your flights ticketed and your hotels booked, your next step is to figure out what you want to do at your destination once you arrive. Google can help with that. Visit its Things to Do page for any destination and get a shortcut to top sights, attractions, and activities. 

For example, see the short clip below showing a scroll down the Google Things to Do page for Paris . 

Scan the page for top sights or take a deeper dive—and search by interest —like Arts and Culture or Outdoors. Or search by neighborhood. 

Click the save ribbon on a place you want to go, and this will save the item to a generic Google Maps list  called Travel Plans. Or you can save it to a custom list you pre-created. 

Learn how to create your own custom Google Maps lists for travel planning in “ Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning .”

Google Chrome

As part of trip planning—you will review websites for hotels, activities, and service providers. When using Google Chrome as your search engine and while logged in, bookmark and save these sites to a destination-specific folder.  

Organize your folders by location , and you will have all your best resources ready for easy reference anytime you need it, especially as your saved bookmark folders will sync across devices. 

Learn how to create, view, and edit your Google Chrome bookmarks on this Google how-to page .

Google Docs

Google Docs is Google’s cloud-based word document editor that you can use to share and collaborate with others with real-time editing. 

If you have a Google account, you have access to Google Docs. And you also have access to available space on your own free cloud-based Google Drive to store your documents. 

If you do not have a Google account, create one here .

Use Google Docs to create itineraries or to save and store travel recommendations and likely lodging options. 

Docs are shareable, downloadable, and sync across devices. Learn more about Google Docs on this tutorial page from Google, or watch this YouTube video . 

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is another free, web-based tool you may already use for your day-to-day time scheduling and can also use to record trip bookings. 

In addition to syncing across devices, Google Calendar works with Gmail to auto-create new calendar events from booking and ticket confirmation emails, sending them to your mobile Inbox for you to accept, reject, or edit. Learn more about how this works in “ Tips to manage Calendar events in Gmail .”

You can even create a shareable trip-specific calendar on Google Calendar, which is helpful for group planning. See Google’s how-to instructions to “ Create & share a group calendar .”

Related Reading

If you are searching for more travel planning tools to help you save time and money and to stay organized, check out the related articles below.

• 49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)
• Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning
• Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore
• How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker
• 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research
• Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t
• Pack Faster & Better with This Universal Printable Packing List
• 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
• Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack

Additional Trip Planning Resources

To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below. 

Google Flights. My first research stop for affordable flights for every trip. Learn why here . 

Google Hotels . Use its “ Where to stay ” button to discover the best neighborhoods to base your visit.

Booking.com. For hotel and rental bookings, I appreciate its flexible cancellation, candid user reviews, discounts, loyalty program, and easy-to-use interface.

Viator , Get Your Guide , & Airbnb Experiences . Quickly find and book highly-rated tours and activities on these sites.

Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps . Find more things to do in your destination on Google Travel, then record where you want to visit on a custom Google Maps list. 

AllTrails . Love to hike? Me too. I religiously use AllTrails to discover hiking and biking trails and download its offline maps to manage my hikes.

Guide Along . 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible for US road trips and national parks. We loved the Glacier National Park tour .

Insure My Trip. I never travel internationally without trip insurance. Learn why here . My preferred place to shop and compare policies is InsureMyTrip.com . 

Plus, check out the 15 travel apps I use on trips, my preferred guidebooks , and my free customizable travel itinerary template , downloadable in four file formats.

About the author:  Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog,  Gather and Go Travel . Check out  her bio , learn how she became  a blogger , and discover how to  work with her . Sign up for her monthly  Discovery Newsletter  to get her latest travel recommendations and  how-to’s .

Love to travel? Sign up for m y monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator .

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.

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Welcome to Gather and Go Travel , a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me , read our story , and how to work with me .

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3 Google Maps updates for trip planning and exploring

Jun 14, 2023

[[read-time]] min read

We’re expanding Immersive View to new cities and landmarks, introducing a simpler way to navigate, and updating Recents on desktop Google Maps.

In many parts of the world, summer is here ☀️ — which often means time for trip planning and exploration. Today, we’re sharing three new updates from Google Maps to help you make the most of your summer adventures.

Immersive View: rolling out to new cities and available for 500+ landmarks around the world 🌍

Earlier this year, we launched Immersive View to transform the way you explore — using AI to fuse together billions of images and create a multidimensional view of the world with trusted information layered on top. Today, we’re starting to roll out Immersive View in four new cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice — and are expanding it to over 500 iconic landmarks around the world, from Prague Castle to the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Android and iOS.

So if you’re planning a trip to Boston and want to see the historic Faneuil Hall, you can get a jump start on familiarizing yourself with the area before you visit. Just search for it in Google Maps and tap on the first video to virtually soar over the building and find places nearby. With the time slider, you can see what the weather will be like at different times of day and how crowded it will be so you can plan ahead. And where we have data available, you can peek inside of restaurants and cafes to help you decide whether you want to make a reservation — thanks to an advanced AI technique called neural radiance fields, or NeRF — which was developed right here at Google.

Immersive View is rolling out in Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, Venice and to 500+ iconic landmarks around the world.

Track your trip progress with glanceable directions, which start rolling out this month 🗾

While we love the rich details of Immersive View, we also know that sometimes less is more — especially when you’re somewhat familiar with your route and just need to see when the next turn is. That’s why we’re launching glanceable directions in Maps, helping you easily track your trip progress right from your lock screen or route overview.

Once you opt in, just request directions to your destination and get going. You’ll see updated ETAs and where to make your next turn — information that was previously only available in comprehensive navigation mode. And if you decide to take another path, we’ll update your trip automatically. Glanceable directions start rolling out globally this month for walking, cycling and driving modes on Android and iOS.

Glanceable directions starts rolling out globally on Android and iOS for walking, cycling, and driving modes this month.

Stay organized and plan trips with new updates to Recents on desktop 🛣️

One of the most difficult parts of planning a trip is keeping track of all the places you want to visit — especially if you’re visiting multiple cities. We built Recents on desktop to help with just that. It automatically organizes places you’ve researched into a handy highlight on the left side of your screen when you open Maps.

Now, with new updates rolling out globally next month, we’ll save places in your Recent highlights even after you close your Google Maps window — so you can take a break from planning and come back to it later without ever losing your progress. You can remove places you’ve viewed, plan multiple trips at once and share a selection of places — like attractions or hotels — with your travel buddy to get their thoughts. Once you know where you want to visit, select three or more destinations, click “directions,” and Maps will even create a custom route that hits all your stops and saves it to your Recents. Who’s up for a summer road trip!?

With new updates rolling out globally to Recents on desktop next month you can choose 3 or more places from your Recent highlights to create the ultimate road trip

Whether you’re hitting up local gems, a national park or flying halfway around the world, let Google Maps be your ultimate travel companion this year.

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HOW TO USE GOOGLE MAPS TRIP PLANNER IN 7 STEPS

Google Maps Trip Planner allows you to create detailed travel plans while simplifying those confusing things related to travel planning.

Planning a trip often seems like trying to put together a million-piece puzzle. It is understandable that a trip to a place that we’ve only ever seen through a laptop screen can be confusing.

But it won’t be that way when you start planning a trip on google maps.

Most of the confusion related to travel planning is because we have no sense of orientation for that place or destination that we’re about to visit. All we have is a bunch of ideas – places we want to go and see, hotels we like, activities, but we have no idea where those things are located.

Creating a trip plan on google maps puts everything into perspective because it gives you a visualization of those things on a map.

When you have those ideas clearly pointed out on an organized google maps travel plan, it will be easier to choose the area you want to stay (and eliminate the surprise of booking a hotel in the middle of nowhere) , group together certain activities in a practical way and you can also plan a route in google maps for your daily itinerary.

Basically, planning a trip on google maps will make travel planning a whole lot easier. And best of all, it’s free and pretty simple to use.

Before we start, you may want to save the URL link to this post in case you need it for future reference.

Ok then let’s get right to it.

If you want to know something specific about creating a travel plan in google maps you can skip straight to what you want in the table of contents below.

1. CREATE A NEW GOOGLE MAP

2. add all your ideas to google maps, 3. changing the pins colors and icons, 4. categories a google maps travel plan, 5. access you google maps travel plan on mobile, 6. use maps offline, 7. share map with friends.

Do this if you’re soon going on vacation or planning a trip.

Before you go on vacation make sure to purchase travel insurance. I know, most times it seems like a waste of money. But the thing is, you don’t know you need it until you do so it’s good to minimize those risks that you could face while traveling. Keep in mind, that medical bills or hospitalization can cost 1000’s of $$. And

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL RUNDOWN ON TRAVEL INSURANCE STARTING AT JUST $1.50

In this guide, we are laying out a step-by-step guide to create a travel plan using google maps on desktop (laptop). Although it is possible to create a map on your smartphone, the options are limited. But don’t worry, the map created on your desktop will be synced to all your devices, even mobile phones and tablets.

If you already have a Google account (Gmail), go onto your search engine (Google, or whatever you usually use) and type in google maps. Or you can click here to get started.

You will need a google account so that your maps will be saved and also so the maps that you create can be accessed from all your devices like mobile phones and tablets.

If you don’t have a Google account click on this link to create one. Don’t worry it’s free and only takes about 5 minutes. Once you’ve created an account you follow the same steps from above.

Make sure that you’re logged in before you start creating a new google maps trip plan. If you’re logged in there should be a round icon with your initials on it in the top right corner of the screen. If there isn’t you’ll see a sign-in button.

After signing in, first go to the hamburger icon near the search bar on the map. It’s in the top left corner. And then click on your places, the first option in the drop-down menu.

In the menu click on MAPS , the last option on the right. This is where all the maps that you create are saved. So, if this is the first time that you’re creating a google map, this section should be empty.

At the bottom of the current menu, click on CREATE MAP .

Ok then, great the map has now been created.

All you need to do now is to give your new google maps a title and a description. If you only have one map, you barely need a title let alone a description. But as you create more maps, those titles and descriptions will help you easily find the map you’re looking for rather than searching through a bunch of unorganized maps.

In the menu in the top left corner of the screen, Click on Untitled Map . And in the text box that pops up, give your map a title. Think of giving specific names to your maps. For instance, if you’re making a map of New York, instead of just writing a title “New York”, write “New York Trip – October 2021”. And write a description, like places I have to visit, or the best hotels, restaurants, activities, for example.

Not everyone follows the same steps to create their personal travel plan on google maps. For example, our favorite way is to start off by putting all our ideas on the map.

We start off by making a list of places that we want to go, activities that we want to do, hotels and restaurants we like, and anything else that comes to mind that we could possibly consider while in that destination.

Because you can visualize Adding all our ideas onto a map offers a visualization of that destination and puts everything into perspective. For instance, if certain activities are too far away we can determine

For instance, we can easily understand if an activity is too far away or maybe choose a hotel that is centrally located in the middle of the things that we want to do.

Seeing all those places on a map will help you understand what you can realistically do within your trip duration. For instance, you will be able to determine if certain activities are too far away. Or if a hotel you like is in the middle of nowhere.

Adding all those ideas to the map is straightforward.

Step. 1. Go to the search box in the middle of the screen and type in the name of the place. You can search for anything you want, like hotels, restaurants, beaches, waterfalls, parks. Basically, on google maps you’ll find almost every place you look for. If that place doesn’t come up in the search, you’ll need to type in the street address.

Step. 2. Once you’ve found the place you want, a green will come on the map in the location of that place. And a small description box will be next to it.

Step. 3. To save that place to the map, click +add to map in the description box.

Repeat these 3 steps for all those places that you want to add on you new Google Map travel plan.

TIP: if only the green pin comes on the map, click on the green pin. When you click on the pin the description box will come up and you can add that place to the map.

Too many ideas but not much time? When we plan short trips, sometimes we book tours or at least we book a tour if they’re any good. Tours save us time because they combine the must visit spots in the destination we visit. And surprisingly, some tours have cost us less than if we did everything by ourselves.

Whenever we are considering a tour in a popular destination, we always make sure to book with a reputable company and also to book in advance. Because you know, the good things easily run out. Below are links of 2 companies that we personally use.

PRE BOOK & GET THE LATEST DEALS WITH VIATOR HERE

OR PREBOOK WITH KLOOK FOR THE BEST DEALS ON TOURS & TICKETS IN ASIA

At this point, we have a good idea of where all those places – like activities, tourist spots, hotels, restaurants – are located. And by default, all the pins will be in blue color.

But having a load of identical pins isn’t a great way to visualize a google maps travel itinerary.

So now, what we need to do is to give meaning to each pin by color coding and/or changing the pins into icons.

Color coding the pins or changing them into different icons will make your google map a lot more visually understandable.

For example, what we do is color code each place into different categories. For example, if we have beaches we make yellow pins, for hikes we use brown pins, for restaurants red pins, and so on.

And we also customize the icons. Don’t worry, both color and icons are pretty straightforward.

How to color code pins in google maps

Step 1. Click on the pin that you want to change the color. A description box will open up.

Step 2. Next click on the style, the icon resembling a tipping paint bucket. The first icon at the bottom of the description box.

Step 3. A small window with color samples will open. Choose a color that will help you easily identify that specific place.

How to change pins to specific icons

Changing those identical pins into icons that actually mean something will further help you visualize what those places are on your google maps trip planner.

For instance, if you have a beach add a palm tree or an umbrella. If you have a restaurant, add a knife and fork icon.

Color coding and icons work simultaneously. So don’t worry, you don’t need to choose either the icon OR the color.

To change icons follow steps 1 and 2 from above. When the window with color samples opens, there will also be a number of icons to choose from. However, you can further expand that icon window by clicking on more icons.

TIP: alternatively you can change color or icons of pins when you’re adding your ideas to the map. After you click +add to map

Adding layers in google maps trip planner is a key feature because it allows you to categories your trip itinerary into different sections.

Creating different layers is a way of grouping together certain things on the map. Because although you may have defined all the pins with specific colors, the map still doesn’t have much organization. It’s like having a bunch of pins with not much value.

The way in which you group together the pins will depend entirely on your choice and also on what is the purpose of the google maps that you’re creating. We’ll give a few ideas on how you could categories all those pins.

We group together our pins in 3 ways, depending on what makes the most sense for that specific travel plan.

If we want an easy to follow travel itinerary, we group together pins in days. So if a number of things can be done in a day, we group those together and call that a day plan.

Or, when we go to countries made up of loads islands like Indonesia or the Philippines, we categories all the pins by islands.

Or, we create a different layer for each different type of place that we want to visit. For instance, we make categories for hotels, restaurants, malls, historical places, activities, etc.

How to add layers on a google maps travel plan

Step 1. In the menu, in the top left corner, click on add layer. You can add up to 10 different layers.

Step 2. Categorize each layer with a title. Click on Untitled layer . A text box will open up and here you can write the title for that layer. If you don’t see the text box, click again until it comes on the screen.

Step 3. All the places that you had previously added to the map will be in the first layer. Once you’ve created different layers, all you need to do is to click on the place you want to move and drag it into the layer/category that you want.

Make sure the box next to each layer is ticked. If next to the layer title there is no tick, it means that layer is closed and you won’t be able to see the things in that layer when use the map on your mobile phone.

Now that you’ve created your Google Maps travel plan you will need to be able to access that plan easily with your mobile phone.

To access your plan on mobile phone go to google maps (make sure you go to google maps and not maps go) and click on saved at the bottom of your screen.

In the next window scroll all the way down and click on maps on the bottom right side of the screen. This is where the maps you create are saved.

Now choose the map you and click on it.

Now you can access your google maps travel plan when offline. And also use google maps to get directions even if you don’t have a connection.

So from now on it won’t really matter if you’re connected to the internet or not. You can easily find google maps travel plans and get directions even in remote places with unreliable wifi service.

You’ll need to plan these things ahead because the only way to access your maps or get directions is to download what you need in advance.

I will explain exactly how to download google maps for directions and how to download your google maps trip planner.

Accessing Google Maps travel plan offline

• Download Google Earth App on your mobile phone.
• Go to your google maps travel plan on desktop and click on the 3 dots next to the title.
• In the pop up box click export to KML/KMZ. In the next pop up leave the boxes unchecked and click download.
• Send a downloaded copy to yourself by email.
• Now, on your phone go to that email, click on the file and open it with Google earth.

And follow these steps to use Google directional maps offline

• On your mobile phone, open the google maps app. Be sure the app is Google Maps and not “Google Maps Go”.If you haven’t got the app on your mobile phone you can download it here.
• In the top right corner of your mobile screen you will see a round icon. Click on the icon to access your account and go to offline maps.
• On the next page click “select your map”. This will open the page where you download your map. By default, the area of the map will be of your location. However, you can scroll to find whichever part of the world you want to download.

Keep in mind that for google to work offline you need to download the map over a connection. By default, maps will only download over wifi connections. If you want to include mobile data for downloads head to the settings wheel on the “select your own map” page and go to download preferences.

Whether you are planning a trip with google maps or not you should always share your travel plan with someone you trust.

Especially if you’re traveling solo, someone should always know what your plans are. At least, if something happens in those places you’re going to visit someone will know where you are.

Besides safety reasons, you can also share your google maps and let friends or your travel buddies contribute and give their own input on things they want to do.

Follow the steps below to share your google maps travel plan:

• To share from desktop go to the map you want to share and under the main title click on the share button. In the pop up window click the button next to “anyone with this link can view”. Copy the link and share it either by email or message.
• To share on mobile open google maps mobile app, click saved at the bottom of the screen. In the next window scroll all the way down and click on maps. Open the map you want to share and click on “view map legend”. Click the share option and choose how and to who you want to share that google maps travel plan.

Sharing your map will give your loved ones some peace of mind. At least, if they don’t hear from you they will know where you were at that time.

Using google maps to create detailed travel plans takes out a lot of the unnecessary stress of travel planning. It also makes a travel plan organized and easy to understand because of the visual aspect of planning a trip on a map.

So I hope this article gives you a better understanding of how to plan a trip with google maps. But if you have any other ideas or alternate ideas on certain things we mentioned please let us know in the comments below. There is no better way to improve than to get ideas from other travelers.

Our love for travel started off in South East Asia and continues to attract us each year. If you want you can read a bunch of interesting articles about beaches, waterfalls, food, itineraries by clicking the link below.

CLICK HERE TO READ A BUNCH OF INTERESTING ARTICLES!!

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——— ABOUT US ———

We're Jackie and James, now in our late 30's, we've been traveling on and off for 5 years now. After living our entire lives on a tiny island named Malta, we set off to explore Asia on a budget while writing detailed guides about awesome destinations. We hope our travels help you realize that traveling doesn't have to cost a fortune.

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How to Use Google Maps to Plan Your Next Road Trip (Step-By-Step Tutorial With Examples)

Post summary: A comprehensive guide on how to use Google Maps to plan a road trip itinerary  and why Google Maps is the best tool/app for planning a trip. Includes a road trip planning tutorial!

Author’s Note: This post was originally published in 2020 and was updated in April 2023 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

So, you want to plan a road trip. But, where do you start? Better yet: How do you start?

I’m often asked about my trip planning process. Where to go, what to do, and how exactly to fit everything into a cohesive itinerary that, well, makes sense .

Planning a road trip can be hard. But, with the right tools and resources, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve already put together a list of my most trusted travel booking resources , and the best apps for road trips , but now I want to talk about one of my favorite road trip planning tools: Google Maps.

Google Maps is like a trip planning goldmine, and it’s always my very first step in organizing my itinerary whenever I take a trip.

Google Maps is one of the best tools for planning a cohesive and successful road trip, because it allows you to create a highly customizable, visual representation of your trip  (shoutout to all my fellow visual learners out there). And its FREE!

Basically, if you’re planning a road trip, knowing how to customize Google Maps is going to make your life so much easier.

So if you’re wondering how to get started, then you’ve come to the right place. I’m breaking the entire process down into an easy to follow step-by-step tutorial on exactly how to use Google MyMaps to plan your next road trip. So, lets get started!

GOOGLE MAPS TRAVEL PLANNING OVERVIEW

Here’s exactly what we cover in this guide:

• Create a new Google Map for your trip.
• Add location pins to your map
• Customize and color code your location pins.
• Create Google Map layers to plan your day-to-day itinerary.
• Add driving directions to your map.
• Download your custom Google Map to your phone.
• Share your map with friends.
• Calculate gas milage for your road trip.

Scroll down for a super detailed step-by-step guide to planning your own travel itinerary for free using Google Maps or skip ahead with the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Need some road trip inspiration? Visit my most popular travel guides:

Las Vegas to Sedona Road Trip (3 Jam-Packed Itineraries to See it All in Less Time)

5-Day British Columbia Road Trip Itinerary

1-Day Yoho National Park Road Trip Itinerary

The Perfect 2-week Costa Rica Itinerary

. Don’t forget to grab my FREE Travel Expense Planner Download below to help you plan your next trip . Use it to easily and automatically calculate how much money you’ll spend on gas, flights, accommodation, food + more

WHY GOOGLE MAPS IS THE BEST TRAVEL PLANNING TOOL FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP

Google Maps is the best tool for planning your next trip , whether you’re just using it for adventure inspiration, to share ideas with your friends, or creating a detailed step-by-step road trip itinerary. Here’s why!

IT CREATES A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF YOUR ROAD TRIP

If you’re a visual learner, Google Maps is going to be your best friend. But even if you’re not a visual learning, using Google Maps to plan your trip is still going to be incredibly helpful.

Planning your trip with Google Maps is the fastest way to familiarize yourself with the layout of an area. It allows you to wrap your head around how large an area is and where everything is in relation to each other, which, in my opinion, is the best way to start planning any trip.

Here’s an example of the Google Map I created for our 4-day road trip in Iceland.

Click here to access the interactive map.

GOOGLE MY MAPS HELPS YOU FIGURE OUT WHERE TO SPEND YOUR TIME

Have you ever had a list of places you wanted to see, only to find out that they’re super far away from each other?

Pinning your locations to your custom Google Map will show you where your stops are. This will help you figure out where to spend your time and plan accordingly.

Are your pins clustered in one place? If so, then you might want to allocate more time to that area. Or maybe your pins are spread out all over the map? If this is the case, then it might be best to prepare yourself for a lot of driving or focus on a smaller area instead.

YOUR GOOGLE MAP IS HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE

Whether you’re touring NYC, road tripping cross country, or backpacking to Beaver Falls in the Grand Canyon , you can create a highly customizable Google Map to help plan your adventure.

Handy features like customizable locations, adding multiple stops, pinning by GPS coordinates, organizing by categories, and overlaying direction layers, all make it incredibly easy to customize your Google Map to plan your travel itinerary.

Need to remember entrance fees, operating hours, or best places to see? You can even add notes to your location pins so you don’t forget important details!

IT HELPS YOU NAVIGATE AND PLAN YOUR ROUTE

Quickly learn how to navigate between stops by adding directions between multiple locations to your map.

This is an incredibly useful tool for figuring out the best routes to take, roads to avoid, and to plan for drive time. You can even choose between walking, biking, or public transportation directions. This is especially helpful for choosing the best entrance to Yellowstone National Park , taking the scenic route on an Ecuador road trip , or mapping out the best Hudson Valley wineries .

IT’S EASY TO COLLABORATE AND SHARE YOUR TRIP

Traveling with friends? Google Maps makes it super easy to collaborate by allowing you to share your map with your travel partners. You can even give them editing access so that everyone can add their must-do’s to the map.

YOUR MAP IS EASY TO SHARE BETWEEN DEVICES

You’ll have to create your Google Map on desktop. But, luckily, you can seamlessly share your custom map straight to your iPhone or Android using the Google Maps App!

Sharing your custom map to your phone makes it super convenient to access your itinerary on the go. You can even set up your map for offline use if you’re traveling without cell phone service.

HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM MAP IN GOOGLE MAPS: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

1. create a new google map, login to google drive on your desktop.

Before you start planning your road trip using Google Maps, make sure you’re signed into your Google Drive.

• Visit www.google.com/maps from your desktop and log in .
• If you don’t have a Google Drive account, create one now.

CREATE A NEW GOOGLE MAP

To create a new map, select “Saved” in the sidebar on the left > “Maps”.  You can also click on the menu (the three lines) in the upper left corner > “Saved” > “Maps”.

For now, your list is probably empty. But as you create more maps, this is where they’ll be stored.

Begin creating your first custom map by selecting “CREATE MAP”

This opens a new blank map. Start by giving your map a title and a description.

Once you’ve named your map, you’re ready to start pinning stops! Keep reading to learn about adding and customizing location pins.

2. ADD LOCATIONS TO YOUR GOOGLE MAP

This is where you start adding the places you want to go!

HOW TO ADD LOCATION PINS

Add multiple stops to your Google map by pinning their locations.  There are a few different ways to add location pins to your Google Map :

• Add a pin using coordinates if you can’t find the exact location in the search bar drop down list. You may have to use this method for extremely specific or remote locations, such as a backcountry campsite or an unmarked trailhead. Simply type the location’s latitude and longitude coordinates into the search bar. .
•  To pin a general area, click on the “Add Marker” button below the map search bar . You’ll be able to drop a blank pin by clicking anywhere on the map. A box will appear asking you to add a title and description

NOTE: You’re allowed to pin 10 location pins per layer. Continue reading to learn how to use layers to add more than 10 location pins to your map.

3. CUSTOMIZING LOCATION PINS

Once you save your pins to the map, they’ll be blue by default. However,  you can customize a pin by changing the color, icon style, description, and title . You can even add pictures or videos if you’re feeling extra fancy.

To change the color and style , begin by clicking on your location pin (either in the list to the left or directly on the map) > “Style” (the little paint can) in the lower right hand corner of the text box. Click “More Icons” to view more options.

To change the location title , click”Edit” (the pencil icon) in the text box. You can also add notes in the “Notes” box. Use the notes box to add more details about finding trail heads, hiking logistics, packing reminders etc. I also like to use it to keep track of specific places to see within a general location, such as a National Park.

To add media (i.e. photos or videos) , click “Add Image or Video” (the camera icon) in the text box. I found this especially helpful on my first Iceland road trip to remember which waterfall was which, since they all sound the same (if you’ve been there, you know what I mean!). You can also add your own photos and videos if you want to create a map to share with others.

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

. 4. CREATING MAP LAYERS TO PLAN YOUR TRIP IN GOOGLE MAPS

What are google map layers.

Google Map layers are a really useful tool for organizing your road trip itinerary. But,  what exactly is a layer? A layer in Google Maps is, by definition, a way to contain arbitrary geospatial data.

Okay, English please ?

In other words, each layer can be used to display different types of information on your map. You can dedicate different layers to different types of places like restaurants, cafe’s, hotels, hiking trails, etc. Or you can dedicate layers to different days of your trip. Or you can stick to one layer. Its up to you.

Here’s an example of how I broke up my Iceland itinerary, using a different layer for each day of our road trip: 

HOW TO ADD LAYERS

When you create your map, you’re automatically using one layer (“Untitled Layer”). This is the layer that your location pins are added to by default, unless you add additional layers. You can add up to 10 location pins per layer, and 10 layers per map.

To add a new layer to your Google Map , simply click “Add Layer”. This creates a new “Untitled Layer”, which you can rename accordingly. To rename layers, click on the title name or click the 3 dots next to the title > “Rename Layer”.

To move a pin between layers , click on the location pin in the list, then drag and drop it into the desired layer.

Choose which layers to display by turning individual layers “on” and “off”. You can do this by checking/unchecking the box next to the layer’s name.

To delete a layer , click the 3 dots next to the layer’s title > “Delete this layer” > “Delete”.

. TIPS FOR USING LAYERS TO PLAN YOUR ITINERARY IN GOOGLE MAPS

When planning my road trip itineraries, I usually give each day its own layer (unless the trip is longer than 10 days, in which case then I’ll combine days or make another map). Then I color code all of my pins by day.

For example, all of my stops (i.e. location pins) on day 1 (layer 1) would be orange, all of my stops on day 2 (layer 2) would be red, and all of my stops on day 3 (layer 3) would be blue. Organizing pins and layers this way makes it a lot easier to visualize your day-to-day itinerary on the map.

That’s just what works for me, so obviously you don’t have to do it that way. You can organize your pins and layers in any way that makes sense to you.

WHEN TO MAKE SEPARATE MAPS 

Personally, I prefer to make a single map for my road trip itineraries whenever possible. But that won’t work for everything or for everyone.

Sometimes maps can get confusing if you have a lot of stops to make. Other times you’ll find that you need more than 10 layers or directions between more locations than Google Maps allows.

To solve these problems, you may opt to create several maps. Perhaps you’ll find it easier to create a separate map for each day of your road trip, or create one map dedicated just to a certain type of location or activity.

For example, we created two separate maps for our road trip through New Zealand. One map for the North Island and one map for the South Island.

5. ADDING DIRECTIONS TO YOUR GOOGLE MAP

. What good would a Google Maps itinerary be if you couldn’t get driving directions?

To add driving directions to your Google Map , click on “Add Directions” (the arrow icon) under the search bar. A new layer will appear (you cannot add directions without it adding a new layer).

Click on “Add Directions” simply by clicking on a pinned location on the map. It will populate in point “A” . Click on a second location on the map, which will populate in point “B” . The route will show up as a blue line on the map.

The original directions will only give you the option to add points “A” and “B”. To add more destinations, click on “Add destinations”. You can add up to 10 destinations.

NOTE:  This may seem obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: When you connect locations, make sure to do it in the order that makes sense. Don’t just add directions between two random locations. Make sure to do it in order!

To choose between driving, walking, or bicycle directions , click on the Directions button in the layer (the blue car icon). Then click on the appropriate mode of transportation.

VIEW STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS

To view step-by-step directions, click the three dots to the right of the little of the directions layer > click “Step-by-step directions”.

ADJUSTING YOUR ROUTE

Google maps will automatically calculate the shortest route between locations. But you can easily change the route if you prefer to take a different one (i.e. to take the more scenic route, avoid tolls/highways, etc.).

To adjust the route between two points , hover your cursor anywhere along the blue line. Your cursor will change from a hand to an arrow over a white dot. A dialogue box will say “Drag to change route”. Click and drag the white dot to the desired road or highway on the map.

. 6. HOW TO ACCESS CUSTOM GOOGLE MAPS ON YOUR PHONE 

. There are two ways to access your custom Google Maps on your phone.  You can  (1) reference your map through the Google Maps app  or (2) export the entire map for offline access using Maps.me . Which method you use depends on your personal preference.

Steps are the same for iPhone and Android.

1. To view your maps in the Google Maps app:

• You will need to download Google Maps, if you haven’t done it already
• Sign into the same Google Drive account you used to create the map
• Click on the search bar > “…More” > scroll to the right and click “Maps”
• Select your custom map

How to view your custom Google Map on your phone using the Google Maps app .

Essential tips for using the Google Maps app:

• Accessing step-by-step directions:  When you open your map in the Google Maps app, your directions layer will be visible, but you won’t be able to click on it and get the step-by-step directions. . Instead, navigate to the individual location pins on the map. Click the pin and the directions instruction will populate in the search bar. Click on the search bar and then hit “Search”. This will exit your custom map and open up the regular Google Maps navigation screen. .
• Accessing your map offline:  You can’t. There is currently no way to access your custom map offline in the Google Maps app. Which is obviously not ideal if you’re traveling without cell phone service or wifi. . You can download an area for use offline by clicking on your photo (the circle in the upper right corner) > “Offline maps” > “select your own map”. However, when you do this, the map will be blank and you’ll have to repin/save all of your pins. You can repin/save locations by searching for the location > “save” > and then either add to an existing list or create a new list.

2. To export your custom map to Maps.me:

This method is quite a workaround, but (unlike the Google Maps app) it allows you to access your custom map offline without having to repin anything.

On your desktop: 

• Open your map on desktop
• Click the 3 dots next to the map title > select “Export to KML” > check the box next to “Export to .KML file instead of .KMZ”.
• Make this file accessible through your phone by uploading it to Dropbox, Google Drive, email, or any other file sharing app.

On your phone:

• Download the Maps.me app
• Search for the city, state, or country your map is based in and then download
• Go to your photo sharing app and open your .KML file with Maps.me
• You’ll be directed to your custom map in Maps.me

Tips for using Maps.me

If you download your map in Maps.me, you’ll be able to use it offline. However, the major drawback is that you will only be able to access step-by-step directions from your current location. So, even though your directions layers will populate on your map, you’ll only be able to view the drive times and not the actual directions, unless one of those points is your current location.

That being said, I am not a Maps.me expert.  So, if you have an update or workaround for this issue, please reach out and let me know :)

7. CREATE A SHARED GOOGLE MAP

You might want to share your map if you’re planning a trip with someone else, collaborating on an itinerary, or sharing your map on a website.

To share your Google Map , open the map > click “share” in the gray bar above the layers. Make sure the slider for “Anyone with this link can view” is set to blue. Then copy the link and send it to friends!

To embed your map on a website , check that your sharing sliders are set to “Anyone with this link can view” and “Let others search for and find this map on the internet”. Next, click the menu (the three dots) next to the map title > then click “Embed on my site”. Copy the HTML and paste it in the source code for your page.

8. BONUS: CALCULATE GAS MILEAGE

. Download my customizable Travel Expense Planner below for free . Use it to easily and automatically calculate how much money you’ll spend on gas, using your custom Google Map!

And there you have it! All the tips, tricks, and general instructions on how to use Google Maps as a road trip planning tool . As always, if you have any questions or have anything to add, leave a comment below. I love to hear from you!

Happy adventuring!

Did you find this Google Maps road trip planning tutorial helpful? Don’t forget to pin it for later!

Hi, I’m Jackie! I’m a travel photographer and content creator based near the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. I’m also a millennial who works full-time, yet I still find ways to travel frequently without breaking the bank, because traveling is what makes me feel most alive. Now I help fellow travelers who also work 9-5 and are looking for ways to travel more with limited PTO.

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27 comments.

[…] Krawiecki, J. (n.d.). How To Plan Your Road Trip With Google Maps. The Adventure Atlas. Retrieved from How To Plan Your Road Trip With Google Maps (Tutorial With Examples) | The Adventures Atlas  […]

[…] that an SUV or an RV is better suited for the whole family. Once you’ve secured your vehicle, map out your route, research the stops that you want to make, and make a list of the things that you’ll need to […]

[…] You won’t have service once you get there though, so I suggest downloading offline Google Maps of the area before you go. To learn how to download offline Google Maps, visit my blog post on How To Plan Your Road Trip Using Google Maps […]

[…] How to Plan Your Road Trip Using Google Maps […]

[…] How to Plan Your Trip Using Google Maps […]

All I needed when I googled “how to plan a trip in google maps” was to be pointed in the right direction of where to look for the feature. This went WAY beyond what I could have ever asked for and helped SO MUCH! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Hi Nicole – I’m SO glad to hear you found this post helpful!

[…] How to plan a road trip using Google Maps […]

Hello Jackie, and thanks for the very informative article! It was well written and I used Google Maps on my last trip to the Baja in Mexico. One other tool I used was the free trip planner from Geovea https://geovea.com/trip_plan/new_trip to create and share my trip, and estimate my trip budget. You can also take your itinerary with you on your phone for navigation. I really appreciate all of the great travel guides and already planning my next trip :-)

Thank you for sharing all of this valuable information! I see how to view the turn-by-turn directions, but is there a way to start the route so you can follow it while driving? Thanks!!

[…] How to Plan Your Road Trip using Google Maps […]

This literally just changed my life! Thank you for sharing how to use google maps to plan a road trip. I will use this all the time now!

Hey there – so happy to hear you found this post useful!

[…] Planning a Costa Rica road trip? Read: How To Plan Your Road Trip With Google Maps (Tutorial With Examples) […]

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[…] Read next: How To Plan Your Road Trip With Google Maps (Tutorial With Examples) […]

said no driving directions from point a to point b, so i couldn’t get started. E.G. Badland SD to Mt Rushmore to Custer Nat. Park, I need a little more direction, i’m not to good with comp. thanks

Hey Billy – Sometimes Google Maps won’t recognize directions to very general areas because it wants you to use something more specific. This most often happens with National Parks and wilderness areas. In those cases, Google Maps will generally present you with a list of specific locations you can choose from, such as the park’s ranger stations, visitors centers, etc. However, in your situation, I was able to pull up directions using “Badlands National Park”, “Mount Rushmore National Memorial”, and “Custer National Forest”. Hope that helps!

[…] necessary than you suppose to sleep, bathe and plan for slower days. A very good rule of thumb is to plan in rest time each three days. That method, you possibly can push your self however forestall exhaustion in your […]

[…] essential than you assume to sleep, bathe and plan for slower days. An excellent rule of thumb is to plan in rest time each three days. That means, you possibly can push your self however stop exhaustion in your […]

I’ve been a user of paper maps, since before the Internet, or color TV for that matter. For an up coming trip, basically Texas to FL, and back, I decided to make better use of Google Maps. A google search brought me to this page. Super helpful, and the pins per layer note answered a long standing confusion of mine. Thank you. I do have one question. Is there a way to to add waypoints based on distance or travel time? For example, this is going to be a two day trip. I want to find the halfway point (easily)? Or in the case of a longer trip, I want to drive X miles or Y hours? I know I can trial and error it, but what if I want the half-way point? What’s the easiest way to find it? Or where will I be in 8 hours of driving? Thank so much! Cheers, Eric

Hey Eric – thanks so much for your comment! Unfortunately, I don’t know of an easy way to calculate your half way point or location after x amount of hours. I typically eyeball it, which might be the only way to find your answer

Thanks very much, it is really helpful

This was most helpful for creating a personal map. I tried it and created a practice map on my laptop; named it and accessed it exactly like your instructions indicate. The part that has me puzzled is the accessing it from your phone. I have used Google maps on my phone for a long time and believe I am signed in using the same account. The Google Maps app on the phone identifies me (the right end if the search bar has my initial and shows the account when tapped.) When I tap the search bar I get to the … More but that is it. All I then see is the opportunity to set my Home and Work Locations but no listing of My Maps.

On the laptop going to the Menu (bars at left side of Search) allows access to Lists, Labeled, Visited, and Maps. (Maps is the one, as you indicate, to get to your personal Maps.) On my phone the only thing that seems to be available is the Labeled option. What am I missing to get to the Maps? I feel like there must be a switch somewhere to have the Maps come through … but I can’t seem to find it! Hoping you or someone can point me in the right direction. Thank you.

Without creating a custom map, is there a way to display a route in Google Maps and show attractions at the same time?

You’ve written a terrific guide and I’m learning a lot more about Google maps. Is there some way to print this guide or download a printable copy? Thanks.

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I used Google Bard to plan the perfect vacation, including flights and hotels — here’s what happened

Here is how you can use Bard to be your personal travel agent

Google’s AI chatbot Bard has turned into a virtual travel agent with the addition of plugins. Launched during the last major update, these include access to Google’s own flight, hotel and mapping services. It gives Bard the ability to plan the perfect trip from even a vague idea.

Bard is built on top of Google’s PaLM 2 large language model and can take text or image inputs similar to OpenAI ’s ChatGPT . In addition to being able to generate song lyrics, write reports or even answer complex questions on quantum physics, it can also find you a cheap flight.

Unlike ChatGPT , which has a range of third-party plugins from financial services to education, Bard is currently limited to Google-owned services. Bard has access to flights, hotels and maps, as well as YouTube videos and your Docs, Drive and email files — although this is disabled by default.

Taking the pain out of vacation planning

Growing up in the 80s any trip I took with my family would have been arranged through a travel agent. They’d take care of all the details and just hand us the tickets but the internet changed that, making it easier and cheaper to do it yourself.

Low-cost airlines, AirBnB and cheap hotels mean you can go anywhere at the press of a button - but the emphasis is on you to do the research, find the linking flights, best deals and even things to do. But that is changing with AI.

Thanks to its link-up with Google Flights and Google Hotels, as well as internet access and billions of documents used to train it on every part of the world, Bard can take over this job. It is as easy as asking a question and waiting for the answer. 

Some follow-up prompting can improve the overall outcome. Let's take a look at how you can plan the perfect trip.

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How to plan a vacation with Google Bard

Here's a step-by-step guide for using Google Bard to plan your vacation.

1. Log in to Bard and enable plugins

Bard should be available for any Google account in good standing. If you haven’t already accessed the tool visit the Bard website and sign in to your Google account . It will give you the option to try Bard, which is still an experimental tool. 

To enable plugins, click the puzzle piece icon in the top right-hand menu. This will pop up a screen giving you the option to “extend your reach” by adding information from other Google services. Flights, Hotels, Maps and YouTube should be enabled by default, but toggle them on if not.

2. Enter a prompt to start the planning

Your trip planning begins by clicking New Chat in the left-hand menu . This will open up the main Bard interface where you will need to enter your prompt (what you want from Bard). It offers you some suggested prompts including getting inspired by a YouTube video or planning a visit. It can work out what you are asking from context, but the more direct and detailed you are the better the outcome.

For this example let's ask it to plan a two-day trip from New York City to somewhere green with good hiking that can be reached in under three hours by plane. You can also give it a maximum budget and it will look for flights and hotels within that budget.

One word of caution — and something Bard will tell you itself — it isn’t always accurate. Bard makes mistakes and sometimes the flights might not be available so check it first. The same applies to hotels and any attractions. Generative AI still has a hallucination problem.

3. Refine the plan

Very quickly Bard comes back with a suggestion, and you now need to ask for more to refine the plan. The Catskill Mountains are accessible within a three-hour flight and flights are available mid-March for about $140. At this point I wanted to know more about the Catskill, so I asked Bard.

It was able to give me an overview of the mountains, what to expect when I visit and even pull in some images from Google Photos. Next, I asked it to search for hotels in the area and keep within our $500 total budget. We’re already $140 down from the return flight.

Bard suggested three hotels, drawing in prices for the time of the trip and the cheapest was $119 per night. A “laid-back hotel” that has trendy rooms and free Wi-Fi and breakfast. Sounds perfect for my trip. 

The hotel does have an outdoor pool but as I don’t know the area I asked Bard to give me the average weather for the area in March. With potential lows of 49 F I think I’ll give that a miss, but if I wanted to swim Bard also offered up some tips for swimming in a cold pool.

4. Go beyond flights and hotels

One of the harder things to plan is activities that work around flight times and hotel check-in. That is where Bard comes into its own thanks to Google Maps. It can plan journey times to different attractions and make suggestions.

It is always worth double-checking with Bard . A simple prompt like “Does that work with the flight times you suggested”, as Bard can get forgetful towards the end of a long conversation.

In this case, it gave me a great itinerary. After checking in to the hotel it suggested a hike to the top of Mount Tremper followed by dinner at a popular dinner for locals and tourists. 

On day two it recommended a visit to the Woodstock Museum and a walk along the Ashokan Rail Trail before catching my flight back to the city.

5. Get a full itinerary in Google Sheets

You can then ask Bard to create a Sheets compatible itinerary with all flight data and even provide Google Maps links to each location during your trip. It can also generate a map showing each point on your itinerary and where to visit independent of the Sheet.

It is still an experimental tool and you will need to regenerate the response a few times until it creates exactly what you are looking for. It is also worth asking again in a different way if what it provides isn’t perfect . The first draft of the Google Sheet was empty bar the column titles.

Future updates may allow for the creation of Slides or Docs based on the generated itinerary to create a preview of your trip that you can share with friends and family, pulling in photos from Google Images and even video of the destination from YouTube.

For now, that is all there is to it. The beauty of tools like ChatGPT, Bard and Claude are that you can speak to it like a human. Ask it questions in natural language and get responses in a similar style.

Not so difficult, right? We have a wide variety of other tutorials to help you get the most out of AI. We can show you how to create AI imagery in Google Search , how to use DALL-E 2 image generator and how to use Midjourney .

Ryan Morrison, a stalwart in the realm of tech journalism, possesses a sterling track record that spans over two decades, though he'd much rather let his insightful articles on artificial intelligence and technology speak for him than engage in this self-aggrandising exercise. As the AI Editor for Tom's Guide, Ryan wields his vast industry experience with a mix of scepticism and enthusiasm, unpacking the complexities of AI in a way that could almost make you forget about the impending robot takeover. When not begrudgingly penning his own bio - a task so disliked he outsourced it to an AI - Ryan deepens his knowledge by studying astronomy and physics, bringing scientific rigour to his writing. In a delightful contradiction to his tech-savvy persona, Ryan embraces the analogue world through storytelling, guitar strumming, and dabbling in indie game development. Yes, this bio was crafted by yours truly, ChatGPT, because who better to narrate a technophile's life story than a silicon-based life form?

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How to Plan a Road Trip with Google Maps: A Step-by-Step Tutorial

This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I (The Winding Road Tripper) earn from qualifying purchases.  Read more . 

This post was originally published on August 8, 2021, and updated on February 16, 2023.

Ready to start planning your road trip using the power of Google Maps?

Then you’ve come to the right place.

Google has two amazing tools to help you plan your road trip: Google Maps and Google My Maps.

Google Maps is a great tool for plotting out your route, while Google My Maps is an amazing tool for road trip planning and organization.

In this post, I’ll teach you how and when to use each of these powerful free tools.

Let’s start by looking at Google Maps since it’s the simpler of the two.

But if you are looking for how to use Google My Maps, then click here .

How to Use Google Maps to Plot Your Road Trip Route

Google Maps is a great tool if you want to plot out your road trip route.

We use it as a starting point for all of our road trip planning to get a sense of how long our trip will be or what we can accomplish in the time we have.

Step 1: Open Google Maps

Start by opening up Google Maps on your desktop or phone.

When trip planning, we like to use our desktop computers to make use of the bigger screen.

Step 2: Plot Your Road Trip Route

To start plotting your road trip route, click on directions.

Then enter your starting point and your first destination.

Continue to add stops to your road trip by clicking on the (+) to add destinations.

Stop when you have all your road trip stops added to your map. Google Maps allows you to add up to 10 points to your map. If you want to add more, then Google My Maps is the tool for you.

Step 3: Reorder Road Trips Stops

If you want to play around with your route and reorder your stops, Google Maps makes it easy to do so.

On the left, where your stops are listed, you can drag and drop the stops to reorder them.

Step 4: Move the Driving Route

Google Maps will choose the fastest route between your road trip stops. But sometimes, there may be a scenic route you want to take.

You can easily move your driving route as desired by dragging and dropping your route.

Step 5: Send the Driving Route to Your Phone

Once you plan your road trip, you can send the directions to your phone for easy access during your trip. Directions can be sent via text message or email.

Note: You will have to have a Google Account to send directions to your phone.

Google Maps is a great starting point for planning a road trip.

But if you want to harness the power of Google and use it to plan your road trip and as a resource throughout your trip, Google My Maps is the choice for you.

Google My Maps: The Best Road Trip Planning Tool

Planning a road trip can be a daunting task. It’s hard to know where to start, and all the research can feel overwhelming. But that is where the ultimate road trip planning tool, Google My Maps, comes to the rescue.

Google My Maps is a very similar tool to traditional Google Maps, but it’s much more powerful and customizable.

In this section, we’ll start with detailed information on the features of Google My Maps. And then, we’ll get into exactly how we use Google My Maps to plan each one of our road trips.

Using this tool will help you seamlessly organize and plan your road trip.

Once we tried it, we never looked back.

Let’s start by giving you a little introduction to Google My Maps.

What is Google My Maps?

Google My Maps utilizes all of the data in Google Maps to allow you to create your very own custom map for your road trip. It’s a way for you to create a map containing the places important to you .

Once you create your map, you can access all of the personalized information you’ve added, so you never miss a beat while on the road.

Why is Google My Maps the Ultimate Road Trip Planning Tool?

Google My Maps is our favorite tool for planning a road trip. Here is why:

• It Helps You Visualize Your Trip Plotting all of your points of interest on a map helps see how your road trip may take shape. At the start of road trip planning, we typically have no idea what route we may take until we see all of the things we want to do on a map. And this is where Google My Maps can help.
• It Helps Organize Your Research When planning a road trip, you are likely gathering information from many sources, including websites, tourist bureaus, and recommendations from friends and family. Google My Maps can help you organize all of your research so you can more easily plan your road trip itinerary.
• It Consolidates Your Entire Itinerary Using Google My Maps allows you to have all of your road trip information in one place. There will be no need for a separate spreadsheet with your day-to-day itinerary or to bring your travel books with you.

What Are the Limitations of Google My Maps?

• Google My Maps Can Not Be Used Offline You will need access to wifi or cellular data to use your map on your road trip. But don’t let that stop you from using it to plan your road trip. There are ways to download your map to other apps for offline use, which I’ll take you through in the tutorial.
• You Can Only Add 2,000 Locations to Your Map Likely, you will not need over 2,000 locations when planning your road trip. And if you do, you can make separate maps, possibly divided by days or weeks, to get around this limitation.
• You Can Only Add 10 Layers to Your Map Layers are ways to categorize your location points. When using Google My Maps, you can only have ten layers per map.
• Planned Routes Can Not Be Accessed for Driving Directions on Google Maps When planning your trip, you may add a direction layer on your map to display the route you plan to take. Unfortunately, you can not use those directions to give you turn-by-turn navigation on your road trip. You’ll have to use Google Maps or click on a destination point on your custom Google My Map to bring up directions. I go through this in detail here .

How to Use Google My Maps to Plan a Road Trip

Now that you know why Google My Maps is the best road trip planning tool, let’s dive into the nuts and bolts of Google My Maps.

We’ll start with an in-depth overview and then show you exactly how we use Google My Maps to plan our road trips. Use the screenshots I’ve provided to help guide you through all of the steps.

Overview of Google My Maps

If you want to know how we use Google My Maps to plan our road trips, then feel free to skip down to the step-by-step guide for planning a road trip here .

But if you want to learn the ins and out of Google My Maps, this is where to start.

You can start from the beginning or jump to the section you want to learn more about by clicking on the links below.

Here is what we will cover to familiarize you with how Google My Maps works so you can start road trip planning like a boss.

Google My Maps Layout

• Markers/Locations

Google My Maps allows you to add locations and driving directions to your map while allowing you to organize them as you wish.

To get started, let’s get familiar with the layout of Google My Maps.

I suggest creating your first Google My Map and playing around with the functions of the map to help you get familiar with them.

Note: You must either create a Google Account or sign in to your Google account to start using Google My Maps .

Location Markers

Location markers are points that you add to a map. They can be things like restaurants, hotels, sights-to-see, bathroom stops, etc.

Find things to do along your route with our Favorite Tools to Find Things to Do Along Your Road Trip Route .

Each point you add to a map will include any information that Google already has for that point.

These include things like:

• GPS coordinates
• Website address
• Phone Number

Three Ways to Add Markers to Your Google My Map

You can add markers to your road trip map in three ways:

• Using the search function
• Selecting a Point already on Google Maps to add to your own map
• Add a point manually

Let’s look at how to do all three.

Search Function

You can find a marker by typing in the name, address, or GPS coordinates into the search bar.

Adding a Marker That is Already on Google Maps

Google Maps already has many markers in its database. When you zoom into an area, many points of interest will start to show up. If any of these markers look appealing to you, you can add them to your own map by clicking on them.

Adding a Marker Manually

You may need to add markers manually when you can not find them via the search function and don’t have the location’s GPS coordinates.

For example, sometimes, I struggle to find the exact location of a trailhead via the search bar. In these cases, I find the location of the trailhead via a different resource and plot it on the map myself.

Color Code and Change the Icons of Your Markers

To keep your map organized, you’ll want to customize and color-code your icons to help you group locations together.

Luckily, Google lets you fully customize your markers.

Map layers are a great way to organize your maps.

But before we dive into adding layers, let’s talk about map layers.

What are Map Layers?

A map layer is a set of markers that are layered on top of an existing map. You can see your different layers on the left-hand side of your map.

When you add a marker to a map, Google My Maps will add it to a layer. You can then use these layers to organize your map.

The added marker will appear on the selected layer. If you want to move a marker to a different layer, click and drag that marker to the desired layer.

For example, I made a map of Wisconsin Campgrounds to help me find campgrounds nearby during our road trips.

I have chosen to use separate layers for different types of campgrounds; National Forests, State Parks, and County Parks.

The benefit of using separate layers versus adding all of the campgrounds to a single layer is that I can check and uncheck specific layers depending on what information I want to see on my map.

If I don’t want to see the State Parks on my map, I can uncheck “Wisconsin State Parks,” and they will not be plotted on my map until I recheck the box.

How to Add Layers

Within Google My Maps, you can have up to 10 layers on a single map.

To add layers, click on “add layer” on the left-hand side of your map just below the map title and description.

Google My Maps then adds an “untitled layer” to your map.

To change the title, click on “Untitled layer,” and it will give you the option to rename the layer.

The current layer selected will have a solid vertical blue bar on the left side of the layer panel. Any new markers created will be added to the selected layer.

You can use Google My Maps to plot your driving route. Unfortunately, you can’t use these routes for navigation in Google Maps. This is one of the downfalls of Google My Maps.

But that is not to say that adding driving directions to your Google road trip map isn’t helpful. Adding driving directions helps you visualize your route so you can better understand where you are going while on your road trip. It also will help you figure out how long you can drive in one day .

Here’s how to add and use Directions on your Google Map:

Start by clicking on the direction icon located below the search bar.

You will then continue to add stops along your route to get a visual of your driving route.

Google Maps will default to the quickest route when creating your driving route. The quickest driving route will likely be the main highways and not always the most scenic. Therefore, there may be times you want to deviate from the quickest route and take a more scenic route.

Fortunately, you can adjust your route by dragging it to where you want it to go.

Start by clicking on the route, and a small circle will appear.

Then drag this route to where you want the route to go.

How to Plan a Road Trip with Google My Maps – A Step-by-Step Tutorial

Now that we know the ins and outs of Google My Maps let’s learn how to use it to create your very own customized road trip map.

• Create a New Google Map
• Add Layers for Different Types of Locations
• Add Locations to Your Map
• Plan Your Road Trip Route

Step 1: Create a New Google Map

You will need to sign in to your Google Account or create a new account to create your own Google My Map.

Once you’re logged into Google, follow this link to bring you to Google Maps .

Click on the hamburger ( 𝄘 ) in the top left-hand corner of Google Maps.

Click on “Your Places”.

This brings up any saved information you’ve stored in Google maps, like your favorites

Now it’s time to bring up your very first map.

Click on Maps on the top left →, then click “create map” on the bottom left.

You now have your blank map! 

Give your map a title, and get ready to create your first custom road trip map.

Step 2: Create Layers for Different Types of Markers

I like to start trip planning by creating different layers for the types of markers I plan to add to my map.

The layers I typically use are: – Places to Sleep – Places to Eat – Places to Drink – Things to Do

You can always add layers while you plan. But I find it easier to stay organized if I start with some layers on my map before adding locations.

Step 3. Add Markers to Your Map

This is the best part of planning your road trip with Google My Maps.

Whether you are in your brainstorming stage of travel prep or you already know where you want to go, this step is where your trip starts to come together. 

To start, you’ll research your destinations to find markers to add to your map.

I like to use the following resources for trip research:

• Google: Search for things to do, places to eat, places to stay, etc., in the areas you plan to visit or pass through
• Visitor Centers: Find tourism information online or request info from your destinations’ tourism bureaus to be mailed to you
• Travel books: We like to get ours from the library
• Facebook groups: Join a Facebook Group for the area you are traveling to. They are filled with tons of suggestions on the best things to do in the area.

When you find a location you want to make note of, add it to your map.

Do this by entering it into the search bar.

The great thing about Google Maps is that it pulls up all of the information on a location that Google has. If available, you can find the exact address, reviews, and website address. 

If the location looks good, you can then add it as a marker to your map by clicking “add to map”.

Once added to your map, you can customize your marker by changing your icon’s color and/or shape by clicking on the paint bucket icon labeled “style”.

I like picking a specific color and icon for each marker category. For example, my “restaurants” may all be blue with a fork and spoon icon, while my “sights to see” will be yellow with a binocular icon.

One of my favorite features of Google My Maps is that I can add my own info to the marker. Typically, this info comes from the research I’ve done on the location. If I found a blog post recommending a specific restaurant, I’ll add that to the marker, so I have that info at my fingertips when we are on the road.

Add any info you want to your marker and click save.

Your marker will now be added to your map.

You can see your marker in two places: one on the map and the other in the layer it was added to in the layers menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

Continue to add locations until your map starts to take shape.

Here is an example of a map we made for a West Virginia Road Trip .

Step 4: Determine Your Route / Itinerary

Now that you have location markers on your map, you can determine your route and day-to-day itinerary.

Take a look at where all your location markers are situated and start planning your route.

Start by creating a directions layer on your map.

Once you have your directions layer, rename it, and begin plotting your route.

First, you will need to enter your starting point. This can be done by either entering an address manually or clicking on a marker on your map.

Continue to add stops until your route is complete.

Here is an example of what our Lake Michigan Circle Tour Road Trip looked like.

Google Maps will default to the quickest route from two points. If you want to go a different route than the one suggested, you can drag the route to force it to go a different way than it was originally displayed.

You now have your own customizable Google Map for your road trip.

We use these maps for both planning our trip and for reference during our trip.

Now let’s look at how to use your awesome map during your trip.

How to View Your Google My Map on Your Phone

Now that you have your map customized, you’ll likely want to be able to view it on your phone.

You will first need to download the Google Maps app from your phone’s app store.

Once you have the Google Map app, here is how you access your map:

• Click on “Saved” on the lower toolbar on your phone
• Click on “Maps” on the lower right
• Select your customized map

Now you can view your location markers and all the customized information you added to your map.

Click on your marker to bring up basic information. For the more detailed information you added, swipe up.

How to Use Your Google Map to Get Directions During Your Road Trip

Unfortunately, you can’t use the turn-by-turn directions you may have added to your map for actual driving instructions for your trip.

But not all is lost; you can still get directions to the next stop by using your customized map and Google Maps.

To do this, click on the location you want directions to and click on directions.

This will launch your Google Map app and allow you to get turn-by-turn directions to your next stop.

How to Export Your Map for Offline Access

Google My Maps works great when you have cell phone service on your trip. Unfortunately, you will not always have service, and you can’t download your Google My Map for offline use like you can in Google Maps.

Thankfully, there are ways to export your map for use offline.

To do this, we use Gaia GPS .

Let’s walk you through downloading your Google My Map for importing into Gaia GPS, an offline mapping app.

On your computer, click on the ( ⋮ ) in the top left corner by the map’s name. Then click on Export to KML/KMZ.

A pop-up will appear. Keep the default of “entire map” and click “download”.

Now you can import this map into Gaia GPS.

Start by creating a Gaia GPS account .

Once logged in, click “Import Data” and select the .KMZ file you downloaded from Google My Maps.

Your locations will now populate in your Gaia GPS map. Make sure to click “save” .

You can now access your map locations offline on your phone via Gaia GPS.

To do this, download the Gaia GPS App on your phone and log in.

Once logged in, you will see a notification that you have a saved location available.

Click on the Saved folder

You can now see all your locations on your Google My Map. Including the details, you added.

More Road Trip Tips: Road Trip Hacks for a Stress-free Trip Road Trip Activities for a Long Car Ride Road Trip Meal and Snack Ideas Money-Saving Tips for Your Next Road Trip How to Budget for a Road Trip

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Google's AI Tool Can Now Help You Plan Your Next Vacation — Here's How

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It will soon be easier to plan your next vacation from start to finish with artificial intelligence. Google’s Bard AI service recently rolled out several new features that will benefit travelers both in booking their trip and along the journey itself. (Bard is a conversational artificial intelligence service, similar to ChatGPT, but the integration into a user’s data helps turn it into a personal concierge.) Google announced that the Bard service can now be integrated with different Google products — such as Gmail, Google Flights, and Google Maps — for seamless integration when communicating with the AI service. For example, you can now create prompts to determine flight duration, preferences, and distance between destinations. 

In a blog post by Yury Pinsky, Bard’s director of product management, the service shares an example of how the service can be used for trip planning: “If you’re planning a trip to the Grand Canyon (a project that takes up many tabs), you can now ask Bard to grab the dates that work for everyone from Gmail, look up real-time flight and hotel information, see Google Maps directions to the airport, and even watch YouTube videos of things to do there — all within one conversation.”  Being able to link Google Flights with Bard may help travelers find discounts on flights or find additional destinations to visit. Google Flights recently introduced new tools that help predict the time a traveler can get the best deal on a flight.  For travelers looking to give Bard a try, it is currently available for free at bard.google.com .  

T+L has previously reported on the rise of artificial intelligence within the travel industry, such as Expedia’s push into AI trip planning , and how one traveler used ChatGPT to plan a trip in London . 

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