Google Maps may be your go-to travel tool whether you’re planning a summer road trip or navigating a new city. No matter where you are in the globe, Google’s navigation app can help you find that must-see site or make a last-minute lunch reservation—even if you don’t have internet access.
From helping you locate restaurants along your journey to navigating airport terminals, Google Maps offers a number of tools aimed at making your trip easier. Travel planning is now more individualized and stress-free thanks to recent AI-powered enhancements that include immersive destination views and itinerary recommendations.
Discover seven of the most practical features of the app that I always use when I travel.
For other travel tips, see when to buy airline tickets and how to locate inexpensive flights.
1. Move through train terminals and airports with ease
Features of Google Maps
To explore rail stations and airports with ease, use Google Maps’ Directory tab.
Image courtesy of Macy
I don’t do well in hectic settings. In large crowds, I rapidly get overwhelmed and frightened. This implies that negotiating crowded train stations and airports may be a nightmare.
I was on a high-speed train from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in May, when I found myself at a crowded terminal. There are only around 67,078 individuals that pass through King’s Cross every day, which makes it quite difficult to locate a place to eat and relax. I then used Google Maps.
Google Maps provides a Directory option for airports, malls, and transit stations in case you need to locate a certain shop when at a major mall or transport hub. This is particularly helpful if you’re in a hurry to get food or buy a little memento before your departure. (I found a much-needed coffee shop and even a Greggs to taste a traditional sausage roll for the first time before leaving London using this Directory function.)
For example, just search for an airport and choose the Directory option at the bottom to go to it. This will display the floor location, business hours, and a list of amenities including dining choices, shops, lounges, and parking spaces.
2. Prior to visiting a place, find out how crowded it is.
I dislike crowds, did I mention that? I’ll just remain home if I believe a certain street, restaurant, or section of the city will be too crowded.
I use Google Maps’ “busyness” option to gauge how crowded a site is before I get there to avoid wasting time driving there just to turn around. In order to schedule my visits during off-peak hours, I look for a certain location, such as a coffee shop or store, and see a chart that illustrates its popularity at various times. I can see whether places are crowded or quieter than normal by touching the “Busy area” label, which allows me to see how busy bigger regions, such neighborhoods or districts, are.
To do this, use the Google Maps app on your iPhone or Android device (or use the browser on your PC) and look around the map. You may concentrate on places like a local town, downtown, or a riverwalk. You won’t need to look for particular sites to see how packed they are since the busyness information will show up on the map automatically.
When you click on a location that Google Maps indicates is a “Busy Area,” you’ll get information like “As busy as it gets” or “Not too busy.” Additionally, you may look for a certain site and scroll down to see when it’s crowded and when it’s not.
3. Schedule a reservation online
As a tourist, I want to strike a balance between planned activities or excursions and free time to explore at my own speed. That implies that although I wait and go with the flow on certain days, on others I’ll be careful to make reservations in advance.
It may be difficult to predict when you’ll feel hungry or need a boozy drink while traveling, particularly when you’re pushing yourself to explore every inch of a new city. When I don’t have reservations in advance, I use Google Maps to make bookings easy to arrange online rather than over the phone.
Here’s how:
To see a list of restaurants, use Google Maps and press the Restaurants icon at the top of the screen.
You may book a table or, if available, join a waitlist in the pop-up window after selecting the restaurant you want to try (keep in mind that not all restaurants allow this).
You may also choose a less busy location by using the Busyness function. Additionally, some eateries may not be open for dine-in, but they still provide curbside pickup, delivery, or outdoor sitting.
4. Use Google Maps when there is no cell service.
My family and I hiked across the Scottish countryside in May. It was green, lush, lovely, rainy, and very wet. There was absolutely no cellphone coverage since it was so far away and deep in the wilderness. Fortunately, I had foresight.
Even while you’re offline, Google Maps may still provide you with instructions if you’re traveling to a far-off place where you could lose your cell service. Here’s how:
Look up your location on Google Maps before you go.
Swipe to see the “More” button at the bottom of the menu that appears in the location window.
After selecting “Download offline map,” confirm the region you want to download, and then choose “Download” once again. A map of the chosen location will be saved to your phone via Google Maps.
You may use Google Maps to get directions after downloading the map. Maps will continue to direct you to the offline map if your signal is lost. Note that real-time traffic updates will not be provided when offline.
5. Let friends and relatives know where you are.
Although my sister and I get along well when we travel, it may be challenging to explore a new place since our hobbies are so different. For example, I may spend hours examining objects and artwork at museums, particularly art museums, which I really like exploring. Before grumbling, my sister can visit a museum for a good forty-five minutes.
We often split off for a short period of time so that each of us may do something we like in order to maintain harmony. The simple part is parting ways with them. The meeting backup might be challenging.
Being separated and unable to locate one another is the most annoying thing ever. After that, you make a desperate phone call and use evasive phrases like “I’m by the bridge” or “I’m next to the fountain” in an attempt to get back together.
Once again, Google Maps has saved my life by making it simple for me to reconnect. Select Location sharing after opening Google Maps and tapping your profile symbol in the upper right corner. You may pick who you want to share your location with and how long you want to share it by tapping Share location.
When you tap Share, everyone you’ve chosen will get your location.
Tap the person’s symbol at the top of the screen, then choose Request to see their location.
6. Make, distribute, and access curated lists
Google Maps’ listings feature
Make use of Google Maps’ lists function to save destinations you want to see while traveling.
When it comes to organizing a vacation, I really like lists. I go straight to TikTok after booking my trip, where I save video after video with suggested itineraries and travel advice. I then use my notes app to create a flexible itinerary that includes must-see restaurants, shops, and landmarks while on vacation.
The Notes app’s drawback is that it doesn’t indicate which places are close to one another. I would often enter locations into Google Maps to determine their distances and the approximate time it would take to go there by foot, car, or rail. While not making the most of my trip time planned, I would do this to make the most of my time touring the new cities.
In order to record future places and have them all in one location for convenient access, I decided to make my travel list using Google Maps at this point. To do this, use the + New list button under the You tab. Select an icon and give your list a name and description. Next, just navigate through the tabs until you find a location on the map that you want to visit, then click the Save button to add it to your list.
Planning your trip ahead of time is made simple by the ability to share the list with your other travelers and ask them to work together on it.
7. Give the reins to Gemini
Planning a trip or figuring out what to do in a crowded, unfamiliar city may sometimes be really difficult. When this occurs, I give way to Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini.
With the autumn 2024 update to Google Maps, you can now utilize Gemini to get ideas for your schedule and get suggestions from Google. Simply ask Gemini to propose the ideal restaurant for a family supper or activities to do on a wet day. Gemini will compile tailored recommendations based on Google evaluations and show them to you as pins on the map for exploration.
This function improves your trip planning experience and reduces stress by assisting you in finding customized eating and entertainment alternatives.