• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
  • EDIT Edit this Article
  • EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Forums Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
  • Browse Articles
  • Learn Something New
  • Quizzes Hot
  • Happiness Hub
  • This Or That Game
  • Train Your Brain
  • Explore More
  • Support wikiHow
  • About wikiHow
  • Log in / Sign up

How to Make a Travel Itinerary with Google Maps

Last Updated: August 16, 2024 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 113,890 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

Step 1 Sign in to My Maps on your web browser.

  • 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

Step 2 Create a new map through the home screen.

  • 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.”

Step 4 Search for places to visit on your 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.

Step 5 Add the locations of any places you want to visit to your map.

  • 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.

Step 6 Add descriptions 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.”

Step 7 Color-code your locations for convenience.

  • 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

Step 1 Organize your selected places with the “layers” function.

  • 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.

Step 2 Plan your travel routes using your Google Map.

  • 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!

Step 3 Use your map to create a daily schedule.

  • 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.

Step 4 Use the “Share” option to loop your friends in on travel plans.

  • 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

Step 5 Print your map for offline use.

  • 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

Cheat Royal Caribbean Drink Package

  • ↑ 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

About This Article

Stan Kats

  • Send fan mail to authors

Did this article help you?

make travel plan google maps

Featured Articles

17 Pro Tips to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle

Trending Articles

 Make a Fake Wound: 3 Easy Methods

Watch Articles

Make Dijon Mustard

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Info
  • Not Selling Info

Get all the best how-tos!

Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter

make travel plan google maps

No Place Like Anywhere

A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Google Maps for Travel Itinerary Planning

I do the same thing before every single trip.

I create a Google Map.

That’s it. The end. That’s the one thing I always do when planning a trip. 

But that’s not a very interesting blog is it? 🙂 Don’t worry.

I’m going to walk you through my process of creating a Google map for planning trips, step by step. I will show you the actual buttons to click to create a Google map and share the thought process behind how I organize my maps as well as how I use Google maps to plan itineraries.

Using Google Maps, I’ve actually planned more trips than we’ve taken! Planning trips for myself, my family, or others is how I relax in my downtime.. Hopefully, some of those trips will see the light of day!

But until then, let me share the method to my madness and teach you how to use Google Maps to create an itinerary!

How to use Google Maps to create an itinerary for every single trip 

Step 1: create the map.

Here are the simple steps you need to follow to create your own map using Google Maps.

  • Go to maps.google.com.
  • Click the hamburger menu in the top left hand corner. 
  • Click Saved. 
  • Click Maps, on the right side of the menu.
  • Click Create Map, at the bottom of the menu. 

make travel plan google maps

Step 2: Create the layers

When you first create a new map following the steps above, it looks like this.

make travel plan google maps

First give your map a title , so you can easily find it later. Click on the “untitled map” text to rename it. Click Save .

Next, name the untitled layer . Click the 3-dots menu and select Rename this layer . You will use at least two layers, and may choose to use more. 

Think of the layers as categories that you’ll use to bucket and group activities together. You get to decide on the organization of your map. You can toggle layers on and off at any time, as well as customize the aesthetics of each layer so your map is easy to read at a glance. 

I typically create one map per trip or per city, and then create the following layers: 

  • Important: This layer includes where we’ll be staying; primary metro station; nearest grocery store; friend/family addresses if we’re visiting them; must-know locations such as office or conference center, if it’s a work trip; daycare, if childcare is necessary; any pre-booked commitments, such as conferences, appointments, social events, presentations, etc.
  • Eating and Drinking: This layer includes all of the restaurants and bars that Justin thinks sounds interesting (I add things too, but he is in charge of our travel eating). 
  • To Do: Things that sound interesting or fun or go see or do. 

Feel free to use these layers to get you started, and add others that suit your travel preferences! If you know what you want your other layers to be, add them now by clicking the Add Layer button. 

Sometimes you may not know what your categories are when you start researching and planning. In the very early stages of planning a trip, you may not need any layers and you’ll just want to drop pins for any and all interesting attractions. In that case, forgo the many layers and just use one! You can drag-and-drop items from layer to layer later on.

make travel plan google maps

NOTE: Similarly, when dreaming and researching about longer-form future trips, involving many potential destinations, I create a layer per destination. This way I can see all of the places in relation to one another to get a high level view of things. It helps plan routes and decide what things to leave off or make the effort to include. 

Step 3: Do your research

As you research your destination, make a list of anything and everything that sounds interesting to you. Famous landmarks. Iconic architecture. Tours or excursions. Playgrounds or parks . Farmers markets. Hiking trails. Hole-in-the-wall donut shops. Speakeasies and craft breweries. Whatever strikes your fancy!!

When we travel as a family , I seek out as many f ree sites, attractions, and activities as possible. Things that we can easily see by simply walking by; areas where our kid can run around like a maniac; activities that let us better understand local culture. When we travel without our kid, our ABC lists change. We prioritize cocktail bars and other adult-only establishments, highly-rated restaurants, longer walks or more strenuous activities. Absolutely zero playgrounds.

Step 4: Add to your map

Now, one by one, add every single item from your research in Step 3 to your map , sorting them into the appropriate layers as you go. Think of these as map pins.

To add a map pin, type the name of the place into the search bar and click the magnifying glass to find it. It will zoom you way in, to the exact location of that place. 

Click the Add to map button. You’ve now added a map pin.

Often, steps 3 and 4 happen in tandem, as one step. It doesn’t matter the order. Maybe you build the map slowly over a few weeks, adding things every time you read about something interesting or a coworker tells you about another brewery you just have to try! Maybe you keep notes in a notebook and add all of the places in one go. Just make sure you add everything that sounds interesting to you and your travel companions – and that you’ve organized it! 

PRO TIP: Add details to the Title or Description of the map pin to remind yourself later why you added it. I like to include a link to the website and cost information!

Step 5: Customize your map legend. 

Maps should be quickly readable, at a glance, as you scroll around on your phone while walking. The whole point is quickly . And it’s hard to read a map quickly when every pin on the map looks exactly the same. 

Using the available style options, create your own map legend using a combination of colors and symbols. Each layer can have a uniform style, automatically applied to any existing or newly added items. Or each item in a layer can have its own individual style, which is usually what I opt for.

make travel plan google maps

I often make my “important” layer all one shade of red , but with individual icons indicating “home”, “train station”, “school”, etc. I usually use green + dining icon for restaurants (since they cost money). Sites I want to see all get the default map pin icon (usually because I’m too lazy to change so many items), however things that are free to look at or explore are usually blue, while paid activities will be another shade. If I have a LOT of one type of map pin, such as playgrounds or cenotes, I will highlight the top three that we can’t miss in red. 

Don’t be dogmatic about it! This legend does not need to be consistent across all of the maps you create. As you can see by the examples below, I am constantly tweaking my process! All that matters is that YOU understand the map when YOU look at it.

make travel plan google maps

Step 6: Look for areas of high-interest to build you itinerary

Where is the highest concentration of your map pins? Start there! Pick a destination, then start wandering intentionally! Figure out a loose walking route based on other interesting stops along the way, allowing yourself to see as many of the interesting stops as possible. Then walk out the door! That’s it! 🙂 

Explore some of the maps I’ve created for my family

Here are links to the REAL maps that I’ve created when planning trips for my family.

Playa del Carmen

We spent 4 weeks living and working in Playa del Carmen and 1 week on PTO. Read more about our adventures (because we did this twice — in 2023 and 2024)!

We spent 1 week living and working in Verdun and 1 week on PTO exploring the Montreal area. Read more about exactly what we did in Verdun and how we organized at two-week home exchange to make it happen!

Paris + Athens

We took our 5 year old to Europe on a pure PTO trip, including 5 nights in Paris, 7 nights on a cruise, and 4 nights in Athens. Read more about what we did here .

If you have any questions, let me know so I can answer them!

Why do you use Google Maps and not [Insert Fancy App Name]?

There are many reasons that I use good ole Google Maps: 

  • It is free to use. 
  • It’s easy to access from any device. 
  • Maps can easily be shared with anyone on any device. 
  • You can download the maps for offline access. 
  • GPS is a native functionality. 

Additionally, my life is already embedded in the Google universe and I have a Pixel phone. I feel comfortable and familiar with Google products, and they let me customize things 

Also, did I mention that Google Maps is free? 🙂 

What if I don’t want to use Google Maps? 

There are other map and trip planning apps that you can use. I don’t personally have experience with any of them so I can not recommend one over another. The list below is simply based on recommendations from other travel bloggers:

  • Roadtrippers
  • Trip Mapper

Related posts

Discover more from no place like anywhere.

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Type your email…

Questions, comments, ideas, jokes??? I want to hear from you! Cancel reply

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Create and share custom maps with Google My Maps.

Get started

Easily create custom maps with the places that matter to you.

Add points or draw shapes anywhere.

Find places and save them to your map.

Instantly make maps from spreadsheets.

Show your style with icons and colors. Add photos and videos to any place.

Share & collaborate

Allow friends to see and edit your maps, or publish them to the whole world.

Embed maps in your website or blog.

Work together on building your map, just like Google Docs.

Easily organize all your maps alongside your other documents in Google Drive.

Take anywhere

View custom maps in the Google Maps mobile app so you can find places on-the-go.

Find all your maps in the Your Places menu on Google Maps.

Chart your favorite places or explore a new city.

Save maps you find on the web and use them on-the-go.

Get started now

Roaming the Americas

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

' src=

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.

Recommended: Need an organized backpack to take on the road? Check out my favorite luggage for camping, road trips, and flying: the Cotopaxi Nazca 24L and Allpa 35L !

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”).

Google My Maps Create New 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.

Google My Maps Create New Map

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.

Google My Maps selected layer

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.

Google My Maps Change Title & Notes

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.

Google My Maps Add Directions

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.

Google My Maps Trip Planner - Sharing a Map

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.

Screen shot of desktop view of a custom My Map for Hawai'i

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.

' src=

Travel Photographer | FAA Certified Drone Pilot

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

  • How to Use Points for Free Flights
  • The Best Carry-On Luggage
  • The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Like a Pro
  • My Favorite Travel Credit Cards
  • lake louise
  • new orleans
  • new york city
  • palm springs
  • packing lists
  • product reviews
  • How to Use Vitamin C Serum
  • Easy Step-by-Step Skincare Routine
  • Drunk Elephant: Best & Worst Products
  • Fitness & Wellness
  • How I Edit My Photos for Instagram
  • Furniture My Interior Designer Loves
  • Best Strapless Bras
  • blogging & business
  • Amazon Finds
  • Hotel Lobby Candle
  • Shop My Faves
  • Promo Codes and Discounts
  • Shop My Instagram

Lindsay Silberman

How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner

make travel plan google maps

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.

How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner

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.)

Google Maps screenshot

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.

edit map title

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.

google maps add layer

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.

How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner

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.

google maps trip planner tutorial

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.

google maps group activities

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.

trip itinerary

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.

Pin this post for later:

how to plan a trip with google maps trip planner

You Also Might Like

make travel plan google maps

The Trendiest Restaurants in Miami: Here Are the Hottest Places to Go on Your Next Trip

what to wear for a passport photo

What To Wear For a Passport Photo

instagrammable places london

The 10 Most Instagrammable Places in London

10 comments.

' src=

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!

' src=

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!

' src=

Lindsay Silberman

yay!! So happy you found it helpful!

' src=

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

' src=

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

' src=

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

' src=

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

' src=

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!!

' src=

How do you view all maps at once ?

' src=

love this tutorial!! thank you

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

How to Apply Fake Nails Like a Nail Artist (in 15 Minutes or Less)

Here's exactly how to pack jewelry for travel.

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.

Custom road trip route using Google MyMaps

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”

How to create a new Google Maps for a road trip

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 :

How to create a custom travel map with location pins

  • 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.

Edit location pins to organize your custom Google Map road trip planning tool

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. .

How to edit locations and plan your road trip with google maps

. 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: 

Google Maps is the best road trip planning tool because you can organize with layers

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”.

How to use layers in Google Maps to create a custom travel itinerary

. 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).

How to add directions to plan your road trip with Google Maps

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!

Calculate your driving route

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”.

How to view step by step directions between location pins with road trip planning tools

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.

How to adjust your route in Google custom maps

. 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

Viewing your custom map on your phone

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!

How to plan your road trip with Google Maps

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.

Related Posts

make travel plan google maps

15 Useful Apps to Download Before Your Next Road Trip (for Free!)

make travel plan google maps

All You Need to Know About Renting a Car in Belize | Cost, Tips, FAQs – Updated Guide 2023

make travel plan google maps

19 Important Things to Know About Ecuador Before You Go

28 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 […]

' src=

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!

' src=

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

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

' src=

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 :-)

' src=

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 […]

' src=

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) […]

[…] a large geographical area you need to give your trip a bit of structure. You can start by using Google Maps to plot and plan your journey so you can make a note of all the destinations you are interested in. You can then agree on a few […]

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

' src=

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 […]

' src=

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

' src=

Thanks very much, it is really helpful

' src=

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.

' src=

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

' src=

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.

' src=

Hey so this is the most amazing thing ive ever seen, however i wasnt able to access the travel expense planner or gas mileage calculator things, i was wondering if there was another way to access those:)

Leave A Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

WANT TO SAVE MONEY TRAVELING?

Check out the travel resources →

Check out my list of reliable budget-friendly travel resources that are guaranteed to save you the most money, without compromising your experience.

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins Error: There is no connected account for the user 17841400792270379.

Get in touch

Contact Portfolio Let’s work together

Explore the blog

Destinations Guides and itineraries Travel planning tips

Let’s connect

Never miss an adventure, privacy policy | terms of service | disclaimer | by zazen designs.

Back to top

How to Make a Google Travel Itinerary: A Step-by-Step Guide

Planning a trip can be a bit overwhelming, but with a Google travel itinerary, you can have all your plans laid out in an organized manner. This handy tool allows you to map out your entire trip, from flights and hotels to attractions and dining. With just a few clicks, you can have a clear, easy-to-follow plan that will make your travel experience a breeze.

Step by Step Tutorial: Creating a Google Travel Itinerary

Before we dive into the steps, let’s talk about what we’re aiming to achieve. By the end of this tutorial, you will have a personalized travel itinerary that’s stored in your Google account, accessible from anywhere, and easy to share with fellow travelers. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Open Google Maps

To create your itinerary, you’ll need to start with Google Maps.

Once you open Google Maps, ensure you’re signed in with the Google account you want to use for your itinerary. This will allow you to save places and access your itinerary across devices.

Step 2: Search for your destination

Type in the location of your trip to begin plotting your itinerary.

You can be as broad as a city or as specific as an address or landmark. This will be your starting point for building your itinerary.

Step 3: Use the ‘Save’ feature

When you find a place you want to visit, click on it and hit the ‘Save’ button.

You’ll have options to save to various lists like “Want to go” or “Starred places”. You can also create a new list specifically for your trip.

Step 4: Create a new list for your trip

Make a new list for your travel itinerary to keep everything organized.

Name your list something clear and memorable, like “Paris Trip 2021”. This will help you easily find it later.

Step 5: Add all your spots to the list

Keep searching and saving all the places you want to visit to your trip list.

Don’t forget to add restaurants, museums, parks, and even your hotel or rental. You can also add notes to each place if you have specific things you want to remember.

Step 6: Share your itinerary

If you’re traveling with others, share your list with them through Google Maps.

Click on your list, then select ‘Share’ to send it to friends or family. They can then view and even collaborate by adding their own spots.

After completing these steps, you’ll have a comprehensive Google travel itinerary tailored to your trip. You can pull it up on your phone while you’re out and about, or print it as a backup. It’s a convenient way to keep all your travel details in one place.

Tips for a Google Travel Itinerary

  • Tip: Utilize the ‘Notes’ feature on each place to add reservation details or other important information.
  • Tip: Check the opening hours and days for attractions and add them to your notes to avoid surprises.
  • Tip: Use the ‘Label’ feature to categorize places, like “Must-see” or “Food spots”.
  • Tip: Regularly review and update your itinerary as plans change or you discover new places.
  • Tip: If you have specific dates for places, set calendar reminders linked to your itinerary list for an extra layer of organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i access my google travel itinerary on my phone.

You can easily access your itinerary on your phone by opening the Google Maps app and going to ‘Saved’ > ‘Your lists’ and selecting your trip list.

Can I add flights and hotels to my Google travel itinerary?

While Google Maps doesn’t directly let you add flights and hotels, you can save the location of your hotel and use notes to add flight details.

Is there a way to get directions for the entire day’s itinerary?

You can select the places on your list in order and use the ‘Directions’ feature to map out your day. However, you’ll need to do this daily as it doesn’t save.

Can I make changes to my itinerary after sharing it?

Absolutely! You can make changes to your itinerary at any time, and anyone with access can see the updates in real-time.

What happens if I lose internet access while traveling?

It’s a good idea to download your itinerary area in Google Maps for offline use, or print out a copy as a backup.

  • Open Google Maps and make sure you’re logged in.
  • Search and save your destination spots.
  • Create a new list for your trip.
  • Add all places to this list.
  • Share the list with fellow travelers for collaboration.

Creating a Google travel itinerary is a fantastic way to stay organized and make the most out of your travels. It’s a flexible tool that not only helps you plan but also keeps track of all the exciting places you want to explore. Whether you’re a meticulous planner or prefer a more spontaneous approach, a Google travel itinerary can accommodate your style. Plus, with the ability to share and collaborate, it’s perfect for group trips where everyone wants a say. So, next time you’re planning a trip, remember to give Google Maps a try for your itinerary needs. Safe travels and happy planning!

Matthew Burleigh Solve Your Tech

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

Share this:

Join our free newsletter.

Featured guides and deals

You may opt out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy

Related posts:

  • iOS 17: How to Install Google Maps on Your iPhone
  • How to Connect Spotify with Google Maps on an iPhone 11
  • Setting Google Maps as Your Default on iPhone 14: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Create Routes in Google Maps on iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Clear Previous Google Maps iPhone Entries: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Use Google Maps with Two Destinations: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Make All Columns the Same Width in Excel 2013
  • Getting Google Driving Directions in Words: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Delete Recent Searches on Google Maps iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Calculate Walking Distance on Google Maps: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Search Coordinates on Google Maps: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • Waze vs. Google Maps: Which Navigation App is Superior?
  • How Do I Add a Google Calendar to My iPhone?
  • How to Get Google Maps on an iPhone
  • How to Add My Business on Google Maps: A Step-by-Step Guide
  • How to Insert Text Box in Google Docs
  • How to Do a Hanging Indent on Google Docs
  • How to Turn Off Maps on Apple Watch
  • Where is the Google Maps Car? Find Out When It’s Coming to You
  • How to Print Google Maps Directions: A Step-by-Step Guide

make travel plan google maps

How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner (2024)

Headshot of Rene Emery

Travel planning a dream trip is fun — but it can also bring a lot of anxiety. To give yourself peace of mind you can follow travel guides, copy other people’s plans, or (my favorite) you can use Google Maps trip planner to design your own ideal vacation. You can use Google’s app or web interface to:

  • Add destination points
  • Color code locations that you pin
  • Get directions to multiple destinations
  • Plan the perfect trip

I’m going to give you a step-by-step guide and instructions on how I used Google My Maps to plan an itinerary for a 3-day trip to Florence. But first, let’s look at why Google Maps is such a great trip planning tool.

💡Looking for a way to plan the most efficient route? Check out How To Route With Multiple Stops On Google Maps .

Why Google Maps is a great trip planner

A survey found that 97% of respondents were happier when they had a trip planned. Mindset and mood change when you have something to look forward to — but without an itinerary in place, this excitement can turn to anxiety.

Here are my four top reasons why you can, and should, use Google Maps to plan a road trip or vacation:

1. Integration with other Google products

Your Google account connects you to a number of different products that work really well together to make life easier during your travels. You can:

  • Create a custom map and then copy it to your Google Drive.
  • Plan out each day’s agenda in Google Calendar, with exact locations and map links included.
  • Use Google Sheets to budget for your vacation or road trip.
  • Use location names in Google Photos so your pictures are easy to find and organize.

Google’s deep product integrations make it easier to plan recreational trips and learn more about the places you plan to visit.

2. Reviews and additional location data

The Google Maps app on your phone doesn’t have all the features of the desktop version. But if you plan out your trip on the app, you can move seamlessly between the two so that you can read:

  • Reviews from other visitors
  • Information about your places, including website URLs and opening and closing times
  • Things to do nearby

A lot of reviews include useful travel tips. For example, when I was planning my trip to Florence I read the reviews for the Uffizi Gallery, a must-visit place for me. That’s how I found out that even though you can buy tickets on the same day, the queues are long, so it’s better to buy tickets in advance.

3. Easy access to trip itinerary

Some people keep their trip itineraries in a spreadsheet or document, but I love the combination of Google Calendar and the Google Maps trip planner. I can visualize exactly where I plan to go each day, and see instantly what’s around it. Google Maps routes are a breeze to create and make it easy for me to check travel times, no matter whether I’m walking, driving, using public transit or taking a taxi. 

4. Personalized notes and labels 

Worried you’ll forget something important? Just open Google Maps, go to your trip planner, and add notes to your places. For example, I’m likely to forget to preorder tickets! So I create an event in Google Calendar to remind me, link the location to the event and add all the notes I need in Maps.

How to use Google Maps to plan your trip

Now, here comes the fun part — planning your trip. Here’s how I do it:

1. Create a new custom map

Screenshots of “create a map” button and the map naming screen.

To start planning your trip with Google Maps, visit https://www.google.com/mymaps . On your My Maps dashboard, click the “Create a New Map” button.

Maps will open up, and you’ll have lots of options here. Start by giving your map a name. Click “Untitled Map,” and a dialog box will open up where you can add the map’s name and a description.

For this example, I’m planning a 3-day trip to Florence, Italy. So let’s call this map “3 Days in Florence.” 

Once you’ve given your map a name, you can start adding your locations.

2. Add and customize your locations

Screenshot of how to add a pin to google maps.

Now, here comes the fun part — adding all of the places you want to visit during your trip. I’m going to assume that you already have a list of places, but if not, take this time to research the city and make a list of sightseeing spots. 

Having a list will make the planning process much quicker and easier. 

In Google Maps, your locations are “pins.” To start adding pins, use the search bar to search for the place of interest. 

Let’s start with one of the most famous sights in Florence: The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo.

Maps will zoom in on the place you search, and you’ll have the option to “Add to Map.” Click or tap this button, and the point of interest will be added to your map layer.

Screenshots of how to change pin colors and icons in google maps.

If you want to keep your pins more organized, you can change the color and icon for each point of interest. 

You’ll see a paint can icon when you hover over the location. Click it to open up your customization options. Google Maps gives you a wide range of icons to choose from, including ones for monuments, museums, gardens, and more. 

These icons make it a little easier to see what each destination is at a glance. And that can help make the next step easier, too.

3. Break your trip down into layers (categories)

Screenshot of how to add a layer to google maps

Planning a trip is fun and exciting, but it can easily become chaotic and messy if you don’t organize things. Breaking your trip down into layers (or categories) will help you keep track of everything you want to do.

In this example, I’m planning a short trip to Florence. It makes sense to break my trip down into days, so I know which points of interest I want to visit each day. In this case, each day will be a new layer or category.

To organize things, I can click on “Add layer.” Each layer will be a new “category.” 

Once you click “Add layer,” you’ll have the option to name it. Delete “untitled layer” and add your own name. In this example, I’m going to add three layers and name them “Day 1,” “Day 2,” and “Day 3.” 

Once that’s set up, I can start organizing my points of interest for each day.

When planning your trip, you can add whatever categories (or layers) you want as long as they are relevant to your trip. 

For example, if you’re planning a road trip intinerary, you may choose to break your trip down into cities and add points of interest within each city. Maybe you want to have categories for food or specific points of interest. The great thing about using Google Maps is that you can customize it to your own traveling style and tastes.

How many layers can you add to a map?

Layers can keep your map organized, but don’t get too overzealous with them. There is a limit to how many layers you can add: 10.

If you’re planning a big and complex trip, you may need to plan out your layers or categories carefully. 

How many location pins can you add to each layer?

You can add up to 2,000 separate pins to each map you create in My Maps.

4. Plan your itinerary

Screenshot of moving layers on maps

With all of your categories created, it’s time to start planning your itinerary. You can easily move points of interest into different layers (or categories) to plan things out. Just click and drag the pin to wherever you want it to go.

In our example, I created three layers (one for each day), so to plan my itinerary, I dragged each point of interest into its respective layer.

But what if you’re not breaking your trip up into days? What if you’re categorizing your points of interest by city or type (museums, restaurants, etc.) No problem! You can create your layers in whatever way makes most sense to you. The point is that Google My Maps makes it easy to visualize your trip. At a glance, you can see which points of interest are close to each other. That makes it easy to create your itinerary on paper or in a digital planner.

5. Start booking

Now that you have your trip planned out, you can start:

  • Booking your hotels
  • Scheduling car rentals 
  • Reserving tickets for events or museums

Consider booking as far ahead as possible. If you wait too long, you may find that tickets and rooms are sold out.

6. Share your map

If you’re traveling with friends or family, you can share your map and itinerary with them. 

Here’s how:

  • Head back to the main Google My Maps dashboard
  • Click the share button (the arrow icon) on the map you just created

You can share your map via Facebook, email, or Twitter. You can also embed your map on your website if you have one. 

7. Access your map on your phone

You’ve created your map and shared it with your friends. But to use it on your phone, you’ll need to make sure that you have the Google Maps app installed. 

Here’s how to access your maps on mobile devices:

  • Open the Google Maps app
  • At the bottom, tap Maps
  • Choose your trip’s map from the list

Can you use your phone to create or edit Google maps?

Technically, you can create or edit maps on your phone. But you’ll need to use your browser to create and edit them — not the Google Maps app.

Road trip planning vs. city trip planning

Google Maps can be a great route planner, but you’ll need to take different approaches for planning road trips and city trips.

Road trips are a little more complicated, right? You’re driving from one place to the next, and at each stop, you may have a few places you want to visit. If you’re just visiting a single city, planning is much simpler. Just pick your points, add them to your map, and go.

Tips for road trip planning

  • Create a layer for each stop you’re making on your trip
  • Add pins to each layer, so you don’t miss any points of interest at each stop
  • Include hotels that are on your route, so you can make an impromptu stop if you need 

Tips for city trip planning

  • If you’re staying multiple days, create a layer for each day, and add pins for each day (just like in my example)
  • If you’re only staying one day, create a layer for each type of activity, and choose spots as you go through the day

How to use your Google Maps itinerary/wishlist on the go

You’ve created and shared your map, and you’ve downloaded the Google Maps app. Now what?

Here’s how to use your Map on the go:

  • Start by opening up Google Maps and tapping your Map.
  • To view all of your pinned locations, tap “View map legend.”
  • You won’t be able to tap any of the locations. The only thing you can do is view your itinerary. 
  • If you want to add directions, navigate back out to the main Map. Tap one of your points of interest, then tap the “Directions” button at the bottom of the map.
  • The route planning screen will pop-up. Type in your next location, and Maps will find the best route for you.

By default, you’ll see the driving directions for your next stop. But at the top of the screen, you can change your mode of transport to walking, biking, or public transport.

Maps will change your step-by-step directions automatically based on your mode of transport.

Now, the only thing left to do is enjoy your trip!

Try it for yourself

Want to give the Google Maps trip planner a try for yourself?

We’ve created a starter map with some of the best stops in Vancouver, which is where we’re based — see it here . You’re welcome to copy it, and use it to test out the steps above. Change icon colors, or add your own places.

Here are a few other fun maps to play with:

  • A cycle route with beer stops
  • Bike routes around Vancouver  

Once you get the hang of using Google Maps, you can start planning your own trip. Add location pins of your must-see locations, and create a map of your bucket list of cafes, museums, stores, and restaurants to see how easy it is to plan your next trip.

Headshot of Rene Emery

Frequently Asked Questions

Does google have a trip planning app.

Screenshot of Uffizi Gallery reviews

Yes, there is a Google trip planning app, and you may have heard of it: “Google Trips.” However, the app’s users were redirected to Google Travel when it was shut down in 2019. You can use the Travel web app to plan your trip ( click here to try it).

There isn’t a mobile app available on Android or iOS, but you can still use it on the official website.

Google Travel allows you to:

  • View popular destinations
  • View plane ticket costs and average hotel room costs
  • Research top sites, hotels, rentals, flights, and more

Users can save destinations for their trip and add them to their travel plans. For example, I want to visit the Uffizi Gallery, and when I click on it, I see:

  • Pin on the map

If you don’t want to miss one of the places on your bucket list during your next trip, you can add multiple destinations and points of interest right to your travel plan.

Can you see how much time it will take to reach a pinned destination? 

You can use Google Maps to get directions for your road trip or for walking. Open up your trip map, and you’ll notice toward the bottom left of the screen, it will say “Directions from” and the name of your location pins.

Next to the directions layer, you’ll want to:

  • Tap the three dots
  • Click step-by-step directions

You’ll now see directions for each of the days that you have planned, the best route to take, and an easy way to judge if you can fit all of the places on your bucket list into each day.

Can you use the directions layers to navigate?

No, you cannot use the directions layers to navigate around the map. You will have to open the Google Maps app and navigate from there.

What’s the difference between Google My Maps and Google Maps Lists?

Google My Maps is more advanced and customizable than a simple Maps list. If you add places that you want to go on Lists, you’ll only have access to:

  • Location name
  • Location address
  • Reviews of the location
  • Operating hours
  • Type of location

You can add notes to the places that you add to Lists.

If you add too many places to your list, it can be overwhelming to manage your trip. My Maps allows you to add categories, which makes visualizing your trip more intuitive.

Is there an app for Google My Maps?

‌You’ll need to use the Google Maps App ( Android and iPhone ) to access My Maps. You will need a Google account to:

  • Create a new Google map 
  • View your custom map across platforms

You can access My Maps by opening the mobile app, tapping Saved, and continuing using the trip planner. Users can add points of interest to the map, access the directions layer and view their starting point for each day planned.

Can you use custom Google My Maps offline?

‌You can launch the Google Maps app offline and download maps for the location. However, you cannot access your own map with your points of interest or layers. Offline maps cannot be customized.

Related articles

Liked this article? See below for more recommended reading!

Simple illustration of a stylized road with route markers along it. Text reads "How to plan a route with multiple stops in Google Maps".

How To Route With Multiple Stops On Google Maps

Decorative graphic repeating the post title with a Google Maps screenshot.

How To Optimize Multi-Stop Routes With Google Maps (2024)

TheTravelDeck

HOW TO USE GOOGLE MAPS TRIP PLANNER IN 7 STEPS

Google maps is the best tool to create detailed travel plans and itineraries

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.

Google maps is far much more than an app to get directions and find out where places are. It is a great tool for planning any sort of trip.

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.

To start creating a travel plan using google maps first click on the hamburger icon

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.

This where I give each map a title and often even write a description so in the future if I need to find something it will be easier

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.

Clicking on add to map adds that place on the google map itself and also puts that place in a menu

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.

Click the bucket icon to change color or the pin icon

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.

Adding a layer in google maps travel planner

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.

Creating layers in google maps

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.

Downloading the file to view map even when offline

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!!

Do you want to know useful travel tips without even searching?

Subscribe to our email list to receive tips and detailed itineraries for amazing places around the world that will spark your travel inspiration.

Follow Us On Pinterest .

2 thoughts on “HOW TO USE GOOGLE MAPS TRIP PLANNER IN 7 STEPS”

The articles you write help me a lot and I like the topic

I like this. I posted this on my LinkedIn and my followers enjoyed it! Keep up the good work. 🙂

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Privacy Overview

into the bold logo

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

Author Image

by  Annie  

Published:  March 8, 2022

image of Google Maps with starred places

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

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

How to Plan a Trip With Google Maps in 4 Steps

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tips for Customizing Your Google Maps

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

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

image of bookmarked places

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

image of adding a bookmark to a place so you can plan a trip in Google Maps

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

Planning an Itinerary With Google Maps

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

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

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

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

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

image showing how to create a custom map

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

image showing how to add a destination to a custom route

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

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

image showing what driving directions look like

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

image showing how to add driving directions to a custom map

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

image showing multiple custom routes to help you plan a trip with Google Maps

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

image showing distance and drive time between stops on a route

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

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

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

image showing how to delete a place from a custom map

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

image showing how to add places and customize them when you plan a trip with Google Maps

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

image showing how to change the color of a marker in Google Maps

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

image showing group of customized icons in Google Maps. This is what a finished map looks like when you plan a trip with Google Maps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Share in the comments!

Love it? Share it!

Pin it for later...

How to Plan a Trip with Google Maps Pinterest image

Get new posts, travel deals, and inspiration right to your inbox!

Share this:

Keep Reading...

5 Unique & Easy International Travel Destinations for Your Next Trip

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

About the author 

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

That was a super helpful post, Annie.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

how to be bold

Ready to see the world on your terms?

Get travel inspiration, resources and everything you need to, create your next adventure delivered right to your inbox..

Never Miss a Post Again

Be sure to get all travel planning tips, inspiration, and destination info delivered right to your inbox. 

  • INSIDER REVIEWS
  • TECH BUYING GUIDES

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

William antonelli   .

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.

READ MORE ARTICLES ON

  • Tech Insider
  • Tech Reference
  • Software Apps Reference
  • Tech How To
  • Google Maps
  • Trip Planning

Popular Right Now

Advertisement

Google Maps

  • Google Travel

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

Avatar for Andrew Romero

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.

Site default logo image

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.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

make travel plan google maps

Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:

Google Maps

Andrew Romero's favorite gear

Google Pixel 7 Pro

Google Pixel 7 Pro

Pixel Watch

Pixel Watch

make travel plan google maps

Manage push notifications

make travel plan google maps

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.

WillAntonelli

  • Main content

7 Maps and Lens features to use on your next trip

Apr 03, 2023

[[read-time]] min read

An illustration of a woman cycling through different cities

Organizing the perfect vacation is one of the most stressful parts of traveling, but it can be easy (and even fun!) with the right tools. From planning your trip to exploring on the ground — here are some of the best ways you can use Google Maps and Lens to hack your summer travel.

Scope out places before you visit with immersive view

When you’re researching places to go, immersive view in Google Maps can help you make a more informed decision. Not only can you see a photorealistic view of an area, but you’ll also be able to get helpful information — like what the weather will be like at different times of day or when a spot gets most crowded. Indoor views even help you understand the vibe of a restaurant or cafe so you can choose the place that’s right for you.

Immersive view is live in London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo and it’ll launch in Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice in the coming months.

Stay organized with the Recents tab on desktop Google Maps

To make trip planning easier, we’ll automatically organize places you’ve searched for on Maps by city with the new Recents tab on desktop. Found your favorite places? Share them with your travel buddy or save them to a new list. The Recents tab launches on desktop globally starting next week.

The Recents tab on desktop Google Maps makes it easy to stay organized while trip planning, and share your favorite places with friends and family.

Identify landmarks, artwork, plants, animals, and more with Lens

Once you’ve reached your destination, it’s time to start exploring with Lens as your tour guide. Use Lens in the Google app ( Android and iOS ) to search with your camera and answer questions like “who built that statue” or “what’s this pretty flower?”. When in doubt, Lens can figure it out.

Discover local cuisine with multisearch in Lens

With multisearch in Lens, you can combine words and images to find what you’re looking for in a whole new way – including information from the millions of local businesses on Google. Perhaps you saw a photo of a delicious looking pastry online, but don’t know what it’s called. Just take a screenshot, open it with Lens in the Google app, add the words “near me” to your search, and you’ll find nearby restaurants that serve what you’re looking for. Multisearch near me is now beginning to roll out globally.

Multisearch near me makes it easy to find local cuisine

Navigate with AR using Live View on Maps — indoors and out

In a new city, it can be hard to know which way to walk. With Live View in Maps, you’ll see AR arrows that point you exactly where you need to go. You can even use Live View indoors to navigate places like airports, helping you easily find your baggage claim or car rental. And when you’re out, search with Live View lets you find things around you — like ATMs, restaurants, parks and transit stations - and see helpful information like when they’re open and how highly they’re rated.

Search with Live View can help you find your way around cities like New York, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo plus Barcelona, Dublin and Madrid in the coming months.

Explore on wheels with bike and scooter share information on Maps

Sometimes, there’s nothing like zooming through a new city — and bike and scooter share information on Maps can make this a breeze. Just select your destination, tap on directions, and scroll to the cycling option. You'll see nearby bikes and scooters, battery levels for electric options, and even if there’s a docking station for when you’re done.

Bike and scooter information is available on Google Maps in more than 500 cities globally like Berlin, New York, and São Paulo on both Android and iOS.

Ready to make travel plans now that you’ve got expert tips in your back pocket? Check out new ways we’re improving your travel experience on Search. We’ll be there every step of the way — all you have to do is book and explore!

Related stories

Open Buildings

How we used AI to build our newest Open Buildings dataset

10-22-24_Elections-Search-Maps (1)

Find voting information on Google Search and Maps

Lens Voice Input

How to use Google Lens to ask questions out loud about what you see

lens updates for shopping header

3 ways visual search helps you shop

Streetview collage (2)

How Street View helped a man discover a memory of his grandfather

Sustainable Maps x Billie_v2

Billie Eilish and Google Maps help fans travel sustainably

Let’s stay in touch. Get the latest news from Google in your inbox.

How to use Google My Maps to plan your trip

How to set up, share and use Google’s customized map view

Google My Maps open in Google Chrome, showing a custom map

  • Quick steps

Tools and requirements

  • How to use Google My Maps

Whether you’re planning a holiday or a day trip, having the ability to plan your trip with more granularity is a real boon, so it’s worth learning how to use Google My Maps to help you get organized. 

Google Maps is undoubtedly one of the best wayfinding software available, but there are some features Google likes to split off into separate services.

One such example is the ability to customize your maps, which is currently housed under Google My Maps , allowing you to plan custom routes, set multiple markers, and add details like notes, colored labels, and more.

For example, the map above shows a map of some of the most popular destinations in Paris, with added detail in the form of summaries and different layers for different types of locations.

Below, we’ve included instructions on how to do a basic set-up, as well as some optional steps to really make your map sing.

Steps for how to use Google My Maps

  • Head to Google My Maps and log in to your Google account
  • Create and name a new map
  • Input or import your destinations
  • Customize tags, labels, and imagery
  • Google account
  • Desktop browser

Step by step guide for how to use Google My Maps

1. head to google my maps and create a map.

Google My Maps open in Google Chrome, showing where to create a new map

First, open Google My Maps and sign in to your Google account. In the top left hand corner of the screen, you’ll see a button titled “Create a new pin". Click this , then name your map by clicking the map title field in the index on the left side of the screen.

2. Add pins for your destinations

Google My Maps open in Google Chrome, showing where drop pins

Next, you'll want to add pins for the destinations on your map. You can do this either by using the search bar as you would on the standard Google Maps, or by pressing the pin logo, which will change your mouse into a crosshair and allow you to manually place your destination. 

3. Label and describe the destinations

Google My Maps open in Google Chrome, showing where to add titles, description and photos to your map

A box will appear, in which you can type your own label for the location (or use whatever comes up in the text box search, if you used that method), add a short description or any notes, and even add media to the location.

This media can either be uploaded from your device, from a URL, from your Google Drive, from Google Image search results, or from YouTube.

4. (Optional) Add lines or directions

Screenshot showing how to add directions or lines to your Google My Maps

If you're traveling by foot, car or by bike, you can press the three circles connected by dots below the search bar (pictured above) to draw lines or directions between your destinations . You can choose to type the destinations directly into the index on the left side of the page or simply click on existing pins to connect them .

5. (Optional) Customize your map

Screenshot of Google My maps how to customize

There are lots of ways to make your map bright, colorful, and detailed.

By clicking the paint can icon on a pin or in the index bar next to the pin's name in the index, you can change the pin color or icon.

By clicking the dropdown menu titled 'Base map' at the bottom of the index, you can change the topography of your map. 

You can also separate your pins out into layers by clicking 'add layer', allowing you to check or uncheck the visibility of given layers and separate destinations by any filter you might need; what day of the trip you'll be visiting, what kind of location they are, etc. 

6. (Optional) Share and/or publish your map

Screenshot of Google My Maps highlighting how to share your map

When your map is ready, you can either share it with your families or travel buddies, or you can publish it online for your blog, social media, or project.

Clicking share will bring up a window with the sharing options, allowing you to toggle your map's visibility, searchability, and if your details are attached to the map, as well as its share link and an option to share on drive.

To see what it will look like to non-collaborators, click the preview button.

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Josephine Watson ( @JosieWatson ) is TechRadar's Managing Editor - Lifestyle. Josephine is an award-winning journalist (PPA 30 under 30 2024), having previously written on a variety of topics, from pop culture to gaming and even the energy industry, joining TechRadar to support general site management. She is a smart home nerd, champion of TechRadar's sustainability efforts as well and an advocate for internet safety and education. She has used her position to fight for progressive approaches towards diversity and inclusion, mental health, and neurodiversity in corporate settings. Generally, you'll find her fiddling with her smart home setup, watching Disney movies, playing on her Switch, or rewatching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings... again.

Kevin Bacon, Julianne Moore, Thom Yorke, and 10K+ creators sign warning against AI use of their work

Want to experience Apple Intelligence on your Mac? You can opt into the macOS Sequoia 15.1 beta version to try it

Apple could soon take on Discord with a new App Store-like app for gamers

Most Popular

 alt=

  • 2 VMware forced to patch critical vCenter Server RCE flaw for a second time following bad patch
  • 3 Polar's new Vantage M3 could be the ultimate sports companion
  • 4 These 5 new features are about to make Google Messages more secure
  • 5 Samsung Health just got one of MyFitnessPal's best features

make travel plan google maps

  • Help Center
  • Google Maps
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Submit feedback

Plan your commute or trip

Find ways to get to relevant places.

  • On your computer, open Google Maps . Make sure you’re signed in.
  • Get directions to relevant places : Click a place in the list. You’ll get places based on your Gmail, Calendar and recent travel history.
  • Get directions to saved places: If you saved your work or home address in your Google Account, click Home or Work . You can edit your home or work addresses in your Google Account.  Learn how to set your work and home addresses .

Driving

Learn more about your surroundings

  • Find places of interest: Click an option, such as Restaurants, Hotels or More.

Was this helpful?

Need more help, try these next steps:.

IMAGES

  1. How to Use Google Maps Trip Planner [6 Easy Steps]

    make travel plan google maps

  2. How to Use Google Maps Trip Planner: An Easy Step-by-Step Guide

    make travel plan google maps

  3. How to Make a Travel Itinerary with Google Maps: 12 Steps

    make travel plan google maps

  4. How to Use Google Maps to Plan an Unforgettable Trip

    make travel plan google maps

  5. How To Plan A Trip On Google Maps

    make travel plan google maps

  6. How to Make a Travel Itinerary with Google Maps: 12 Steps

    make travel plan google maps

VIDEO

  1. Imprimer un plan Google maps

  2. How To Make Custom Routes In Google Map's Full Guide! (2024)

  3. An Offbeat Place Where Google Do not Work Properly #Kendua Village

  4. Master Travel Planning with AI

  5. Google Maps Travel Hacks: Sneak Peek Conversation

  6. Mastering Google Travel: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Dream Vacation #googletravel #google

COMMENTS

  1. How to Make a Travel Itinerary with Google Maps: 12 Steps

    5. Add the locations of any places you want to visit to your map. A white box will appear with some additional information on the location. At the bottom of this box, there will be a text that says "Add to map.". Click on this text, and it will appear on the white box on the left side of your screen.

  2. An easier way to plan and organize your trips with Google

    When you're on-the-go or visiting a new place, we'll do more to highlight things to do, restaurants and more with Google Maps. For instance, last year we made it easier to find the best places to see and things to do when using Google Maps to explore a new place. Now, we'll also help you get the lay of the land when you're traveling by ...

  3. How to Use Google Maps for Trip Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide

    Step 1: Create the map. Here are the simple steps you need to follow to create your own map using Google Maps. Go to maps.google.com. Click the hamburger menu in the top left hand corner. Click Saved. Click Maps, on the right side of the menu. Click Create Map, at the bottom of the menu.

  4. My Maps

    Make maps. Easily create custom maps with the places that matter to you. Add points or draw shapes anywhere. Find places and save them to your map. Instantly make maps from spreadsheets. Show your ...

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

    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.

  6. How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner

    Here's a step-by-step guide to using Google Maps to coordinate your next getaway — with a completely flawless travel plan. ... Make a New Google Map. To get started, ... 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! Reply. Lisa January 24, 2020 ...

  7. How to Use Google Maps to Plan Your Next Road Trip (Step-By-Step

    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.

  8. How to Make a Google Travel Itinerary: A Step-by-Step Guide

    Step 1: Open Google Maps. To create your itinerary, you'll need to start with Google Maps. Once you open Google Maps, ensure you're signed in with the Google account you want to use for your itinerary. This will allow you to save places and access your itinerary across devices.

  9. Google Maps

    Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

  10. How To Use Google Maps Trip Planner (2024)

    You can use Google Maps to get directions for your road trip or for walking. Open up your trip map, and you'll notice toward the bottom left of the screen, it will say "Directions from" and the name of your location pins. Next to the directions layer, you'll want to: Tap the three dots. Click step-by-step directions.

  11. HOW TO USE GOOGLE MAPS TRIP PLANNER IN 7 STEPS

    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.

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

    Step 1 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Create A Custom Map. Step 2 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Add Your Major Stops. Step 3 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Add Destination Info. Step 4 to Plan a Trip with Google Maps: Outline Your Itinerary. Conclusion. Your Turn.

  13. Plan your commute or trip

    On your computer, open Google Maps. Make sure you're signed in. On the left, choose an option: Get directions to relevant places: Click a place in the list. You'll get places based on your Gmail, Calendar, and recent travel history. Get directions to saved places: If you saved your work or home address in your Google Account, click Home or ...

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

    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 ...

  15. How to use Google's travel tools and Maps to plan a trip

    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 ...

  16. Travel Tips: How to use Google Maps to Plan Your Travels

    How to use Google Maps to Plan Your Travels: this is my absolute favorite way to travel plan so I thought I'd put together a step-by-step how-to guide to mak...

  17. How to Use Google Maps As a Trip Planner

    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 ...

  18. 7 Google Maps and Lens features to help you travel smarter

    The Recents tab launches on desktop globally starting next week. The Recents tab on desktop Google Maps makes it easy to stay organized while trip planning, and share your favorite places with friends and family. Identify landmarks, artwork, plants, animals, and more with Lens. Once you've reached your destination, it's time to start ...

  19. How to use Google My Maps to plan your trip

    1. Head to Google My Maps and create a map. First, open Google My Maps and sign in to your Google account. In the top left hand corner of the screen, you'll see a button titled "Create a new ...

  20. Plan your commute or trip

    On your computer, open Google Maps. Make sure you're signed in. Get directions to relevant places: Click a place in the list. You'll get places based on your Gmail, Calendar and recent travel history. Get directions to saved places: If you saved your work or home address in your Google Account, click Home or Work.