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5 Tools to Take an Auto-Guided Google Street View Tour
Google Maps is a great travel guide. Now you can even set Street View on auto-pilot and let it take you on the world's most scenic drives. Here are 5 tools that make this possible.
Hitting the road for a scenic drive can be a surprisingly relaxing experience. Unfortunately, you're not always guaranteed a good trip. The weather can ruin the experience in a moment, not to mention the traffic.
Luckily, with Google Street View, you can comfortably explore the world from your desk. But if you want to take a tour of the streets from your computer, Google Maps doesn't have any tools to support you.
Thankfully, there are tools that can change that. Here are five of the best.
1. Animated Route Maps
First on this list is Animated Route Maps. Animated Route Maps is a web service which allows you to map out a route on Google Maps and then experience the route via Street View.
The interface here is a little outdated and can be somewhat confusing to work with, but the end result is surprisingly robust. First, you'll need to adjust the setting to your liking.
Related: Tricks to Help You Use Google Maps Like a Pro
The most important settings here are the start address and destination address. As you might expect, these will determine where your trip will both start and end.
From there, you can adjust a wide range of other options to your liking. The travel mode and animation update intervals are some of the more interesting ones.
From there, you need to click on the Create Your Directions Map button and navigate down to the View Map button, and you’re good to go.
2. Directions Map
Next up on this list is Directions Map. Directions Map is great if you’re looking for the same virtual tour experience with a little more information.
Getting started with Directions Map is easy. The webpage should load an example route for you, which makes it easy to get an idea of how everything works if you want.
You’ll see the Street View, satellite view, and a closer view as well. When you start the animation, all three will move in tandem to show you the route that you’ve chosen.
You can edit the route by clicking the button near the top, labeled as such. All you need to do is inter a new start and destination address.
3. RouteView
If you’re looking for a more powerful tool to take an auto-guided tour, then RouteView might just be your best bet.
RouteView has very impressive options to set up your route exactly how you want it. You can even adjust the step intervals and speed, the thickness of the route and plenty of others.
More than anything else, though, RouteView looks good when it works. This leads into RouteView’s biggest problem.
Related: How to Create Shared Collaborative Google Maps
RouteView is difficult to set up. Creating a website like this requires a Google Maps API key, and that isn’t something the creator has. Instead, you’ll need to get your own.
Doing so is entirely free unless you end up using the API a lot. But, bear in mind, it is difficult to acquire a key all the same.
4. Google Street View Movie Maker
If you’re happy with a little extra work, or already have your Google Maps API key, then there are other options available to you as well.
Google Street View Movie Maker is a project you can access from GitHub. If you know nothing about programming but have always wanted to learn, this could be an interesting way to do so.
Regardless, you’ll have to set the project up yourself. You’ll also need that pesky Google Maps API Key.
Once you do, though, it’s all worth it. You can tweak and add and adjust the Street View player whenever you want. You’re the one in charge of the code, after all.
5. Frame Synthesis Driving Simulator
Finally, we have Frame Synthesis Driving Simulator. This entry is a bit of a departure from the other options on this list, but is certainly the most unique.
With Frame Synthesis Driving Simulator, you can take a tour of any street on Google Maps. The only difference is that now you’re in the driving seat.
Related: How to Use Google Street View
By default, the camera will place you above the car. For a more immersive tour of the landscape, you can adjust the camera so that you’re looking at it head on.
You can go to any location that Google Maps supports this way, and enjoy the scenery without worrying about traffic or pollution.
Where Are You Going to Travel?
As you see, it doesn't take big bucks to go around the world. The Internet can take you places you never knew existed. And while you're there, why not explore them; it's almost as if you were there for real.
Google Maps is a more powerful tool than it appears on the surface, and there's a lot that you can achieve once you have the right tools.
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Use Street View in Google Maps
You can explore world landmarks and natural wonders, and experience places like museums, arenas, restaurants, and small businesses with Street View. You can use Street View in Google Maps and the Street View gallery .
Discover where Street View is available .
Get to Street View in Google Maps
To access Street View photos:
- Search for a place or address in Google Maps.
- Drag Pegman to a place on the map.
- Search for a place or address in Google search.
- Open Google Maps .
- Search for a place or click a place marker on the map.
- Drag Pegman to the area you want to explore.
- Unclick to drop Pegman on a blue line, blue dot, or orange dot on the map.
- Open Google Search .
- Search for a place or address.
- Click the photo labeled "See outside."
Find street-level imagery from other dates
You can find street-level imagery taken at different times from the Street View archives and other contributors. For example, you can explore how your neighborhood has changed over time.
- Drag Pegman onto the map.
- Click See more dates .
- At the bottom, scroll through the thumbnail gallery to go further back in time.
Tip : Historic imagery might not be available for every place that has Street View.
Explore Street View
- To move around, point your cursor in the direction you want to go. Your cursor becomes an arrow that shows which direction you're moving.
- To find where you might go next, locate the X. Click once to travel to the X.
- To explore, drag your mouse around. You can also use the arrows to the left and right of the compass.
- To zoom in or out, scroll with your mouse or two-finger zoom with a touchpad. You can also use + and - below the compass.
- To position your Street View north, go to the bottom right and click the compass.
- To jump between streets, go to the "Back to Map" window in the bottom left and click the blue highlighted routes.
Preview directions in Street View
- On your computer, under the route you want, click Details.
- Point to a step in the directions. If Street View is available, you get a preview photo.
- To get Street View for other steps in the route, in the bottom-left box, click Previous step or Next step.
Report a Street View issue
- Locate the image.
- Select the issue and click Submit .
- We'll review your report promptly.
Related resources
- Use layers to find places, traffic, terrain, biking & transit
- Explore photos in the Street View gallery
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10 Amazing Virtual Road Trips You Can Take on Google Street View
When you're stuck at home dreaming of your next big trip but don't know when you'll be able to go, the "street view" in Google Maps is here to help. You may be used to using the service to see exactly where a house or business is, but it can be an excellent tool for taking a virtual road trip in far-off lands. Google's camera-equipped cars have photographed some exciting and breathtaking roads in their quest to map out the planet.
Even though these scenic routes are best experienced in-person from your own vehicle, taking a virtual road trip is one effective way to scratch your travel itch and get inspired for your next vacation. Take a solitary drive through Alaska, a romantic trip through French vineyards with your partner, or a thrilling zipline journey over the Amazon River with your kids, all from the comfort of your own home.
Route des Châteaux, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Located in southwest France, Bordeaux is home to some of the greatest winemakers in the world, from Château Margaux to Château Haut-Brion. Given their status (and the wines' prices), these vineyards and chateaux are immaculately kept, making a drive through this French wine country a fascinating look at just how many different, fantastic wines are grown in such proximity to one another. Starting on Route des Châteaux, you can "drive" south and see Château Latour, Château Pichon Longueville Baron, Château Léoville-Las Cases, and more, while passing through charming French villages and endless acres of gorgeously green vineyards.
Drive the Route des Châteaux
Avenue de la Porte Neuve, Monaco
From Bordeaux, continue east across France until you reach the glitzy microstate of Monaco , the second-smallest country in the world after Vatican City. There are very few roads in Monaco, so you can easily get a comprehensive tour of the entire country.
The best place to begin is Avenue de la Porte Neuve, with a view of the cruise ships waiting in Port Hercules and the white-washed buildings against the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The street twists and turns, at times becoming quaint and secluded while at other times opening up to an expansive view of the water. As you go along, you'll see the famed Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and end up in the sparking Monte Carlo district .
Drive the Avenue de la Porte Neuve
Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
The famous Going-to-the-Sun Road features some of the steepest roads and most dramatic climbs of any route in the country, so you'll have a much eacier time enjoying these stunning views from the comfort of your own home. Located within Glacier National Park in Montana, Going-to-the-Sun Road looks out onto vast sections of the park. The road itself is both a National Historic Landmark and a civil engineering phenomenon, passing through glacial lakes, rugged mountains, crashing waterfalls, and endless expanses of alpine forests. You may not get the full experience of camping in the wilderness, but this iconic American route is a must-see, even vicariously.
Drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road
Great Ocean Road, Australia
Explore the coastline of Victoria in Southern Australia along this 150-mile stretch of scenic road, which was built by returning soldiers between 1919 and 1932. Dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, it also serves as the world's largest war memorial. The Great Ocean Road traverses everything from rainforests to beaches to steep cliffs, as well as many limestone and sandstone rock formations, including the famed Twelve Apostles. It's widely considered to be one of the most beautiful driving routes in the world and the virtual version is only going to inspire you to book a plane ticket to Australia and drive the road yourself.
Drive the Great Ocean Road
Transfăgărășan Highway, Romania
Crossing the southern section of the Carpathian Mountains, the long and winding Transfăgărășan Highway is one of Romania’s top tourist destinations thanks to its beautiful scenery with its various hairpin turns. The idyllic stretch even passes by Bran Castle, famous for being the home of the legendary Dracula himself, and offers views of Vidraru Lake. The valley gets gradually steeper before climbing sharply up to its highest point: the 2,900-foot-long Capra Tunnel, with an altitude of 6,699 feet. The ever-changing scenery of the highway makes for a tremendous digital road trip.
Drive the Transfăgărășan Highway
Seward Highway, Alaska
Extending from Seward to Anchorage , the 125-mile long Seward Highway runs through scenic parts of Alaska, such as the Kenai Peninsula, Chugach National Forest, Turnagain Arm, and the Kenai Mountains. The highway runs partially alongside Kenai Lake before traveling through lush Alaskan pine forests and into the Kenai Mountains before following the Turnagain Arm to Anchorage.
If you want to see even more of the Last Frontier state, don't stop at Anchorage. Continue due north on your Google road trip and you'll head straight into Denali National Park , famous for the eponymous mountain which is the highest point in the U.S. Make sure to use the 360-degree view for a full panoramic image while you're "driving," and you might catch some wildlife off in the distance, including sheep, moose, caribou, and even bears.
Drive the Seward Highway
Isle of Skye, Scotland
If you’d love to live out your own fantasy series, a drive around the Isle of Skye in Scotland is a must. The island was said to be home to mythical creatures like giants and fairies, while ruins of castles still stand near areas where many battles took place. You’ll see different types of terrain, from jagged volcanic formations made by landslides at Trotternish Ridge to the Red and Black Cuillin Mountains in the south. The island is mostly wilderness with a few small towns sprinkled along the way, so this outdoorsy route is just what you need to escape the tedium of being cooped up inside.
Drive Around the Isle of Skye
Tantalus Drive, Hawaii
Located in Honolulu, Tantalus Drive backs up to the Honolulu Watershed Forest Reserve and Puu Ualakaa State Park. Here you will get to see a wide variety of Hawaii’s trees, including ironwood, guava, and pine, and those of the flowering variety, including jacaranda, African tulips, and shower trees. Along the drive, you get several lookout points including a sweeping view of the Punchbowl Crater, which was a once-active volcano nearly 100,000 years ago.
If you're stuck inside and would love nothing more than to be enjoying the lush and verdant backdrops of Oahu, this is the road trip for you. And one of the perks of doing this trip from your home computer instead of driving it is that you can safely and responsibly enjoy a sweet tropical cocktail while you do it.
Explore Oahu and Tantalus Drive
Old Port of Montreal, Canada
The historic Old Port of Montreal was used from the early 17th century until 1976 and runs along the Saint Lawrence River. Driving down Rue de Commune, you'll pass by the Chapel of Notre Dame, built in 1771, and the Bonsecours Market, which as been in operation since 1847. Traveling up the cobblestone side streets, you'll come around to Notre Dame Street, home to city hall as well as the courthouse. Be sure to "walk" each of the small streets that wind around the Old Port to explore old-school pubs and establishments, many of which have been there since the port first opened.
Explore the Old Port of Montreal
Amazon Rainforest via Zipline
Though not technically a drive, Google’s street view offers up a stunning glimpse of the Amazon Rainforest via zip line, right outside of the city of Manaus in Brazil. The project was made possible with assistance from the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, using a 360-degree camera traveling as fast as 62 miles an hour to capture all the action. You won't get the same adrenaline rush as if you were really flying through the rainforest, but this virtual zip line may be the next best thing. The same project also lets you navigate a boat down the Mariepauá River or walk through a village of an Indigenous tribe.
Zipline through the jungle , float down the Rio Mariepauá , and visit Indigenous villages in the Amazon .
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Go back in time with Street View
Apr 23, 2014
If you’ve ever dreamt of being a time traveler like Doc Brown , now’s your chance. Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in Google Maps for desktop. We've gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world.
Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the Freedom Tower in New York City or the 2014 World Cup Stadium in Fortaleza, Brazil. This new feature can also serve as a digital timeline of recent history, like the reconstruction after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa, Japan . You can even experience different seasons and see what it would be like to cruise Italian roadways in both summer and winter.
Forget going 88 mph in a DeLorean —you can stay where you are and use Google Maps to virtually explore the world as it is—and as it was. Happy (time) traveling!
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With Google Maps, It’s Now Possible To Travel Through Time
We can all be Marty McFly thanks to a new tool in Google Street View that offers seven years of views from street corners around the globe
Helen Thompson
A lot can change in seven years: buildings rise and landscapes change. Whether you’re standing near the ocean in Japan or in the middle of Times Square, your view will likely be quite different in less than a decade.
That’s the premise behind Google Maps’ newest time-lapse tool, launched today. Since it was released in 2007, Google Street View has allowed users to explore a given area from the perspective of walking along a sidewalk, but with the new tool, they’ll actually be able to see how the street and its surroundings have changed.
“Our mission in maps is to build a map that’s accurate, useful and comprehensive, and I think that being able to expose historic images that we’ve collected in the past helps us be able to meet this comprehensiveness aspect,” says Vinay Shet, the product manager of Google Street View.
The new time-travel function draws on image data captured by a fleet of Google Street View SUVs, snowmobiles, tricycles, and even a backpack, which for seven years have trekked across the globe with video cameras and GPS units to capture busy intersections and rolling hillsides across all seven continents. By selecting "street view" and clicking on a clock icon at the top of the screen, users can explore an area’s evolution as far back as Google’s photo-documentation can reach. The project pulls together years of Google Street View imagery, some of it previously unreleased, and took several months to complete. It marks the latest in a recent string of expansions in what users can see in street view, from the ruins of Angkor Wat to the Colorado River .
Users can travel back in time wherever street view is available around the world, and the project will continue to add to its collection of image data as years pass.
“In two years time 2007 will be vintage, so we hope that as time goes by this tool becomes more and more valuable to our users,” Shet says.
On some level the tool is similar to time-lapse videos, but it's not the same. The tool serves as an interactive visual archive that to date has only been available manually by sifting through old digital images, film strips and negatives.
Before releasing the tool, Shet and his team did some exploring of their own with what the technology could offer. Some of the most common scenes to be viewed with the tool are ever-changing urban skylines around the world, including the rise of landmark buildings like the World Cup stadium in Rio de Janiero, the World Trade Center’s Freedom Tower in New York City, and the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore.
Users can also see changes in nature as the world shifts between seasons, a natural phenomenon that’s made time-lapse videos across the Internet forever popular. In Norway, for example, a mountain road goes from an idyllic summer scene to one blanketed with snow.
“It’s the same place but it looks dramatically different,” Shet says.
The tool also highlights areas hit by natural disasters in the last seven years, from the fallout and reconstruction of land along coastal Japan—ravaged by both an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011—to the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand that same year.
Interestingly, in Japan, the viewer gets the impression of physically moving horizontally when clicking between past and present. At first, developers thought they had taken footage from the wrong coordinates. “In reality, the ground had shifted by around 5 meters,” Shet says. “But you see that effect when you go across time, so I think that this a really powerful imaging tool that you have there.”
Beyond imagery highlighting the beauty and destruction of nature, the Google Street view imagery shows social change. Changing advertisements in Time Square reveal shifts in technology from flip phones to smart phones, while a street view of an urban building might show the artistic evolution of its graffiti.
Google's decision to make the images public opens them up to a wide array of possibilities. One could envision urban scientists looking at how a neighborhood has changed over the years, or criminal investigators reconstructing the appearance of an old crime scene. Whether those fields find the tool useful remains to be seen, but Shet is optimistic it will have applications beyond the initial wow-factor.
“Obviously, people can use it in whatever way they want. People are going to look at how things have changed in an interesting way and how humanity has kind of moved forward in different ways,” Shet says. “It’s going to be exciting to see what people find.”
So, go forth and virtually explore your neighborhood’s evolution over the last seven years—who knows what you might discover.
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Helen Thompson | | READ MORE
Helen Thompson writes about science and culture for Smithsonian . She's previously written for NPR, National Geographic News , Nature and others.
How-To Geek
How to use google street view.
Take a virtual 3D tour of the streets around the world!
Quick Links
Access google's street view on mobile, launch google's street view on desktop.
With Google's street view feature , you can virtually walk through the streets of many cities around the world. Street view is also available for popular landmarks, natural wonders, museums, and more. Here's how to access it on desktop and mobile.
Google has the official Street View map for iPhone and Android , but in the sections below, we'll use the Google Maps app as it's usually already installed on most phones and offers the same street view.
As of this writing in March 2022, Google's street view is available for many cities but not for every city in the world.
Related: How to Time Travel in Google Street View
To check out Google's street view on your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone, use the free Google Maps app on your phone.
Start by launching the Google Maps app on your phone. In the app's top bar, tap the "Search Here" box and type the name of the location for which you want to see the street view. You may also drop a pin if you want to access your location that way.
When your location's card appears, scroll it down to the "Latest Photos" section. Here, find the photo that has a rotating-arrow icon and tap it.
Google Maps will launch the street view for your selected location, and you may now virtually walk it.
To move forward in the street, tap the up-arrow icon. Similarly, to go backward, tap the down-arrow icon. You can zoom in and out by pinching in or out with your fingers.
To share your street view with someone, then in your screen's top-right corner, tap the three dots and choose "Share."
And that's how you access a city's streets from your phone using Google Maps. Enjoy walking around!
Related: How to Use Google Maps Street View in Split Screen on Android
On your desktop, you can use both Google Search and Google Maps to access the street view. We'll show you how to use both of these methods below.
Use Google Search to Access Street View
If you're looking for a place on Google Search, you can access the street view from within your search results.
To use this method, first, launch your favorite web browser and access Google . On the site, search for a location or a popular landmark for which you want to see the street view.
On the search results page, in the right sidebar, you will see your location's information. Here, click the photo that says "See Outside."
Your browser will launch Google Maps allowing you to see the street view of your selected location.
And you're all set.
Use Google Maps to Access Street View
If you can't use the above method for some reason, or you prefer to use Google Maps, here's how to use Maps to access the street view.
First, on your desktop, launch a web browser and open Google Maps .
On the Maps site, in the top-left corner, click the "Search Google Maps" box and type your location or landmark.
When your location appears in the left sidebar, scroll down the sidebar to the "Photos" section. Then, navigate the photos and click the one that says "Street View & 360."
And immediately, you will see the street view for your selected location on the right pane.
Enjoy your virtual walking tours with Google's street view!
Related: How to See 3D Walking Directions in Google Maps
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How to time travel in Google Street View
For over a decade, Google Street View has let users visually explore landscapes from the first-person point of view in over 100 countries and territories. That means users can travel back in time up to 16 years ago to see how places have changed. Google even has a dedicated Street View app to make it easy to feel nostalgic about your neighborhood right from your phone.
QUICK ANSWER
When viewing Street View imagery, tap on the photo to see information about the location. Then tap See more dates to see the historical imagery of that place, dating back to 2007.
KEY SECTIONS
- What is Street View?
- How to time travel in Street View
What is Google Street View?
Google first launched Street View in 2007, and since then, it has accumulated 360-degree images of over 200 billion locations worldwide from multiple points in time. To celebrate its 15th anniversary, Google released more ways to explore historical imagery online and through a dedicated mobile app .
Google Street View compiles billions of images taken from Google and contributors to create interactive panoramas from positions along streets worldwide. Users use Street View to explore travel destinations, so they know what to expect, as well as world-famous landmarks, galleries, and museums right from their phones.
Additionally, as the topic of this article suggests, Street View users can turn the clock back with historical imagery to see how a location has changed over time.
How to time travel in Street View on the mobile app
When you select a location on Google Maps, you will see photos taken by users who have visited there or by Google itself. Any image with white turn-around arrows indicates it is a Stree View image.
When viewing Street View imagery of a place on Google Maps, tap anywhere on the photo to see information about the location.
Then tap See more dates to see any past images that Google or others have published of that place.
Pictures will only date back to 2007, when Street View first launched. Scroll through to see a digital time capsule of how your favorite spot has changed over the years.
You can use the Street View Studio to upload your own Street View photos and contribute to the historical archives.
You can easily upload and manage your Street View content from the app. Upload 360 images in bulk, preview how content will look before uploading, and filter your content by filename and location to keep track of your photographs for years to come.
Some streets date farther back than others
While the earliest date you can see Street View imagery is from 2007, that doesn’t guarantee that every location will have images dating that far back or any historical images. For instance, the streets around Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California, have the earliest Street View data from when the service first launched. However, Google added many cities in the following years, and much of the imagery from the late 2000s is lower resolution compared to Street View images taken today.
If you don’t see any images with white arrows on mobile or the clock icon on a desktop while in Street View, you’re looking at the only available images the Street View team has taken. If you’d like to fill in the gaps and contribute to Street View, get out there and take some photos to upload to Google Maps!
Google tries to take new Street View photos in major cities once every year . However, given that anyone can now upload their own Street View images, locations will likely see an update more often.
On a desktop, click the clock icon in the upper left-hand portion of a Street View image and move the slider through time to see that same place in previous years or seasons. On the mobile app, select See more dates on the information page of a Street View image.
Privacy concerns have led to several countries around the world suspending Google Street View services. While people in these countries can still upload their own photos to Street View, the following countries do not allow Google itself to take Street View pictures:
No, Google Street View is still available and has become an essential feature of Google Maps, providing users with panoramic images of streets worldwide.
You can find Street View in the Layers section of the Google Maps app.
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How to Time Travel Through Places With Google Street View
Google Maps Street View has introduced a cool new feature, one which allows you to travel through time (virtually, of course). Basically, you’re able to check out available imagery of a place at various moments in time. The feature is quite easy to use, as you’ll see in a moment.
How Does It Work?
Well, Google has gathered a lot of Street View imagery of great places , some of it as old as 2007, so it made sense for the company to use old imagery in an interesting way, even if new images are captured all the time.
The feature is similar to a time capsule, as it allows the user to see how a place has evolved over the years.
In the case of places where a lot of construction has been done in the past few years, you can enjoy some spectacular views. Also, where a disaster has struck, you can see how the area has been restored and the way things have gone back to normal.
The feature is available for a few places at the moment (you’ll find out about some interesting ones below) but, knowing Google, it will probably be developed quite a bit in the coming months. I expect to be one of the most interesting Google Maps features.
Using the new feature really couldn’t be easier. When you’re in Street View, if old imagery of the place you’re currently visiting is available, you’ll see a clock icon on the top left corner of the screen, which you can click.
Once you do, you’ll be shown a slider which allows you to scroll through the various views of that particular place, over the years. You’ll see a snapshot of the area, but if you click it, the large view will be switched to the one in that particular moment in time.
It’s really that easy.
You’re now officially a Google Maps Street View time traveler!
Great Places to Time Travel Through
In order to get you started, I’ve picked some interesting places you can time travel through, with the new feature.
Arena Castelão, Brazil
With the football World Cup around the corner, how about witnessing the construction of one of the stadiums hosting it? You can do so with the spectacular views Google has saved for you of the Arena Castelão , in Fortaleza, Brazil. The stadium will host matches in the groups, round of 16, as well as a quarter-final.
The latest view is from February 2012 and the first one from September 2013, but the difference is quite visible, as you can see.
Champs-Élysées, Paris
One of the world most beautiful boulevards, the Champs-Élysées in Paris is proof that some things don’t change a lot over time. Images are available ever since 2008, but the place looks just as busy and beautiful as always in all of them.
La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona
Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece is still a very long way from being finished. Construction has started in 1882 and estimates say that it could be finished in 2026, on the centenary of Gaudi’s death.
It’s impossible to say if that will happen, but you can see how work on La Sagrada Familia has progressed in the last few years, since 2008.
A great Google Maps feature, one that I’ll play with a lot in the future, I’m sure, as more views will become available. Have you found some even more interesting places to time travel in? Let us know in a comment!
Last updated on 03 February, 2022
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
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Bogdan Bele
A tech writer with a passion for Android. When you don't find me playing with various devices (which I do most of the time), I enjoy music and a good book.
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You Can Now Use Google Maps' Street View to Travel Back in Time—Here's How to Use the Interactive Feature
Whether you want to view early iterations of your childhood home or experience New York City's Times Square as it was when you visited in the 2010s, the function can be used to see street-level views from over a decade ago.
Google Street View is a valuable tool that allows you to see panoramic views of streets around the world. The interactive feature, which is available on Google Maps and Google Earth , can be used to virtually travel to scenic destinations or simply to scope out an area you're interested in moving to. As if the technology wasn't already advanced, Google is now providing Street View users with a unique opportunity—the chance to go back in time.
If you've ever used the tool to view your own home, you know that Google updates these photos regularly. Now, the technology company is using its database of street level photography to allow users to see what a particular area looked like years ago, according to a report by Wired .
How to Use Google Maps' Time Travel Feature
To access the feature, use the following steps.
- Open Google Maps and type in the address you're interested in viewing—it can be as simple as the location of your childhood home or something as exciting as the Trevi Fountain in Italy.
- Once you've entered the address of your chosen destination, Google will populate a road map of the area.
- In the lower right hand corner, click on the person icon and move it onto the map to access the latest street-level photo of the area.
- Now, you're ready to time travel. Once you've accessed the interactive street view of your location, look in the upper left hand corner of the screen and you'll see a small clock symbol next to a date.
- Click on the clock and a slide-bar will appear with available years listed. Move the bar forward and backward to see photos of that specific destination throughout the years.
If you've chosen a location that doesn't have the time function, it's possible Google doesn't have older images available in its archive. For this reason, the tool works best for viewing areas that receive high foot traffic—such as Times Square in New York City—as they are more regularly photographed by Google.
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Laura Mallonee
A Cross-Country Road Trip, Courtesy of Google Street View
From President Trump’s tweets to Kim Kardashian’s Instagram, the internet can tell you a lot about the state of the union. But to really understand the country, it helps to log off social media and hit the road. You don’t even need to leave the couch to do it.
Matthew Muspratt traveled 3,700 miles across the US, entirely in Google Street View. He clicked from West Quoddy Head, Maine, all the way to Ozette, Washington—a near-Odyssean journey through 16 states that he began while living in Kigali, Rwanda.
“It was an experiment, an exercise,” Muspratt says. “What can we find out about — and in — America when we use our digital tools in the long form?"
Muspratt may just be the first person to do so. Sure, a couple of guys once speed-clicked from San Francisco to New York in 90 hours . But a real road trip isn’t a race. Just the opposite, in fact: You have to slow down, cruise the backroads, maybe get a little lost. “I found myself hitting rhythmic click-strides and feeling immersed in a virtual world,” Muspratt says. “The whole landscape was connected, and I could feel one place evolve into the next. Just like in real travel.”
The idea hit Muspratt in February 2015, when he was working as a development consultant in Kigali. Feeling homesick, he opened Google Street View. He’d read On the Road . And he was intrigued by the mega-transect survey that National Geographic explorer Mike Fay conducted in central Africa in 1999 , walking 2,000 miles in a straight line through the Congo River Basin to assess its flora and fauna. Why not do something similar online?
By Google’s reckoning, a coast-to-coast road trip takes just over two days if you don't stop; Muspratt’s took three years. He averaged 20 to 30 miles per hour moseying down any given stretch of road from the comfort of his home office, save for the few minutes near Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, when he pushed 150. That's partly due to the constraints of his Rwandan internet plan: the speed plummeted from a manageable 1.5 Mbps to near-zilch if he used more than a gigabyte a day. But Muspratt also made things harder by staying off major highways. Though he checked roads for street view coverage ahead of time, he still had to backtrack from time to time, since he forbid himself from jumping across the map.
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He stopped constantly, whether to search Wikipedia for clues about his surroundings or simply snap a photo—in the form of a screenshot. He captured scenes reflecting local color, like signs in Maine advertising corn or a vintage car winding through the green mountains of Vermont (Photographers Jacqui Kenny , Jon Rafman and Michael Wolf have also mined Google Street View to this end). He published the images, along with extensive ruminations on his progress, in regular posts on Medium .
Muspratt finished the journey this month. He says it opened his eyes to parts of America vastly different from his hometown of Boston, or anywhere else he ever lived, for that matter. Sure, he’d heard about dying midwestern towns, and even visited a few. But somehow, spending hours upon hours clicking from one blighted town to another drove it home. "To know with absolute certainty that the bump on the Street View horizon is going to be yet another gutted town is brutal,” he says.
His project represents a refreshing approach to using the internet that counters the ceasless banter and knee-jerk reactions endemic to social media and online news, showing the meaningful encounters you can have when you slow it way, way down. “When you’re living abroad, nothing comes close to showing America like this,” Muspratt says. “Not CNN, not The New York Times , not Fox, not Facebook, not Twitter.”
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Google Street View Is About to Get Way More Immersive — Here's How
Google Street View is celebrating its 15th anniversary with new features and ways to use the platform.
It's been 15 years since Google debuted its Street View feature on maps, and the company is celebrating by allowing users to step back in time.
"Fifteen years ago, Street View began as a far-fetched idea… to build a 360-degree map of the entire world," Google wrote in a statement. "Fast forward to today: There are now over 220 billion Street View images from over 100 countries and territories — a new milestone — allowing people to fully experience what it's like to be in these places right from their phone or computer."
Starting this week, Android and iOS users can travel back in time up to 15 years — to the start of Street View — allowing them to see how landscapes have changed over the past decade-plus, according to Google . To use the new feature, people can tap anywhere on a Street View photo to see information and then click "see more dates" to access historical imagery.
In addition to watching cities change over time, Google is enhancing its Street View feature by mapping even more areas with a new, portable camera that weighs less than 15 pounds and can get to areas previously unreachable by a Street View car.
The company also offers travelers a "live view" feature , allowing them to "see" arrows and directions in the world around them. And later this year, Google plans to launch a new " immersive view " feature, which will allow users to "virtually soar" over cities and landmarks for an overview before zooming in to street level for more detailed information. Travelers will also be able to use "the time slider to check out what the area looks like at different times of day and in various weather conditions, and see where the busy spots are."
Eventually, Google plans to launch "immersive view" in Los Angeles , London , New York , San Francisco , and Tokyo .
Google Maps also helps travelers navigate the pandemic by displaying COVID-19 case numbers, while users searching Google for things like flights will see any COVID-19-related travel advisories or restrictions for the destination they're searching.
Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram .
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Google Street View's Time Travel Function Lets You Browse a Location's History Going Back Decades
By michele debczak | jul 15, 2022.
Google Street View is the closest humans can get to instant transportation. With the click of a mouse, users can hop from the mountains of the Swiss Alps to the halls of the Guggenheim Museum in the span of a few seconds. The online tool is also the closest thing we have to a time machine. According to WIRED , Google Street View allows users to peruse location-specific imagery going back decades.
Google's massive database of street-level photography doubles as a historical archive . To take advantage of it, search the address of the place you wish to explore on Google Maps. Dragging the yellow figure out of the bottom corner and placing it on the map launches Street View. As you drag the icon, areas with Street View data will be highlighted in blue.
The tool shows the most up-to-date information for the location by default. If Google has older images in its archives, you'll see a clock symbol next to the date the photographs were taken. Clicking on it lets you jump through the Street View history of that spot. The intersection of West 43rd Street and 7th Avenue in Times Square , for example, has data stretching back to 2009. Clicking on the previous dates shows you the area's old advertisements and the now-defunct Toys "R" Us building that once operated on the corner.
Browsing Google Street View's archives is a fun way to see how places have changed over time. Though the function works best with well-trafficked addresses with a lot of data, you can try using it to travel back in time in your current town. Google's 360° cameras may have paid a visit to your home before you lived there. You can also search for a previous place of residency and see if your younger self makes an appearance.
In addition to the browser site, Google's time travel feature is accessible through the Google Maps app on Android and iOS. Just drop a pin and tap it on the mobile version to bring up Street View, then go to the See More Dates link to view that location's history. If you can't pick a place to explore first, here are some possibilities .
[h/t WIRED ]
Secret Google Maps Features Every Traveler Should Know
I n a 2022 survey, SlashGear asked readers which navigation app they preferred. The answer was clear: 60.37% preferred Google Maps, while second place Apple Maps only recorded 17.86% of the vote. It's easy to see why Google's maps app is the top choice for so many of us: it's easy to use, reliable, and packed with features. So many features, in fact, that it's easy to miss some of them.
Some remain hidden away in menus that aren't easy to spot, and some are recent additions that might have flown under the radar of long-time Google Maps users. Knowing all of the latest tips and tricks will come in especially handy if you're a frequent traveler, as many of them are aimed at making exploring new places easier than ever. From new AI-powered features that let you explore famous landmarks to the Street View feature that lets you go back in time, here are the best hidden Google Maps features that many people don't know about.
Read more: Everyday Tech That Was Created By Accident
Measure Distance Between Places
Although Google Maps is generally reliable for finding walking routes on city streets, things get a little patchier out of town. If you're trying to plan a walk and need to measure how long a certain trail is, or take a shortcut that Maps doesn't account for, there's a way to manually measure distance between two places. On mobile devices, tap any location on the map that doesn't already have a pin, then expand the menu that appears. You'll see an option for "Measure distance" – select that, and then a location marker will be dropped on the map.
You can then move the map around to measure the distance between that point and any other. To add a waypoint or follow the curves of a walking trail, tap "Add point." On a computer, the method is very similar: again, select somewhere on the map that doesn't have a pin, then right-click on the pin and choose the option to measure distance.
See The Last Public Transport Options At Night
If you're out for the evening and need to know when to leave to catch the last bus, train, or metro, Maps can calculate exactly when you'll need to start heading home. First, enter your destination (if you've set up a "Home" location in Maps, it'll be just below the search bar). Then tap "Directions," then "Public Transport." Just above the list of available transport options will be an option to change your time of departure.
Depending on your previous searches, it will either read "Leave now," "Depart at...," or "Arrive by..." Tap the option then select "Last" to bring up the last public transport available for the evening. If you're using an iPhone, you can also set a reminder to make sure you set off in time by tapping "More" and then "Set a reminder to leave." Unfortunately, for Android users, this feature isn't available.
Discover City Landmarks With Immersive View
It's always useful to scope out a city before you go to get a feel for certain landmarks or areas, and Google Maps' recently launched Immersive View feature lets you do exactly that. To enter Immersive View on Android or iOS, tap any landmark in a supported city that has its own dedicated logo on the Maps interface -- for example, the Empire State Building in New York or the London Eye.
You'll see an option for Immersive View on the menu that appears. Tap it, then you'll be able to fly over the landmark in 3D, as well as explore a limited amount of the surrounding area. For now, only a select number of cities and landmarks support the feature, but the list is regularly updated with new entries. Many of the most popular tourist cities in Europe and North America are supported, but elsewhere in the world, the feature is much more limited for now.
Change A Walking Route
When using Maps on a computer, you can alter a walking route to add or exclude certain streets by dragging any of the blue dots on the route. Select your destination, click "Directions," and change your mode of transport to walking. A dotted route will then appear -- drag one of the dots to a different road or path, and the walking route will change accordingly.
This can be particularly helpful if you're trying to plot a route across a city that takes in multiple landmarks or a scenic area: if you set the destination as the landmark that's the furthest away from your location, you'll be able to adjust the route to account for stops and detours along the way. It's also useful to avoid certain streets or areas, either if they're busy or unsafe. Unfortunately, the feature is only available on computers -- despite mobile Maps users getting the same dotted walking route, the option to manually drag it to alter it isn't available.
Make Your Own Custom Maps
If you're looking to create a custom map with landmarks, places you've visited, or cities you'd like to explore, you can do so using My Maps on a computer. Open My Maps and sign in with your Google account, then select "Create a new map." You can then drop and label pins on the map, group them into categories, and add layers. There's also an option to plot routes using the "Add directions" icon: enter your start location and destination, and then the route will appear on your map. You can then change the mode of transport the route will use to either walking, cycling, or driving.
My Maps isn't officially supported for Android or iOS devices, but there's a workaround you can use to view custom maps on mobile once you've first created them on a computer. Custom maps are stored in your Google Drive, so to view them on smartphones, open the Drive app, and then tap the saved map. Assuming you have Google Chrome or another supported web browser installed, an option will appear to open the map in the browser. When it's opened, the map can be viewed and edited, and any changes you make will be automatically saved.
Save Where You Parked
Finding your car in a busy parking lot can be a headache, but Maps can save where you've parked so you never have to wander around looking for it again. On Android, using the feature is simple: tap the blue dot that displays your current location, then select "Save your parking." You can then add a note about which floor your car is on by tapping the search bar, then "Parking location." Select "More info" to add either a note or a photo.
There are a few ways that iPhone users can make use of the feature. If you're using navigation, an option will appear to "Know where you parked" after you reach your destination. Maps will then need permission to access your Motion and Fitness Activity, and then a parking location will automatically be added when you walk away from the car. Alternatively, connecting your phone to your car's Bluetooth or Apple CarPlay will trigger a parking pin to be dropped when you disconnect it again. You can also tap on the blue location dot and select "Set as parking location." The last option will require you to manually remove the parking location after you have returned to your car.
Create A List Of Saved Locations
If you're exploring somewhere new and want to keep tabs on restaurants, landmarks, or attractions to visit, you can create lists of each type of location within Maps. On Android and iOS, open the app and select "Saved," then tap "Add new list." You can then add a name and description, and choose whether the list is private or shareable with others. To save a location to the list, tap the location, select "Save," and select the list you want to save it to. To view any saved list, select the "Saved" icon after you open the Maps app, and select "Your lists" if you're using an Apple device.
When viewing your lists, you can also choose whether to show or hide them on the map. Next to the list, tap "More," and an option will be available to hide the list. You can also share the list with others using the same menu so that multiple travelers can view and edit the locations, or add notes to each place.
Go Back In Time On Street View
As well as seeing up to date imagery on Street View, you can also use it to go back in time and see what a street was like in years past. How many time frames you can see will depend on how early the street in question was first mapped and how many times it's been updated since -- the earliest U.S. coverage dates from 2007, but other countries may not have seen the service launched until years later.
To see older Street View imagery on smartphones, tap "Layers," and then select "Street View." Tap any street with Street View coverage (those with blue lines), then "See more dates." If the option to see more dates does not appear, the street doesn't have any older imagery available. Then, select the date of the imagery you'd like to view. To find older imagery on a computer, just drag Pegman, the yellow man in the bottom right, onto any street with a blue line. The option to "see more dates" will then appear if older imagery is available.
Use Maps Without Cell Signal
Whether you're traveling abroad or just to a remote area with spotty reception, it's always useful to have an offline map for when cell signal cuts out. To download offline maps in Google Maps on Android or iOS devices, tap the profile picture in the top right of your screen, then select "Offline Maps." You'll then be given the option to "Select your own map." Tap that, then move the rectangular selector over the area you'd like to download. If the area you want to save is larger than the selector will allow, you can do the same process multiple times to get complete coverage.
Once you've downloaded a map, it'll then show up in the "Offline Maps" section of your app. Google only keeps each map for a limited amount of time before it expires, but the app will send you a notification if any maps are close to expiring. You can then choose to either update the map or wait for it to be deleted.
Use Augmented Reality Navigation With Live View
It's not always easy to read maps from above, but with Live View, you don't have to. To enable Live View, select a destination on the map and tap "Directions." Change your mode of travel to "Walking," then at the bottom of the screen, tap "Live View." You'll then need to help Maps find your precise location: follow the instructions on the screen, which usually involve pointing your camera at buildings or nearby landmarks.
Once the app is calibrated, you'll see directions projected in augmented reality when you point your camera in any direction. Wandering around with your phone out isn't recommended in many cities, and so once you know where you need to go, you can put it away -- your phone will buzz when you need to change direction. Pixel phone users also have the ability to use Live View to find other people when they share their location with you. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen, then tap "Location sharing." Select the person whom you'd like to walk to, tap "Live View," and then use the Live View feature as before to get directions to their location.
Change Pegman's Outfit
It might not be as useful as the other tips here, but if you've ever looked at Pegman and thought he could do with a makeover, then you're in luck. Dragging him over certain areas on Google Maps on computer dresses Pegman up in a variety of outfits -- for example, drag him over the coast on the Florida Keys and he'll become a mermaid, and drag him over Area 51 and he'll transform into a UFO.
There are plenty of other spots to find, mostly across the U.S., but we won't spoil those here. If you've found all of them and still have a few minutes to spare, it's always worth scrolling around Street View to see if you can find some of the many weird and wonderful things it's captured over its millions of miles of imagery. SlashGear rounded up ten of the funniest images that we've found so far, but there's sure to be plenty more just waiting to be discovered.
Read the original article on SlashGear .
Here's How To Time Travel With Google Maps Street View
As part of its 15-year anniversary semi-celebration of Street View, Google is taking us all back in time — metaphorically speaking, obviously. Along with an adorable new camera , the service itself is getting a new feature that lets you jump back and forth between 2007 (when Street View was first launched) to whenever the most recent 360-degree photos were taken of any given location, the company said in a blog post .
The results may not be as dramatic as your typical "then and now" photo comparisons that depict well-known modern cities next to an image from before they were cities at all, but being able to visually compare images taken 15 years apart is still interesting. It's a quick way to see how much the town you grew up in has (or hasn't) changed, check out an old home from back when you still lived there, or see if maybe the dent in the side of a former school's building is still there. Getting the new feature to work is pretty simple unless you're on an Android or iOS device — not because the process is complex, but because it hasn't quite gone live yet for mobile devices, though Google says it should finish rolling out this week.
How to use time travel with Street View
When the option to view older Street View images does arrive on mobile devices, accessing them will be pretty straightforward. Once you have the Google Maps app open and are in Street View, tap on the image to pull up location information, tap "See more dates," then choose an available year to jump to.
It's similarly simple in a web browser, though the process is a bit different. Once you've opened the Google Maps website and are in Street view, click the little clock icon in the small info box in the upper left corner of the screen. This will pull up another small window with a preview of the selected year and a slider you can use to cycle between them. When you find the year you want, click on the preview thumbnail to change the Street View image to the new time period.
Changing the year doesn't just replace the current Street View image, either. Whatever date you jump to becomes the new default, so you can continue to browse around the area and see what else may be different. Of course, you can change back to the present or to other available years any time while you wander around in Street View.
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How to Time Travel in Google Maps Street View
The Google Street View feature in Google Maps allows you see the current street view of a location. Did you also know that you can time travel using Google Maps Street View and view a location as it was back in the day? Let’s see how you can use Google Maps Street View to travel back in time.
How to View Old Street View Images
Google refreshes Street View data in a set time for many areas. This way, it allows you to view older images of places. However, do note that you can only use this time travel feature on Google Maps Street View on the desktop version.
1. Open any web browser and head over to maps.google.com .
2. Enter a location that you wish to see how it looked in the past. For this example, we are searching “85 West Street, New York, NY, USA.”
3. You need to select the Street View icon for the location. For more precision, you can first click on the location, then click on the Street View icon. Both work the same.
4. You will see a circular arrow-shaped icon with clock-hands in between. Notably, you won’t be able to see older images of every location. If it is available for that particular location, this icon will show up.
5. Tapping on it will reveal a timeline you can slide to go back in time and view older images of the same place. Moreover, you can change your perspective and view the updates as they happened.
6. To view the image in full-screen mode, simply tap on the “Magnifying Glass” icon.
7. That’s it!
As mentioned above, this feature is not applicable for every location. When it is available, you will see the time travel icon. For more tips on Google Maps, you can learn how to show the speed limit on Google Maps and save a route on Google Maps .
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Google Maps Finally Rolls Out Glanceable Directions
After more than a year since announcing the feature, Google Maps is finally rolling out glanceable directions on Android and iOS (via Android Police ).
Glanceable directions also work on the app's route overview screen that appears after launching directions, before users tap the Start button. Google Maps will show directions, live ETA, and even update the route if the user takes a different path, as shown in the GIF embedded below.
Glanceable directions are off by default, but can be enabled in the app's main settings, under Navigation. In our tests on iPhone , the setting only appeared after switching Google accounts, suggesting the feature is still rolling out. However, we are still not seeing support for Live Activities in iOS, which was promised a year ago.
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Top Rated Comments
Maybe it’s me but I find Google Maps to be very “busy” these days. I was a die hard Google Maps fan but in the metro area I live in, Apple Maps is actually better in some cases and the map interaction is simpler. Now if Apple Maps ditched Yelp for Google Reviews then it’s game over.
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Quiet Maps update finally gives us glanceable directions
- Google Maps is rolling out glanceable directions on Android and iOS
- The feature shows you navigation updates on your lock screen
- You need to turn the feature on within the app's settings
Following its announcement over a year ago on February 8 2023, and a delay to its planned launch in June 2023 , Google Maps has finally been updated with glanceable directions on both iOS and Android.
This Google Maps feature allows you to track your progress to your destination from the route overview – without you needing to press the start navigation button. As you travel, your position and ETA on the map will be updated to account for your travel speed and if you take an alternative route.
Best of all, Google has said some of this navigation data will appear on your lock screen so you don’t need to waste time unlocking your phone and opening the Google Maps app to see where you should head next.
Despite being a fairly nifty travel upgrade Google has for some reason decided to silently roll out this feature (it was first spotted by Android Police ). The rollout is already pretty widespread – we have it on our iOS devices, and we're seeing users from various regions reporting that it's available on both Android and iOS.
Even if you don’t see any changes to your app, you can probably already turn this tool on – or simply update the app on Android or iOS and follow the instructions below on where to find it.
How to turn on Google Maps’ glanceable Directions
To turn on glanceable directions you’ll need to open up the Google Maps app and tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen. This opens up a menu, you’ll want to then tap on Settings and scroll down a little to find Navigation Settings .
In this final menu scroll down again until you see a subheading for ‘Glanceable direction while navigating’ – it’s sandwiched between ‘Map display’ and ‘Driving options’.
Turn this toggle on and you’ll turn on the new glanceable directions feature, though a little disclaimer notes that some of your navigation data will be collected to “improve maps for everyone.” There’s a ‘Learn more’ button you can tap to find out what this means for your data.
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2 of the top 10 must-see travel experiences in the world are in the U.S., Google data says
Luxury travel company Kuoni recently released its list of the world's top must-see travel experiences.
To rank the experiences, Kuoni looked for events that occur no more than twice a year and had the most Google searches.
In the top 10 must-see travel experiences based on Google searches, only two are in the U.S., with two more U.S. experiences being a part of the top 20.
No.1 must-see travel experience: Manhattanhenge
New York City's Manhattanhenge is the most searched-for travel experience — the NYC event had over 1.3 million annual Google searches.
The rare event occurs when the Sun appears between the city's grid as it's low in the sky and setting, according to the American Museum of Natural History . The "Manhattanhenge Effect" will occur between May 29 and July 13 this year.
According to the museum, some of the best places to view the Manhattanhenge are from Manhattan's east/west thoroughfares and to get the best view, it recommends finding a spot as far east as possible.
The best streets to see the Manhattanhenge include 14th Street, 23rd Street, 34th Street, 42nd Street, and 57th Street.
Top 10 must-see travel experiences in the world
- Manhattanhenge, New York City
- Venice Carnival, Italy
- Rio Carnival, Brazil
- Day of the Dead, Mexico
- Chelsea Flower Show, U.K.
- Golden Week, Japan
- Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, USA
- Northern Lights in Lapland, Finland
- Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
- Obon Festival, Japan
The No. 2 must-see travel experience in the world is the Venice Carnival in Italy, with over 1.2 million annual searches.
The Venice Carnival takes place every year just before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday — this year the the carnival took place from January 27-February 13.
The annual event is known worldwide for its captivating masquerade masks and costumes.
The carnival began in the 1100s and lasted for several centuries before it was outlawed in the 1700s. Eventually, in 1979, the Italian government brought back the festivities, according to Venice Events .
In 2025, the carnival is set to take place from February 22 to March 4.
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6th case of measles linked to Florida elementary school outbreak
The first patient was a third-grade student without a history of travel.
The number of measles cases linked to an elementary school outbreak in South Florida has risen to six.
The outbreak at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston -- 20 miles west of Fort Lauderdale and located in Broward County -- was first reported on Friday with the initial patient being a third-grade student without a history of travel, according to the Florida Department of Health (DOH).
On Tuesday, Broward County Public Schools was notified of one additional confirmed measles case at the elementary school, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to six, according to a statement from John Sullivan, chief communications and legislative affairs officer for Broward County Public Schools.
"We expect to receive further guidance from the Florida Department of Health tomorrow and will continue to keep the school and its families updated with the latest information," Sullivan said.
It's unclear what grade the other infected students are in as well as other identifying information about them including age, sex and race/ethnicity.
MORE: Amid rising measles cases, a new generation of doctors is being taught how to spot the disease
"The District is maintaining close coordination with the Health Department to address this ongoing situation," Sullivan said in a statement to ABC News.
"Over the weekend, the District took further preventive measures by conducting a deep cleaning of the school premises and replacing its air filters," the statement continued.
Sullivan added that the school's principal is "actively communicating with families, ensuring they are kept up to date with the latest information."
Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, meaning the disease "is no longer constantly present in this country." The dip in routine childhood vaccinations in recent years -- as well as travelers bringing measles into the country -- has resulted in outbreaks.
It's unclear if the students who contracted measles are unvaccinated. The current two-dose measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 93% effective after one dose and 97% effective after two doses.
"It is very likely that this outbreak is among unvaccinated students, given that nearly 90% of measles cases in past outbreaks were among those not vaccinated," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor. "This pattern aligns with historical data showing that measles primarily spreads among unvaccinated populations."
The first measles vaccine, a single-dose vaccine, was introduced in the U.S. in 1963. In the prior decade, there were 3 to 4 million cases annually, which led to 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths.
MORE: Measles outbreaks are occurring in some pockets of the US. Here's why doctors are concerned
While two doses of the MMR vaccine are required to attend public schools in Florida, parents are allowed to seek exemptions for religious reasons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures .
In Florida, at least 90.6% of kindergartners were fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine for the 2022-23 school year, according a November 2023 CDC report . However, at least 4.5% of children were exempted from one or more vaccines.
The overwhelming majority of cases in outbreaks are typically the unvaccinated. Nearly 90% of the 1,249 measles cases in 2019, which was the greatest number of cases reported since 1992, were people who were unvaccinated.
"DOH-Broward is continuously working with all partners, including Broward County Public Schools and local hospitals, to identify contacts that are at risk of transmission. Health care providers in the area have been notified," according to a weekend alert from the Florida DOH in Broward County.
Brownstein said it is very possible that the number of cases could rise because measles spreads rapidly among those who are not immune.
"An outbreak like this is very concerning because measles is a highly infectious disease that can lead to serious health complications, especially in children and immunocompromised individuals," he said. "It indicates potential gaps in herd immunity, which are vital to preventing the spread of such diseases."
Health officials said if anyone suspects or notices symptoms, to contact their health care provider to receive instructions on how to seek medical care without exposing others and to not visit the health department or a doctor's office without contacting officials ahead of time.
The Florida DOH did not immediately reply to ABC News' request for comment.
Weston is the most recent city in the U.S. to face a measles outbreak over the last few months.
Since December 2023, there have been eight confirmed cases in Philadelphia among unvaccinated individuals. Cases have also been identified in Delaware, New Jersey and Washington state, according to local reports.
ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
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