How to Use Google Maps to Plan a Trip

Google Maps is useful for researching places, comparing ratings, saving lists, grouping activities by neighborhood, and downloading an area for offline use. This guide covers a practical planning workflow you can use before and during a trip.

If you want to build a separate layered map with custom pins and imports, use Google My Maps. Google Maps is the better fit for everyday search, saved lists, and navigation.

Let's first outline the key features in Google Maps that make it a great tool for travel planning.

Use category searches such as things to do, restaurants, museums, parks, or coffee to explore places near your destination. Open the results that fit your interests and save the strongest options to a trip-specific list.

Ratings and recent reviews can help you compare similar places. Read the details that matter for your trip, such as location, opening hours, reservation needs, accessibility, menu, and the themes in recent reviews.

Saved lists let you collect restaurants, attractions, hotels, and other places in named groups. You can choose an icon for a custom list, show or hide lists on the map, and share a list with other travelers.

Download the relevant map area before a trip when you expect limited mobile data or unreliable service. Google Maps can then provide useful map and navigation information within the downloaded area, although some features still require a connection.

Start with the free Google Sheets travel planner and itinerary template, then install Travel Mapper to try map view and the full add-on features for seven days.

Now that we've got an understanding of the key features for trip planning in Google Maps, let's dive into how we recommend going about the planning process.

Search for the main types of places you want to visit, then save promising options to a named list for the trip. In Mexico City, for example, you might create one list for museums and landmarks and another for restaurants and cafes.

Use filters and the place details to compare ratings, price level, hours, reservation information, and location. As the lists grow, the saved icons make it easier to see which neighborhoods have several places you are considering.

Add recommendations from travel articles, official destination sites, and friends to the same saved lists. Keeping the places together makes it easier to compare where they are and decide which ones fit your trip.

Review the saved places together and group nearby attractions, restaurants, and neighborhoods into possible day plans. The map makes it easier to compare which places fit naturally into the same part of the trip.

Check current opening hours, reservation times, and transit before assigning each group to a day. Leave enough time for meals and travel, and keep additional saved places available when you want another option nearby. The Rome map below shows how several central attractions can fit into the same area of the itinerary.

When you are ready to turn the saved places into a day-by-day itinerary, copy the free Google Sheets travel planner and itinerary template. Add your dates, hotels, activities, transport, costs, links, and notes, then install Travel Mapper if you want to see the itinerary on a map and fine-tune it within the same Google Sheets workflow.

Keep the relevant saved lists visible and download the map area before departure if service may be limited. Google Maps can then help with navigation, nearby places, opening details, and quick changes while you are out for the day.

For a day-by-day summary and trip edits from a phone, the Travel Mapper web app works in a mobile browser. Your Google Sheet remains the shared itinerary for lodging, reservations, costs, notes, and collaboration.