If you’re busy planning a trip, here’s how to create your own interactive, marked-up map on Google Maps. The ability to share it with other people makes it particularly great if you’re organising with a group of friends who all have their ten-cents worth to add.
To get started, visit http://maps.google.com and click on ‘My Maps’. Create a new map, give it a title and description, and then decide if you want it public (viewable by the entire world wide web) or unlisted (shared with only select people). Then get plotting!
Find your start-point and add a ‘placemark’ with all the annotations, images or videos you like. Drop other icons on to highlight stopping points, accommodation, things to do, places to eat or anything you like. Now draw lines to map out your travel routes – these can be as the crow flies or ‘snapped to roads’, which you can toggle to suit your plans. Your map will show your distances, approximate travel time and even give you driving directions if you request them.
Once you’re done, click the all-powerful ‘Collaborate’ link and share your map with your travel companions. You can wait for the comments and opinions to flood in, or give them editing permissions so they can tweak it themselves.
NOTE: You’ll need a Google Account to create a Google Map. If you don’t have one, visit www.google.com/accounts.
Here’s an example of a google map we created for a day trip for you to have a look at.
Watch a video of how to use Google My Maps
Google Street View
Street view, a new feature in South Africa, can make your planning process even more fun. Simply click the Street View link on your Google Map and you’ll be able to see exactly what the place you’re headed to looks like. You can even see a drive through view of the roads you’ll drive down to get there.
The images are collected from a complex camera system mounted on the roof of cars and bicycles as they drive or ride around. So far, 27 cities and major towns in South Africa have been added to Google Street View, including some of the Cape Winelands.
Watch a video of how to use Google Street view.
