The fact that Google maps guides you through the shortest route to your destination is known to almost everybody. And this is very helpful if you are on the way to your new company for an interview or headed for some urgent necessity.
But, what if you are on a weekend trip? You sure would love to explore the routes a little more for that extra adventure. Google maps are able to do a lot more than you know to make your trip memorable. Given below are some of the ways it makes your trip better.
Scenic Route
Apart from showing the shortest roads with the least traffic, Google maps can also help you get to the less taken roads. First do a normal location search in the maps by pressing the blue navigation button after filling the ‘from’ and ‘to’ fields correctly. Now, select the option to avoid highways, tolls and ferries or any of these three options so that you get longer and more scenic routes. When you do this, ensure that the roads are not too narrow or dirty by taking a closer look on the roads.
Download Area Maps
It is fun taking the longer routes and enjoy the beauty of the countryside. But, these places need not be sophisticated enough to have network connection for your phone to work. Remember that when you move to places that have no network coverage, the Google maps become useless. So, download the local map data to your phone which can be used offline. When this is done, you can search the areas even when there is no network connectivity. But, the things you can do offline will be limited.
Tour of Your Hotel
Google Maps have an option to tap the hotel name or bed and breakfast to have a look at the Street View tours available. The people at the hotel or a visitor might have made a tour of the hotel and the nearby streets. This helps you take a virtual tour of the place to see what surrounds the hotel and what areas interest you. If this is not available, you can still take a tour in the neighborhood by tapping and holding any spot on the street nearby.
Local Eateries
If you are a person who loves having the local food of the place you are visiting, Google Maps can help you. It shows you cafes and restaurants that serve the best local food. Open the maps and zoom in on the area. Using the main menu button, tap Explore to find out the nearby eateries. You can even specify a meal like breakfast or lunch and then choose the option ‘Where the locals eat’. If you like a restaurant, you can view its pictures and menu too.
Keep a Diary
Google maps provide ways to store your memories of a place you visited. This needs you to first enable a privacy setting. There is a setting called Location History to save the locations you have been to. This helps in local recommendations which will be visible only to you. There is another feature called Your Timeline which displays a timeline and the map of the places you visited on a particular day.
As discussed, the advantages of Google maps are numerous. When you save your memory using Google, you can revisit it by entering a date and timeline. This shows you where all you went and how you reached there. With all these exciting features, Google Maps is an amazing companion on road trips.
