For me, the best feature of Google Maps is the ability to share and collaborate on a whole map. I always use this feature in my travels. Marking points of interest (POI), creating the routes between them, finding the closest bus/subway stations with the transport schedules, calculating a timetable and etc. are all useful features for the frequent traveller. Moreover, all of this is shared with your travel companions with a single click of the mouse. To be more descriptive I want to go through each of these options when I used them for my travel with friends in Italy. We had one week to visit Rome, Florence and Milan, a really tight schedule:
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Points of interest
When travelling in a group there are always too many opinions on which sights to visit, especially in a old city like Rome. Having a shared map where to mark different POIs, makes communication and selection really easy. We did this for each city, using different colors for each day. I get excited when I see how the pins on the map lineup.
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Routes
Now when we have our locations, it is time to make the routes between them. Again a useful feature of Google Maps. I like how you can measure the distance on a map, it gives you the opportunity to plan your trip to the minute. If a travelmate falls behind, he will always be able to find the group, knowing the where and when it is going to be.
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Public transport timetables
This is one of my favorite features of Google Maps. I have used it in many cities and it is really useful to have one universal app and not learning to use a different public transport apps for each town you visit. With the integrated public transport timetables getting from point A to point B is smooth and simple. In Milan, we had only one day, so getting around fast as possible was very important.
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Wrapping it all up
Of course planning and execution are two different things and there are setbacks for every plan. In Florance my friends and I made the mistake of adding too many POIs on the route and overestimating our abilities. In this case, we usually sit down in a cafe and discuss what to draw out. Again the shared map comes in handy to collaborate on it on the go.
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Future contribution
Maybe the best part of this shared experience is the possibility to give our Italy map to future travellers. If someone is interested in the same POIs as us, we are more than happy to share our impressions and we hope we provide useful advice and time-saving tips.
In summary:
I enjoy using Google Maps because it gives my the ability to share, plan, adjust, execute and share again. It is a way to get help and experience from travelers and provide help back to future travellers. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this community!
Resources: Link to my map of Italy
