Is it possible to put spots you want to remember (restaurants, etc.) on a map app ahead of time, possibly with a notation? What I'd like is to mark restaurants, etc. that people have recommended to me on a map app so I can pull it up when I'm there and have them already on there. I found a way to put a 'pin' in Google Maps but not make a note about it.
Thank you!
Sherry
You can do it in Google maps. Drop a pin on your point of interest, and then in the menu click on "save". In "save" you can save the place as "starred", "want to go", "favorites" and "travel plans".
This is for Google Maps: You can also save to your own list, like restaurants. Problem with that is is you do more than one, say restaurants and hotel, they both have the same symbol. I use red heart (favorite) for hotels I’m staying at; green flag (want to go) for booked and interesting sightseeing/events; aqua square (made a separate restaurants list). I can add notes to all of those. Saved with a gold star doesn’t allow notes so I use it for maybe’s.
You can also customize Maps.me. But it’s busy, so difficult to see your bookmarked sights.
I do similar to horsewoofie. If you drop a pin, there doesn’t seem to be a way to remove it later like you can with saving locations with Google Maps’ preset markers. I use a star for hotel or bus/strain station, green flag for places of interest, and a heart for other specialty places. Then I change anything I want to track for future reference to the blue square, which for me means “I went”.
These markers will transfer across devices that share a Google log in (phone and iPad) and will show up on your downloaded map (for use if you wind up without data).
I think Google Maps is the best for this, as others have suggested! I was recently in Europe for two weeks and started saving restaurants/places to go months in advance. It's so nice to open the app and see all the little places you've saved. I also used google maps as a springboard to make restaurant reservations several times - it worked great!
It's maddening that Google killed the MyMaps app several years ago so MyMaps is only available online. Except for the access issue, I love it. It has over 400 hundred icons you can select from and 30 colors. You can add to the default identifying text that pops up automatically for places you pin. I add the days and hours of operation and sometimes a few words of description ("20C art", etc.). I'm not aware of another app that has a lot of icons and colors to work with.
The inability to download the map and have it on your device as you walk around makes MyMaps much less useful. Once you walk outside the territory on the original screen, you'll need Wi-Fi or cellular data for the map to refresh. I keep saying I'm going to switch to something else, but I've gotten good at setting up MyMaps at home (the typing's easier on a PC) for the cities I'm going to visit, and it's great for planning my sightseeing itinerary when I'm in my hotel room. I use different symbols for art museums, other types of museums, historical sites, gardens, viewpoints, etc. It's easy to change the color of a pin when I want to flag a place as "been there".
I have friends who swear by Mapster but I couldn't figure out how to make it work for me.
I keep an old-fashioned small notebook organized by area and just right things down as I become aware of them. The book is small enough to carry around in my crossbody bag.
Using google maps looks interesting, though...
I created an Excel spreadsheet for our recent 18 days in Paris/London.
Each day had a list of sites/eats/planes/trains etc. If we were going to the Churchill War Rooms then CWW was a hyperlink to the site. I kept spreadsheet open at all times on my phone so a quick glance and tap took me to a site of interest. I had a back up printed copy also - still old school.
Wanderlog is the perfect tool for this. (https://wanderlog.com/)
You can list places and they will show up on a map. You can include notes and costs for each place. You can also schedule each place by date when you've gotten to that point in your planning. If you want, you can share it and collaborate with your travel partners.
My iPad map lets me create Guides (for each location I’m interested in) and add restaurants, hotels, sites to them. Discovered this not too long ago - kind of nifty.
Thank you for the suggestions, everyone. I'll experiment with them.
Sherry
I use Google Maps and save places like others here have mentioned. But what you can also do is create new lists to save the items in. So I had a separate list of various locations, each with their own list of saved places; i.e., Edinburgh, Glasgow, Arran, Mull and so on.
You could even narrow it down more by using lists for "Edinburgh restaurants" or "Glasgow shopping" and so on. And you can leave notes under each item that will help you remember why you saved it. :)
When you open the "Your Lists" page, you will see an option that says + New List - just click then and name your list.
Yes, exactly what Mardee said. I create Google Maps lists for trips I'm only dreaming of. As I read posts, I can add restaurants and sights. This makes it easier later to group activities that are near each other.
CW, I can't wait to read your trip report for Bulgaria!
