Be Street Smart with Street View

I’m a bit Google obsessed and I use many of their apps and resources while planning my travels. Google Maps is one of the best tools available when it comes to navigation and it’s TOTALLY FREE! As a former traffic and transit reporter in New York City, I am an expert at reading maps and timetables, but there is so much more to Google Maps than just navigation. This post is specifically about their Street View feature. Being that I solo travel often, I like to be cautious and somewhat aware of my surroundings before I even step foot in my destination.

When I am staying in a city, I like to select my accommodations based on the kinds of preferences we all do – brands, location, budgets, etc – but before I book anything I take it ONE STEP further by using Street View to take a virtual stroll around the neighborhood. If you’re not familiar with Google Street View, it’s an amazing feature.

How it works

When you visit maps.google.com on a desktop or laptop, look for the little yellow man (aka Pegman) in the bottom right corner. When you click on him, the map will light up with blue lines and spheres like the map below. Just click anywhere along the highlighted areas and Google will virtually drop you into that location to explore.

A grey arrow will appear in the center of the screen. You can use the arrow to move around and explore in any direction. It can jump around at times and is not perfect, but it is still impressive.

scope the scene

This feature has come in handy many times. One time that it was especially helpful was while booking my trip to Peru and planning my stay in Cusco for a few nights. While I had tours and excursions booked during the day, at night I would be on my own. Cusco is an ancient city with lots of narrow streets and alleys. The hotel that was recommended to me was in an alley and while I’m sure it was safe; I didn’t want to be walking home alone from dinner to a desolate street. I looked at some other options and ended up booking a hotel that was just off a main square because there would likely be more foot traffic.

You can look in all directions. It’s just as good as standing there yourself. You can also see what direction you’re facing or “walking” in by using the small map in the bottom left corner. Pegman moves with you!

CHECK ON CONSTRUCTION

Google Street View can be an asset for other things as well, like checking to see if there is major construction nearby or anything that could potentially be noisy or cause headaches.

EXPLORE AIRPORTS, TRAIN STATIONS & BUS TERMINALS

Street View can sometimes help you get the lay of the land ahead of time at major transportation hubs. I like to use it when I know I’m going to have limited time to make a transfer. Not every station / airport is available, but there are quite a few and it can help give you a sense of familiarity while you’re there. For example, in Milan Central Station you can see where the ticket booths are in relation to the tracks if you click around.

I was taking the train to Salzburg and needed to catch a bus shortly after my train arrived so I used Street View to see what it would look like as I exited the station towards where the buses were.

ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE!

Google has an image capture date on the very bottom right side of the screen. It can change multiple times as you explore one street or area so be aware of that, especially if you’re looking for construction. It may be outdated. You can always call a hotel and ask about current construction in the area to be sure.

Street View also has some other features where you can go back in time to see how an area has changed, which is pretty cool, but irrelevant to this post. It’s also fun to use if there is somewhere you dream of going that you aren’t getting to anytime soon, or if you have kids and want to explore the world with them without leaving home.

I hope this is helpful! Let me know what you think by dropping a comment below!