In many regions globally, summer has arrived — often signaling a time for trip planning and exploration. Today, Google is sharing three new updates from Google Maps to help you maximize your summer adventures. Google Maps updates for trip planning

Immersive View: Expanding to new cities and available for 500+ landmarks worldwide. Earlier this year, Google launched Immersive View to revolutionize exploration — using AI to merge billions of images and create a multidimensional view of the world with trusted information layered on top. Today, Google is beginning to roll out Immersive View in four new cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice — and is expanding it to over 500 iconic landmarks globally, from Prague Castle to the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Android and iOS.

So, if you’re planning a trip to Boston and want to see the historic Faneuil Hall, Google Maps allows you to familiarize yourself with the area before your visit. Just search for it in Google Maps and tap on the first video to virtually soar over the building and find places nearby. With the time slider, you can see the weather at different times of day and how crowded it will be, helping you plan ahead. And where data is available, you can peek inside restaurants and cafes to help decide whether to make a reservation — thanks to an advanced AI technique called neural radiance fields, or NeRF — developed by Google.

Immersive View is rolling out in Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, Venice, and to 500+ iconic landmarks worldwide.

Monitor your trip progress with glanceable directions, starting to roll out this month

While Google appreciates the rich details of Immersive View, it also recognizes that sometimes less is more — especially when you’re somewhat familiar with your route and just need to see when the next turn is. That’s why Google is launching glanceable directions in Maps, helping you easily track your trip progress right from your lock screen or route overview.

Once you opt-in, just request directions to your destination and get going. You’ll see updated ETAs and where to make your next turn — information that was previously only available in comprehensive navigation mode. And if you decide to take another path, Google will update your trip automatically. Glanceable directions start rolling out globally this month for walking, cycling, and driving modes on Android and iOS.

Glanceable directions start rolling out globally on Android and iOS for walking, cycling, and driving modes this month.

Stay organized and plan trips with new updates Google Maps updates for trip planning

One of the most challenging parts of planning a trip is keeping track of all the places you want to visit — especially if you’re visiting multiple cities. Google built Recents on the desktop to help with just that. It automatically organizes places you’ve researched into a handy highlight on the left side of your screen when you open Maps.

Now, with new updates rolling out globally next month, Google will save places in your Recent highlights even after you close your Google Maps window — so you can take a break from planning and come back to it later without ever losing your progress. You can remove places you’ve viewed, plan multiple trips at once, and share a selection of places — like attractions or hotels — with your travel buddy to get their thoughts. Once you know where you want to visit, select three or more destinations, click “directions,” and Maps will even create a custom route that hits all your stops and saves it to your Recents. Who’s up for a summer road trip!?

With new updates rolling out globally to Recents on the desktop next month, you can choose 3 or more places from your Recent highlights to create the ultimate road trip.

Whether you’re visiting local gems, a national park, or flying halfway around the world, let Google Maps be your ultimate travel companion this year.