If you want simple and sensible directions, MapQuest might be the best place for you. The website is very friendly and easy to use. On the other hand, the maps that Google creates can be easy too, but there are plenty of options to play and have fun too. You can create your own, navigate other people’s maps, change the route of your driving direction, and take a virtual sightseeing tour in a faraway place, even on Mars or the Moon! This is a help guide to maps for Google, showing some of the tips, hints, and tricks to make your mapping experience more enjoyable.

Many people seek help with maps to print or save their addresses. The default print option is step-by-step instructions with a small one that is barely legible. For map dealers, you can get a larger full-size one by canceling the print dialog (in Firefox), at which point a new window will appear allowing you to check a box that says “Show original map view.”

The preview then switches to a full overview of street maps and driving directions, where you can change the zoom level in your print window. When it comes to saving your directions, it may come as a surprise, but you can’t really just save your driving directions map to the Google Maps site; you can save placemarks and maps, but not the entire set. Instead, you need to click and copy the link to the map (in the upper right corner of the map it says “Link to this page”). If you save that link as a bookmark or in a Word document, you can access the exact same set of instructions next time.

You may need help with the map to customize your own map on Google. Did you know that you can change the placemark icon? This can be very useful if you are creating a map of your city or a road trip that features several different types of places. For example, you can use a comedy / tragedy mask icon for theaters, a martini glass icon for bars, a bed icon for hotels, or a hamburger and smoothie icon for restaurants.

Once you drag and drop the basic icon and place it on the map, you can click on it and select “Edit” to change its placemark. Here you can also change the title that appears on it, the description and the icon (by clicking on the upper right image of the icon). The My Maps feature is pretty straightforward, but you can share yours with others by selecting “copy link location”, emailing your map, or embedding the map on your website or blog (by clicking the “link text “, copying and pasting the embedded link.)

Travelers often need help with maps to find notable landmarks. You may not necessarily know the direction of the Eiffel Tower, but you can focus on the location by typing “Eiffel Tower.” Now let’s say you are in the car driving but you have no idea where you are. You can turn your cell phone into a GPS device using Google Maps for Mobile directly on your cell phone. (See the video for this on the Google Maps site). You may also want to explore the country of Japan to decide where you would like to visit, simply by typing “Japan”. You can also search for zip codes, airport codes, latitudes, and longitudes.