How to Create and Customise Custom Travel Routes Using Google My Maps

While standard Google Maps excels at turn-by-turn everyday GPS navigation, planning complex itineraries, road trips, multi-stop field surveys, or team delivery routes quickly overwhelms the standard consumer interface. Adding more than ten stops becomes clumsy, custom notes are lost, and organising stops into sequential regional legs is impossible. Google My Maps is Google’s dedicated web-based spatial planning tool that lets you build bespoke, layered interactive maps. You can drop multi-point driving, cycling, or walking paths, colour-code waypoints, attach descriptive research notes and photographs, and share interactive route maps across desktop and mobile devices.

What Is Google My Maps and How Does It Differ from Google Maps?

Google My Maps is a standalone companion application running within your Google Drive ecosystem. Unlike the consumer Google Maps app—which focuses on real-time transit and nearby merchant recommendations—My Maps gives you cartographic authoring capabilities:

• Multi-Layer Structure: Organise destinations into distinct thematic layers (e.g., “Hotels”, “Restaurants”, “Day 1 Driving Route”, “Day 2 Hiking Path”).
• Custom Route Vectors: Plot multi-waypoint driving, bicycling, or pedestrian courses that calculate route geometry and distances automatically.
• Data Import Support: Bulk import locations from CSV, XLSX, KML, or GPX files directly onto your map canvas.
• Cloud Syncing with Google Drive: Every map saves automatically as a document in your Google Drive, supporting real-time collaborative editing and permission management.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Custom Route Map

Google My Maps is best authored via desktop web browser, with read-only viewing supported across the mobile Google Maps application.

1. Create a New Map Canvas

1. Navigate to Google My Maps at mymaps.google.com (or open Google Drive, click New > More > Google My Maps).
2. Click + Create a New Map.
3. Click on Untitled map in the top-left card to name your map (e.g., “Highlands Road Trip 2026”) and enter a project description.

2. Adding Waypoints and Custom Markers

1. Use the search bar at the top of the screen to search for attractions, towns, or accommodation.
2. In the search result card that appears on the map, click + Add to map.
3. Click the Style icon (paint bucket) next to a marker in your layer list to customise its colour and pick custom icons (such as coffee cups, fuel pumps, lodging, or mountain icons).
4. Click the Edit icon (pencil) to rename the marker, add custom notes, paste opening hours, or attach images.

3. Plotting Driving, Cycling, or Walking Routes

1. In the toolbar located beneath the search bar, click the Add directions icon (the arrow bifurcating around a curve).
2. My Maps creates a new dedicated Directions Layer in your sidebar.
3. Click the transport mode icon in the directions layer title bar to switch between Driving, Bicycling, or Walking directions.
4. Type your starting waypoint into field A and your next destination into field B.
5. Click Add Destination to append additional waypoints (fields C, D, E, etc.). Google My Maps calculates the optimal road route connecting each stop sequentially.
6. To adjust the route path manually (e.g., to take a scenic coastal highway rather than an inland motorway), hover your mouse over the blue route line on the map canvas and click and drag the line to redirect it through your preferred road.

Measuring Distances and Drawing Custom Polygons

For outdoor navigation or off-road excursions where road routing is unavailable, use the drawing tools:

• Draw a Line or Shape: Click the line icon in the top toolbar and choose Add line or shape. Click sequential points on the map to trace trails, perimeters, or property boundaries. Double-click to close the line.
• Measure Distances and Areas: Click the ruler icon in the toolbar, then click between any points across the terrain to measure exact linear kilometres or enclosed land area in real time.

Accessing and Viewing Custom Maps on Mobile

Once created, your custom maps are accessible within the standard Google Maps app on iPhone and Android:

1. Open the standard Google Maps app on your smartphone.
2. Tap the Saved (or You) tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down and tap Maps.
4. Tap your custom map. The custom markers, coloured layers, and driving route overlays will populate directly over your standard GPS view.

Exporting and Sharing Your Map

You can collaborate with travel companions or export routes for offline GPS units:

• Collaborative Sharing: Click the Share button in the left panel to configure viewer or editor permissions via email or shareable web link.
• Exporting to KML/KMZ: Click the Three Dots (…) menu next to the map title and select Export to KML/KMZ to download geographical data for use in Garmin GPS units, Google Earth, or third-party navigation apps.

Utilising Google My Maps transforms scattered travel notes and multi-stop logistics into structured, visually engaging route plans accessible anywhere you travel.