5 Google Maps tips for holiday season

The favorite time of the year is here, filled with bustling shoppers, home-cooked meals, and quality time with loved ones. However, this holiday season is not all rosy. In fact, it can be quite overwhelming.

As you know, during the holiday season, we tend to do thousands of purchases and trips to the store can be a bit of a hassle considering the traffic and the number of people who are also getting ready for the holidays.

Then, in order to help you save time, money and sanity, we’re going to present you with five must-have Google Maps tips and tricks for navigating the holiday season without a hitch.

Best Google Maps tips to reduce stress in this holiday season

1. Search for stops along your route

With so much on your mind, it’s not uncommon to forget important things for your holiday gathering. But don’t worry, you can still figure it out. With the help of Google Maps, you can navigate to your destination by tapping the magnifying glass at the top right of the application.

There, you’ll find supermarkets, rest stops, gas stations, hotels, and more along the way, so you can avoid a major detour.

2. Share your ETA

Running late for the holidays again? You can let your friends and family know you’re on your way by sharing your ETA directly from Maps. What’s more, when navigating, you can tap on the bottom screen and then on “Share trip progress.”

3. Drive sustainably and save money on gas

Now you can use eco-routes to see and choose the most fuel- or energy-efficient way to your destination, whether it’s an ice rink or a tree farm, as long as you navigate with Google Maps. In addition, you can search for “gas prices” to see the price of fuel at nearby stations so you can choose the cheapest option.

4. Find your way indoors fast with the Directory tab

If you still have shopping to do this season or are planning a trip, long or short, Maps has an option where you can search for any mall, airport, or transit station and tap the “Directory” tab.

This way, you will be able to see what businesses are inside, as if a specific car rental company is located at the airport. Moreover, you will also see useful details such as what floor a location is on and whether it is open.

5. Avoid holiday crowds with busyness information

The most exhausting part of living through the holidays is the long lines that rob us of time and energy. Nevertheless, with the help of Maps, you can now search for any place (such as a bakery, a grocery store, or an airport) and access its business page to check how busy it is or how busy it tends to be on a given day and time to save time.

With these couple of tips, we assure you that you will spend the holidays with less stress than usual. And if you still need more referrals, you can take a look at Google Maps traffic predictions, along with their popular schedules and activity trends.