From mapping the weather and news to mapping things that aren't maps at all, like paintings or magazines, Google Maps has a lot to offer. And there are free tools available out there for those who want to use the Google Maps API without doing a bunch of coding. Here are more than 100 of the best mashups and tools out there right now.
Have a favorite Google Maps tool or mashup? Tell us more about it in the comments.
Travel and Transportation
Mapness - An online travel journal that interfaces with Google Maps to show where you've been.
The AA Route Planner - Plan trips around the UK.
Montreal Metro Map - A complete map of Montreal Metro stations.
TubeJP - A London Tube journey planner using Google Maps that also incorporates a search function to find local businesses.
District Taxi Fare Estimator - A taxi fare estimator provided by the Washington Post that shows travel routes in Google Maps.
Washington, CD Taxicab Zones - A zone map that covers each taxicab zone and is zoomable, unlike the ones in the actual cabs that are poorly labeled and hard to read.
Dublin Public Transport Advisor - A trip planner for public transportation in and around Dublin.
Most Dangerous Roads on Earth - A map of the most dangerous roads in the world.
Perfect Escapes - A travel search engine that features a click-through Google Maps search interface.
hotspotr - A map showing more than 14,875 wifi hotspots all over the country.
safe2pee.org - Find a public bathroom anywhere in the country.
Mezzoman - Find a place to meet in the middle of two points on the map.
Wines and Times - Use this map to plan a winery tour anywhere in the United States.
fastfoodmaps.com - Find fast food restaurants, including McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy's and more, anywhere in the U.S.
Photo Enforced - Get maps of red light cameras in multiple cities across the United States.
World Port Source - Maps of more than 3,100 ports in 189 countries, plus a map to find ports anywhere in the world.
IMB Live Piracy Map 2008 - A map of all of the armed robbery and piracy incidents (both successful and attempted) reported over the past year.
flexTraffic - A map of traffic delays and construction projects across the UK.
Cheap Hotels - A map of more than 66,000 cheap hotels in more than 165 countries that also lets you book online.
NOAA Nautical Maps - A mashup that overlays NOAA nautical maps over Google Maps and allows you to adjust the transparency of each.
News, Weather and Politics
Gaza Conflict YouTube Videos Map - This mashup shows the latest YouTube videos about the Gaza conflict attached to their locations along the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.
Track This Now - Search for news worldwide or in a specific country (or group of countries) and have news stories marked on a map.
TimeSpace: World - An interactive map from the Washington post that shows current news items linked from a world map.
iMap Weather - An easy way to get current weather conditions and the forecast using a map-based interface.
Barack Obama's Journey to the White House - A Google Map of Barack Obama's entire life, from Honolulu to the White House.
RMI's Oil Imports Map - A mashup that shows all of the U.S.'s oil imports from 1973.
Who is Sick? - Find statistics on a map for illness in your area, everything from allergies and runny noses to fever to stomach aches.
HealthMap - Map of disease cases worldwide, including rabies, salmonella, and more.
Taxpayer Contribution to the Iraq War by State - View how much taxpayers have paid for the Iraq War by state.
Missing Kids Map - A mashup that shows the origins of missing kids (from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) on a Google Map.
Map of Election Conditions in Zimbabwe - A map of the corruption, from vote buying and gerrymandering to abduction and murder, that occurred in elections in Zimbabwe.
MetaCarta GeoSearch News - A map with links to current news stories from all over the world.
Recreation and Entertainment
Theatre In Chicago - An interactive map for Chicago that lists theatres with current and upcoming plays.
Gruvr - A map that shows live music shows at clubs and elsewhere anywhere in the country.
LOST Maps - A map that shows all of the locations mentioned in the ABC television series "Lost".
The London Knowledge - A map of London that shows tube stations, restaurants, nightclubs and more.
Drive Score - Shows a map of nearby restaurants, schools, hospitals, bars and more for any address and awards points based on what's close by.
Google Maps Disc Golf Courses - A map of disc golf/frisbee golf courses all over the United States with descriptions and directions.
Live Sports Map - Find sports scores and news on a Google Map that includes stadium and arena satellite views.
FindLakes - Maps for each state showing more than 40,000 lakes around the country.
SafeFoodFinder - A map showing Seattle area restaurants and what their health department inspection scores have been.
Broadway2Day.com - A map of current Broadway shows with information on price, genre, run, and more.
Environment and Climate Change
The World's Most Polluted Cities - A map with geotagged photos of polluted cities all over the world (though mostly in Asia).
San Francisco Solar Map - This interactive map shows residential, municipal, commercial, and other solar projects around San Francisco.
RoofRay Solar Calculator - Find your house on their Google Maps interface, trace your roof, determine the roof's orientation and pitch, and get a solar estimate.
Climate Change Wales - Interactive maps that show what flood levels will be based on rising sea levels from climate change.
United States Sea Level Rise Map - A map with geotagged photos that show the impact of different sea level rises in cities around the United States.
Flood Maps - Shows what new coastlines would be for sea level rises between 1M and 14M.
MapEcos - A map showing U.S. industrial facilities that use toxic chemicals and includes information about each facility.
Wasting Away - A map showing all 1,623 superfund sites in the United States, including sites that have been cleaned up.
DaylightMap.com's Clouds - A map showing regularly-updated cloud cover overlaid on a Google Map of the world.
Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water - A map showing the levels of prescription drugs in various cities around the country.
Carma - A map showing the world's highest CO2 emitting power plants.
Photo and Media Maps
Panedia - Maps of places all over the world with placemarkers linked to panoramic images.
Driving Detroit - A map of Detroit that includes placemarkers that link to photos, slideshows and other media.
Star Viewer - A Google Map of the night sky that includes YouTube videos of different stars, galaxies, and star systems.
Games and Simulators
googleDrive - Another Google Maps driving simulator.
Real World Racer - A car racing game in Google Maps that is surprisingly challenging.
2D Driving Simulator - A Google Maps Flash driving simulator.
Pedestrian and Bike Maps
Where is the path (or street) - A mashup that shows regular street and footpath maps next to a Google Maps satellite view so that you can see things not indicated on the Google Map.
99Trails.com Philadelphia Map - A map showing walking and biking trails around the Philadelphia metro area.
NYC Bike Maps - A map of New York City's bike paths, lanes and greenways.
ActiveTrails - A map of trails throughout the United States and France that allows users to contribute trail information.
HikeCT - A map of hiking trails in Connecticut.
I Need A Bike - Find bike rental locations in and around Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.
Information, Education and History
Cassini - An overlay of 18th century maps over Google Maps that lets you adjust the transparency of either layer.
mapdango - A mashup that teaches about a new place every day, showing news, weather, and more.
MapsZipcode - A Google Maps mashup that shows zip codes nationwide.
London Profiler - Get maps of demographic and other public information in London.
Solar Eclipses - A list of solar eclipses from 1961 to the present that link to maps showing the path of the eclipse over the earth's surface.
Area Code Maps - An area code map overlay.
BibleMap.org - An interactive map of locations from the Bible.
World Heritage Google Map - A Google Map of UNESCO World Heritage Sites worldwide that includes photos.
MailboxMap - Find a USPS or UPS mailbox anywhere in the country.
UFOmaps.com - A map of UFO sightings all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Qibla Locator - Find which direction Muslims should pray in from anywhere in the world.
PlaceOpedia - A map of Wikipedia articles linked to their locations.
Meteor Craters - A map of meteor impact craters around the world.
World's Creepiest Places - Just as the name implies, this map shows information about the world' creepiest places.
Housing and Real Estate
Roomapes - An apartment finder app with a Google Maps interface.
CribQ - An apartment finder for San Francisco that interfaces apartment listings, Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth (for a birdseye view, streetview and WalkScore).
SuiteMatch.com - Find shared office space and see a map that shows all of the amenities surrounding that space including coffee, food, bars and gyms.
Non-Map Uses
The Kremer Collection - Use a Google Maps interface to browse a large collection of paintings.
zkimmer - An online publication viewer for newspapers and magazines that uses the Google Maps UI.
Other Maps
Samknows - Find a house or building on a map of the UK and see what types of broadband internet are available at that address.
If I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up? - This map shows you where you would end up if you dug a hole straight through the earth at any point on the globe.
If the earth were a sandwich - This pair of maps shows you the point on the earth that is the exact opposite of any other point you select.
RoadlessLand.org - Map of all of the designated road-free areas in the United States.
Google Maps Recent Edits - A constantly updating map that shows the most recent edits to Google Maps.
DishPointer - An application that shows you which direction to point your satellite dish based on your address.
DaylightMap.com - A map of where daylight currently is on earth as well as the lights appearing on the night side.
We Tell Stories - A map of the stories of six different authors that lets you follow the trail of their stories around the world.
Directories
MapTube - A directory with nearly 200 different mashup maps available.
Popular Google Maps - Browse popular Google Maps covering a variety of topics.
Tools
Map Builder - A quick and easy Google Maps mashup builder.
MapMyPage - A simple tool to put Google Maps on your website.
Map My Life - An easy to use mashup that will map your life and show a timeline using an XML file you provide.
The Google Maps Image Cutter - A free application for cutting any image into tiles for use with the Google Maps interface.
Automatic Tile Cutter - Another app for cutting any image into tiles to use with Google Maps.
GMapCreator - A tool to make creating thematic Google Maps easier.
Geo Twitter - GeoCode your tweets and plot them on an embeddable map.
Mapmsg.com - An app that lets you put a message (smoke signals, crop circles, etc.) into a map and then email it to anyone.
Dual Maps - Free mapping tools to combine different Google Maps views as well as Microsoft Virtual Earth maps.
maps-for-free.com - Get relief layers for Google Maps free for creating your own mashups.
HeatMapAPI - Use this API to create your own heat maps to overlay Google Maps.
PdMarker - An app to help you easily customize Google Maps marker behavior.
Interested in more Google Maps resources? Check these out:
- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Google Maps