![create a custom map google maps create a custom map google maps](https://www.addictivetips.com/app/uploads/2021/11/custom-google-maps.jpg)
So if you have already created a My Map of your area, you can change your icons or maybe you want to create a new My Map using this beautiful icon set. As an example taken from our own 48 Hours in… My Maps, we’ve used one for all restaurants, two different ones for cafes & bakeries (depending on the specialization of the place, whether it’s coffee or cakes), two different ones for nightlife (depending on the type of venue, whether is a general one or a live music place), one for accommodation, two for tourist spots (one for general spots and another one for parks), one for arts & culture places and one or two for shopping. Maybe one or sometimes two per layer is enough. But if you start a new My Maps, then you’ll have to follow the same process as listed here.Īs a tip, try not to use too many different icons. After clicking “ok”, the place you just saved in your My Maps will have this new icon.Īnd once you have added an icon for the first time, you don’t have to re-upload it again for other places that share the same icon. In the example, I added the suitcase icon, as you can see. If you want to add an icon not listed there or you want to personalise your map, click on “Custom icon” and in the next screen, select the icon from your computer (or drag and drop it), and you are all set. In most cases, these are more than enough to create beautiful and useful My Maps. You’ll see something like the following screenshot, where you’ll find a lot of different shapes and categories for icons. But in this case, we are going for something different.
![create a custom map google maps create a custom map google maps](https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GMaps-Create-Map-Option.png)
Click on the bucket icon to change the icon style and you’ll see a popup that lets you select the icon colour and the icon itself.
CREATE A CUSTOM MAP GOOGLE MAPS HOW TO
Let’s focus on how to add those beautiful icons.
![create a custom map google maps create a custom map google maps](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*wrnJx5ESshnRekFE.png)
See the three options we’ve marked in the screenshot below? With the bucket icon (first one on the left) you can change the style of the icon, with the pencil icon you can change the name and add a brief description of the place and with the camera icon, you can add a photo of that place, although if you don’t add one, My Maps will show you one from that place’s Google Maps listing. Once you have added a place to your My Map, you’ll see a blue pin, but there’s much more that you can do. How to personalise your places on the map Start looking for places and add them to the map by clicking on “+ Add to map”Īs a reference, for our 48 Hours in… My Maps we used these layers: Dining out, Cafes & Bakeries, Nightlife, Accommodation, Tourist spots, Arts & Cultures and Shopping, to give every visitor to these cities a glimpse on what’s best in the city to enjoy it for 48 hours (or more!).Add up to 10 layers in total to distribute your places as you see fit.Change the name of your only layer (that currently has no title).
![create a custom map google maps create a custom map google maps](https://www.maptive.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Custom-Google-Map-of-3-largest-us-cities.jpg)
Add a title and a description to your newly created map.Click on “Create a new map” or on the + symbol to start with an empty map.