Make a map with pins

How to make a pin map

1. Find the first place. Search for an address or landmark, or pan to it.
2. Drop a pin. Click the map. A marker appears with an editing panel.
3. Describe it. Add a title, a description, a link and a photo. These show in the popup when someone taps the pin.
4. Choose a look. Pick an icon (hundreds to choose from), a colour and a size. Group pins into layers – "Hotels", "Restaurants", "Must-see" – each with its own style.
5. Add many pins at once. Import a spreadsheet, or add a ready-made layer such as tourist attractions or hotels for any country.
6. Preview and share. Check the map in desktop, tablet and phone previews, then share a link or embed it.

Pin maps people make

• Travel maps and city guides with favourite spots.
• Wedding and event maps showing venues, hotels and parking.
• Business location maps and simple store locators.
• Real estate listings and open-home maps.
• Community maps: playgrounds, public toilets, drinking water, defibrillators.
• Class projects, field trips and research sites.

Make your pins look great

• Use one colour per category and a legend, so viewers understand the map at a glance.
• Turn on labels for a handful of pins; use popups when you have many.
• Switch on clustering once you pass a few hundred pins.
• Upload landscape photos around 1200 px wide – they look sharp in popups and load quickly.
• Pick a basemap that suits the story: Voyager for city guides, satellite for outdoors, Dark Matter for a dramatic look.

Start dropping pins

Related

• Guide: map with multiple locations
• Plot locations from a spreadsheet
• Make a store locator map

Pins or a data layer?

Hand-placed pins are perfect for your own curated places. If you want every place of a kind – all the campsites in a country, or every EV charger – add a data layer instead and save yourself hours. You can combine both on one map, and two data layers per map are free.