Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 06.25.09 | 12:40 PM ET
Look out, guidebook publishers—Google is coming for you. The all-new Google City Tours provides users with suggested urban itineraries and then allows for customization from there. The Guardian’s Benji Lanyado takes it for a test drive.
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joy 06.25.09 | 4:18 PM ET
Ugh. Bless them for trying, but Google City Tours won’t replace the ability of guidebooks and travel web sites, or simple friend recommendations…at least not the way they’re doing it.
But also, who is coming up with these itineraries? Case in point - the “Tour” of NYC below. Who the heck spends 90 minutes in the American History or 60 in the Whitney after spending $15, or 90 minutes in the Met after spending $18, or 60 minutes in the Moma for $20.
I’m all for whizzing through museums, but seriously, four world-class museums in a day? It should be Google Drive-by City Tours, instead.
American Museum of Natural History
10:00, for 90 minutes
walk about 22 minutes
Metropolitan Museum of Art
11:52, for 90 minutes
walk about 11 minutes
Whitney Museum of American Art
13:33, for 60 minutes
walk about 42 minutes
Rockefeller Center
15:15, for 30 minutes
walk about 4 minutes
Museum of Modern Art
15:49, for 60 minutes
walk about 18 minutes
New York Public Library
17:07, for 45 minutes
walk about 7 minutes
Grand Central Terminal
17:59, for 15 minutes
walk about 13 minutes
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
18:27, for 30 minutes
walk about 56 minutes
A Walk in Central Park
19:53, for 45 minutes
walk about 71 minutes
Times Square
21:49, for 30 minutes
walk about 1 minutes
Mike 07.22.09 | 10:52 AM ET
As a tech enthusiast I love that Google are still pushing boundaries with what they can achieve with the data they currently hold. As a traveller I simply cannot see this being used as a replacement for a real guide, but perhaps this isn’t Google’s plan…
Knowing Google’s love for world domination it really wouldn’t surprise me if they wanted these tools to be used on other peoples websites, or to rely on criticism to tweak their algorithm to make this tool more worthwhile. With the emergence of fantastic websites like WikiTravel I can see Google pulling more and more information to make this tool work well.