Helpful tools for when you're ready to travel

As vaccines become more available, many people are eager to start planning vacations again. We’re seeing more searches for travel-related destination information — like travel restrictions by country and where to travel, which both recently hit all-time highs. If you're ready to plan a trip, here are a few updates to keep you informed on the latest travel guidance and explore potential destinations.

Stay up to date on travel guidance

When you look for travel information like flights, hotels or things to do, Search will let you know if there are COVID-19 related travel advisories or restrictions for your destination. Now, we’re adding more travel restriction details, like whether you’ll need to quarantine upon arrival or provide proof of test results or immunization records. 

You can now also track travel advisories or restrictions for your destination and get email updates. If you are signed into your Google account, you can toggle “Receive an email if this guidance changes.” You'll be notified when restrictions are added, lifted or reduced. These updates are country-specific, with state-specific information available in the United States.

Get destination ideas for when you’re ready to travel 

Where will you go on your first trip when you're ready to travel again? It's exciting to think about, and we've made some updates to Explore to help you get started. Google Flights fans may already be familiar with the Explore map, which shows flight prices for different destinations if you’re flexible on where and when you’re traveling. 

Now, Explore has its own tab on google.com/travel and has been redesigned so you can browse more than just flights. You’ll see more destinations on the map — including smaller cities and national parks — and if you have a certain type of trip in mind, you can filter destinations for interests like outdoors, beaches or skiing. If you only want to see cities with an airport, select flights only in "Travel Mode." When you pick a destination, we'll show you if there's a travel advisory or restriction and, in addition to the best flights, you’ll see other helpful information for planning your trip, like hotels, things to do, the best time to visit and more.

Plan road trips with ease

If you're planning a road trip, Google Maps can now help you decide where to stop along the way ahead of time. When you visit Google Maps on your desktop computer, enter your starting point and your final destination, and at the top of the map you can choose from different types of places to stop like hotels, parks, campgrounds and rest stops. Select a specific location and add it as a stop. Once your journey is planned, send the directions to your phone via text, email or the Google Maps app, so you can navigate right from your phone when you're ready to leave.

If plans change while you’re en route, you can easily update your journey from your phone. Swipe up while navigating to find new stops along the way or to remove previously scheduled stops. 

Whatever type of trip you’re planning (or just starting to think about), we hope these tools will help you make travel decisions with confidence.

by Richard Holden via The Keyword