Google Street View Comes to Germany

I love Google street view. It makes my life so much easier when I have to go somewhere new or when I’m trying to spy on people. ;)

France was the first country in Europe to get the street view option on Google Maps in 2008. Many other European countries have been added since then but Germany was slow to get it due to privacy issues. Germany’s 20 largest cities, including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and Dusseldorf now have street view available.

What does this mean for travellers? It makes planning so much easier because you can check street directions to your hotel or wherever you are visiting in advance. Of course you can do this with a regular map but it’s so much easier to get your bearings with street view. You can pick out landmarks to be sure you’re heading in the right direction.

You can also check out the neighbourhood of where you’re going, so you can avoid picking a hotel in what looks to be in a dodgy area or you can pick somewhere where you know there are cafes or internet shops etc around.

At the end of the day though, it’s just fun to go on a virtual visit of a city using Google street view.

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