How to Add Multiple Locations on Google Maps

Google Maps does far more than point you from A to B. With the right approach, you can plot several stops along a single route, save collections of places, or share a custom map with multiple pins — each method serving a different purpose. Understanding which tool fits which situation is the key to using Google Maps effectively for multi-location planning.

Why There Are Multiple Ways to Do This

Google Maps handles "multiple locations" differently depending on what you're actually trying to accomplish. There's a meaningful difference between:

• Adding stops to a navigation route — for when you're driving and need to visit several places in order
• Saving places to a list — for organizing favorites, research, or future trips
• Creating a custom map — for pinning many locations, sharing them, or building a reference map

Each method lives in a different part of the app or platform, and mixing them up leads to frustration fast.

Adding Multiple Stops to a Route 🗺️

This is the most common interpretation of the question — building a multi-stop driving or walking route.

On mobile (Android and iOS):

1. Open Google Maps and tap the search bar
2. Enter your first destination and tap Directions
3. Choose your transport mode (driving, walking, transit, cycling)
4. Tap the three-dot menu (top right) and select Add stop
5. Type your next destination — it appears as a waypoint in your route
6. Repeat to add more stops; drag the waypoint handles to reorder them

The mobile app currently supports up to 9 stops on a single route. The order matters for navigation — Maps will guide you through each stop sequentially.

On desktop (maps.google.com):

1. Click Directions and enter your starting point
2. Click the "+" icon below your destination to add another stop
3. Continue adding stops as needed
4. Drag stops to reorder them

The desktop experience makes reordering easier, especially when planning a complex itinerary before heading out.

What affects how well this works:

• Traffic conditions and time of day influence route suggestions between stops
• Transit and cycling modes may have stricter limits on the number of stops
• Google Maps does not automatically optimize stop order for shortest distance — you arrange them manually

Saving Multiple Locations to a List

If you're not navigating right now but want to bookmark several places — restaurants to try, hotels for a trip, job sites to remember — Lists is the right feature.

To create and populate a list:

1. Search for a location in Google Maps
2. Tap the place name to open its details panel
3. Tap Save (the bookmark icon)
4. Choose an existing list or tap New list to create one
5. Repeat for every place you want to include

Lists sync to your Google account and appear under the Saved tab in the mobile app. You can make lists private or share them with others via a link — useful for group travel planning or sharing local recommendations.

Limitations to know:

• Lists are for saving and referencing places, not for turn-by-turn navigation through all of them in sequence
• You can tap any saved location to get directions to it individually, but there's no one-tap "navigate all saved places in order" function

Creating a Custom Map with Multiple Pins 📍

For anything more complex — plotting many locations across a city, building a travel itinerary with notes, or sharing a map embed — Google My Maps is the dedicated tool.

My Maps is a separate product accessed at mymaps.google.com (or via the desktop Maps menu under the grid/apps icon). It lets you:

• Drop unlimited custom pins across any geography
• Organize pins into layers (e.g., "Day 1," "Day 2," "Restaurants," "Hotels")
• Add notes, photos, or links to each pin
• Share or embed the map with collaborators or on a website
• Apply custom icons and colors to differentiate location types

My Maps is primarily a desktop tool, though saved custom maps are viewable on mobile via the Google Maps app under Saved → Maps.

What affects usability here:

• A Google account is required to create and save custom maps
• My Maps doesn't integrate with live navigation the same way a standard route does — it's a reference tool, not a turn-by-turn navigator
• Large maps with dozens of pins and layers are easier to build and manage on desktop than on mobile

Comparing the Three Approaches

The Variables That Change Your Experience

A few factors will shape which method actually works for your situation:

• How many locations you need — a 3-stop grocery run is very different from mapping 40 research sites
• Whether you need live turn-by-turn guidance — only the multi-stop route option provides this natively
• Whether you're sharing with others — Lists and My Maps both support sharing; standard routes share as a link that others open individually
• Your device and OS version — the mobile UI for adding stops varies slightly between Android and iOS, and app updates occasionally shift where menu options live
• Whether you're on mobile or desktop — My Maps in particular behaves very differently across platforms

The right approach for a weekend road trip with four stops looks nothing like the right approach for a field researcher pinning 60 locations across a region. Both use Google Maps — but different parts of it entirely. 🧭