How to make a travel map from your photos

Option 1: the map inside your photo app

Apple Photos and Google Photos can both show your photos on a map. On iPhone, look for Map in the Photos app's collections; in Google Photos, search for Places or open the map from the search tab.

These maps are good for finding a photo you remember taking somewhere. They're not built as a travel map: there's no grouping by trip, no route between places, and no way to share the map itself without sharing the photos.

Option 2: pin places by hand in Google My Maps

Google My Maps lets you drop pins, draw routes and add photos to each place. It gives you full control and it's free.

The cost is time. Every pin is added by hand, and photos have to be attached one by one. It works for a single trip you want to present carefully, and it's tedious for ten years of travel.

Option 3: build the map from photo metadata automatically

A travel map app reads the GPS coordinates and dates already in your photos and does the pinning for you. With Trailroll it takes a few minutes:

1. 1Sign in with Google or an email link. It's free for your first 500 photos.
2. 2Add photos from your phone or computer. JPEG, HEIC (iPhone) and PNG all work. Pick a few of the best shots from each trip, there's no need to upload everything.
3. 3Trailroll reads the location and date of each photo in your browser and pins it on the map.
4. 4Photos are grouped into trips by the gaps between dates, and each trip is named after the countries it covers.
5. 5Fix the gaps. Photos without GPS get a suggested place from your other photos taken within a few days; confirm it or pin the photo yourself.

The result is one map with every trip, the route between photos, and a timeline you can filter by year.

Choosing which photos to add

A travel map reads best with a handful of photos per place, not hundreds. A good rule:

• 3–10 photos per city or stop, chosen for the place, not for the people in them.
• At least one photo at each stop of a road trip, so the route between them makes sense.
• The original files, not copies saved from WhatsApp or Instagram, which have lost their location.

Not sure if your photos have GPS? Check one in the photo location finder first.

Sharing your travel map

A map is more fun to show than a folder of photos. In Trailroll, Share map creates a link you can send to friends or post anywhere, with a preview card for messengers and social networks. You choose which trips to include, and you can hide exact locations (pins snap to a ~5 km grid) or hide dates.

If you write a blog, you can also embed the map on your site.