How to make a shared map for a group trip (and which app to use)

Google Maps lists, My Maps, Apple Maps guides and Wanderlog compared on what matters for a group: who can add places, from which device, and who can see what.

For most groups, the fastest way to make a shared map for a trip is a Google Maps list with editing turned on: one person creates it, shares the edit link in the group chat, and everyone adds places from their own phone. It starts to strain when you need a day-by-day plan, a budget, or control over who has the link.

This guide compares the main options on the questions that matter for a group, and ends with a setup that works for a week-long trip.

Collecting and deciding need different tools

Group trip planning has two jobs, and most of the frustration comes from using one tool for both.

Collecting is open and messy. Each person adds the ramen shop from their feed, the bar a colleague mentioned, the museum their mum insisted on. You want this to take seconds, from a phone, without anyone needing a new account or a tutorial.

Deciding is closed and ordered. Somebody turns 60 saved places into "Tuesday: Asakusa in the morning, Ueno for lunch". You want votes, an order, travel times, and fewer cooks.

A shared map is the right tool for collecting. Some apps add deciding on top. Knowing which job you're doing tells you which features to care about.

Google Maps shared lists: the default for good reason

Google Maps lets you make a list Private or Shared, and a shared list can let others edit it (Google Maps Help). Everyone with access sees the names and profile pictures of people who joined, and who added or edited each place and note. Since late 2023, people in a list can also react to places with an emoji, such as a heart or a thumbs down, which works as a quick vote (TechCrunch).

The good parts: friends who already use Google Maps have nothing new to install, a list holds up to 3,000 places (Google Maps Help), and places show on the map next to your own saves.

The catch is the link. Editing works through a link, so anyone who has it can add, edit and remove places, including anyone your friends forwarded it to. If that happens, turn off "Let others edit this list". That removes every editor, and turning it back on gives you a new link to share (Google Maps Help).

Google Maps lists also have no days, no order you can plan around, and no budget. They're a collecting tool.

Google My Maps: colour-coded layers, but not from your phone

My Maps builds custom maps with layers, so you can colour "food", "sights" and "day trips" differently and print the result. It holds plenty: up to 10,000 places per map and 2,000 per layer (My Maps Help). You share it like a Google Drive file, inviting people by email as viewers or editors (Google Drive Help).

The problem for a group is the phone. Google shut down the My Maps app for Android on 15 October 2021. On a phone you can view your maps in the Google Maps app's Saved tab, or edit them in a mobile browser at mymaps.google.com, and the browser version doesn't work offline (My Maps Help). Friends adding places on the go will find it clumsy. My Maps suits one organiser building a polished map on a laptop.

Apple Maps guides: good for sending, not for planning together

Apple Maps lets you collect places into guides and share them. AppleInsider describes sharing a guide as sending a copy of the list as it is at that moment, with no shared editing (AppleInsider, 2020). Apple's current iPhone guide covers creating and sharing guides, and doesn't describe co-editing (Apple Support). Check before you rely on it, but plan on guides being a way to send your finished picks to the group, rather than a list the group builds.

Wanderlog: when you need days, routes and a budget

Wanderlog is a trip planner with a map built in. You invite friends to edit the trip in real time, choose who can edit or only view, track a shared budget and split expenses (App Store). It handles the deciding job well: places go into days, and you see the day on a map.

It's free, with a Pro subscription. The US App Store lists annual Pro plans between US$31.99 and US$59.99 (App Store). For collecting, it asks more of your friends than a Google Maps list: another app to install and another account to make.

Side by side

	Google Maps shared list	My Maps	Apple Maps guide	Wanderlog
Others can add places	Yes, with the edit link	Yes, invited by email	No, recipients get a copy	Yes, invited editors
Add from a phone	Yes, in Google Maps	Mobile browser only	Owner only	Yes, in the app
See who added what	Yes	Not documented	Owner adds everything	Not documented
Days and order	No	Layers only	No	Yes
Cost	Free	Free	Free	Free, Pro is paid

Collecting from TikTok and Instagram as a group

We make vouch, so weigh this section accordingly. vouch is built for the collecting job, for groups who find places on TikTok and Instagram (we compare the ways to save places from TikTok and Instagram in a separate guide). You share a post to vouch, it works out the places, and anyone the owner lets add places can drop them into the shared list. Everyone's places appear on everyone's map within seconds, labelled with who added them.

It also handles the forwarded-link problem: the owner invites each person as someone who can add places or only view, and invite links work once and expire after 7 days. Your private notes and visits stay private.

The limits: vouch is iPhone only for now, and it doesn't do budgets. For a big itinerary with flights and hotels, pair it with a planner.

A setup for a week-long group trip

This setup suits a group of three to eight, two to four weeks before departure:

One list per city. A single "Japan" list with 150 places is hard to use on the day. "Tokyo" and "Kyoto" lists keep the map readable in each place.
Agree on one rule for notes. Ask everyone to add why they added a place ("famous tonkatsu, books out a week ahead"). Without it, the rest of the group can't tell whether a pin is a must or a maybe.
Vote before you plan. Give the group a few days to react to places. In Google Maps, use the emoji reactions. Elsewhere, a heart in the note works.
Hand the plan to one or two people. They turn the top-voted places into days, in Wanderlog or a shared doc, while the list stays open for new finds.
Keep the list during the trip. Places you skipped become the backup plan when a restaurant is full or it rains.

The order of steps 3 and 4 matters more than the app. Groups that start scheduling before everyone has added their places end up re-planning when the last person's must-do arrives.