[via mashable]Most people think of Google Maps in terms of finding a place or business, or getting directions from one point to another. Others use the satellite images and terrain mapping features. But there are tons of other uses out there for Google maps.
From mapping the weather and news to mapping things that aren’t maps at all, like paintings or magazines, Google Maps has a lot to offer. And there are free tools available out there for those who want to use the Google Maps API without doing a bunch of coding. Here are more than 100 of the best mashups and tools out there right now.
Have a favorite Google Maps tool or mashup? Tell us more about it in the comments.
Travel and Transportation
Mapness - An online travel journal that interfaces with Google Maps to show where you’ve been.
The AA Route Planner - Plan trips around the UK.
Montreal Metro Map - A complete map of Montreal Metro stations.
TubeJP - A London Tube journey planner using Google Maps that also incorporates a search function to find local businesses.
District Taxi Fare Estimator - A taxi fare estimator provided by the Washington Post that shows travel routes in Google Maps.
Washington, CD Taxicab Zones - A zone map that covers each taxicab zone and is zoomable, unlike the ones in the actual cabs that are poorly labeled and hard to read.
Dublin Public Transport Advisor - A trip planner for public transportation in and around Dublin.
Most Dangerous Roads on Earth - A map of the most dangerous roads in the world.
Perfect Escapes - A travel search engine that features a click-through Google Maps search interface.
hotspotr - A map showing more than 14,875 wifi hotspots all over the country.
safe2pee.org - Find a public bathroom anywhere in the country.
Mezzoman - Find a place to meet in the middle of two points on the map.
Wines and Times - Use this map to plan a winery tour anywhere in the United States.
fastfoodmaps.com - Find fast food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, KFC, Wendy’s and more, anywhere in the U.S.
Photo Enforced - Get maps of red light cameras in multiple cities across the United States.
World Port Source - Maps of more than 3,100 ports in 189 countries, plus a map to find ports anywhere in the world.
IMB Live Piracy Map 2008 - A map of all of the armed robbery and piracy incidents (both successful and attempted) reported over the past year.
flexTraffic - A map of traffic delays and construction projects across the UK.
Cheap Hotels - A map of more than 66,000 cheap hotels in more than 165 countries that also lets you book online.
NOAA Nautical Maps - A mashup that overlays NOAA nautical maps over Google Maps and allows you to adjust the transparency of each.
News, Weather and Politics
Gaza Conflict YouTube Videos Map - This mashup shows the latest YouTube videos about the Gaza conflict attached to their locations along the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.
Track This Now - Search for news worldwide or in a specific country (or group of countries) and have news stories marked on a map.
TimeSpace: World - An interactive map from the Washington post that shows current news items linked from a world map.
iMap Weather - An easy way to get current weather conditions and the forecast using a map-based interface.
Barack Obama’s Journey to the White House - A Google Map of Barack Obama’s entire life, from Honolulu to the White House.
RMI’s Oil Imports Map - A mashup that shows all of the U.S.’s oil imports from 1973.
Who is Sick? - Find statistics on a map for illness in your area, everything from allergies and runny noses to fever to stomach aches.
HealthMap - Map of disease cases worldwide, including rabies, salmonella, and more.
Taxpayer Contribution to the Iraq War by State - View how much taxpayers have paid for the Iraq War by state.
Missing Kids Map - A mashup that shows the origins of missing kids (from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children) on a Google Map.
Map of Election Conditions in Zimbabwe - A map of the corruption, from vote buying and gerrymandering to abduction and murder, that occurred in elections in Zimbabwe.
MetaCarta GeoSearch News - A map with links to current news stories from all over the world.
Recreation and Entertainment
Theatre In Chicago - An interactive map for Chicago that lists theatres with current and upcoming plays.
Gruvr - A map that shows live music shows at clubs and elsewhere anywhere in the country.
LOST Maps - A map that shows all of the locations mentioned in the ABC television series “Lost”.
The London Knowledge - A map of London that shows tube stations, restaurants, nightclubs and more.
Drive Score - Shows a map of nearby restaurants, schools, hospitals, bars and more for any address and awards points based on what’s close by.
Google Maps Disc Golf Courses - A map of disc golf/frisbee golf courses all over the United States with descriptions and directions.
Live Sports Map - Find sports scores and news on a Google Map that includes stadium and arena satellite views.
FindLakes - Maps for each state showing more than 40,000 lakes around the country.
SafeFoodFinder - A map showing Seattle area restaurants and what their health department inspection scores have been.
Broadway2Day.com - A map of current Broadway shows with information on price, genre, run, and more.
Environment and Climate Change
The World’s Most Polluted Cities - A map with geotagged photos of polluted cities all over the world (though mostly in Asia).
San Francisco Solar Map - This interactive map shows residential, municipal, commercial, and other solar projects around San Francisco.
RoofRay Solar Calculator - Find your house on their Google Maps interface, trace your roof, determine the roof’s orientation and pitch, and get a solar estimate.
Climate Change Wales - Interactive maps that show what flood levels will be based on rising sea levels from climate change.
United States Sea Level Rise Map - A map with geotagged photos that show the impact of different sea level rises in cities around the United States.
Flood Maps - Shows what new coastlines would be for sea level rises between 1M and 14M.
MapEcos - A map showing U.S. industrial facilities that use toxic chemicals and includes information about each facility.
Wasting Away - A map showing all 1,623 superfund sites in the United States, including sites that have been cleaned up.
DaylightMap.com’s Clouds - A map showing regularly-updated cloud cover overlaid on a Google Map of the world.
Prescription Drugs in Drinking Water - A map showing the levels of prescription drugs in various cities around the country.
Carma - A map showing the world’s highest CO2 emitting power plants.
Photo and Media Maps
Panedia - Maps of places all over the world with placemarkers linked to panoramic images.
Driving Detroit - A map of Detroit that includes placemarkers that link to photos, slideshows and other media.
Star Viewer - A Google Map of the night sky that includes YouTube videos of different stars, galaxies, and star systems.
Games and Simulators
googleDrive - Another Google Maps driving simulator.
Real World Racer - A car racing game in Google Maps that is surprisingly challenging.
2D Driving Simulator - A Google Maps Flash driving simulator.
Pedestrian and Bike Maps
Where is the path (or street) - A mashup that shows regular street and footpath maps next to a Google Maps satellite view so that you can see things not indicated on the Google Map.
99Trails.com Philadelphia Map - A map showing walking and biking trails around the Philadelphia metro area.
NYC Bike Maps - A map of New York City’s bike paths, lanes and greenways.
ActiveTrails - A map of trails throughout the United States and France that allows users to contribute trail information.
HikeCT - A map of hiking trails in Connecticut.
I Need A Bike - Find bike rental locations in and around Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.
Information, Education and History
Cassini - An overlay of 18th century maps over Google Maps that lets you adjust the transparency of either layer.
mapdango - A mashup that teaches about a new place every day, showing news, weather, and more.
MapsZipcode - A Google Maps mashup that shows zip codes nationwide.
London Profiler - Get maps of demographic and other public information in London.
Solar Eclipses - A list of solar eclipses from 1961 to the present that link to maps showing the path of the eclipse over the earth’s surface.
Area Code Maps - An area code map overlay.
BibleMap.org - An interactive map of locations from the Bible.
World Heritage Google Map - A Google Map of UNESCO World Heritage Sites worldwide that includes photos.
MailboxMap - Find a USPS or UPS mailbox anywhere in the country.
UFOmaps.com - A map of UFO sightings all over the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Qibla Locator - Find which direction Muslims should pray in from anywhere in the world.
PlaceOpedia - A map of Wikipedia articles linked to their locations.
Meteor Craters - A map of meteor impact craters around the world.
World’s Creepiest Places - Just as the name implies, this map shows information about the world’ creepiest places.
Housing and Real Estate
Roomapes - An apartment finder app with a Google Maps interface.
CribQ - An apartment finder for San Francisco that interfaces apartment listings, Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth (for a birdseye view, streetview and WalkScore).
SuiteMatch.com - Find shared office space and see a map that shows all of the amenities surrounding that space including coffee, food, bars and gyms.
Non-Map Uses
The Kremer Collection - Use a Google Maps interface to browse a large collection of paintings.
zkimmer - An online publication viewer for newspapers and magazines that uses the Google Maps UI.
Other Maps
Samknows - Find a house or building on a map of the UK and see what types of broadband internet are available at that address.
If I dig a very deep hole, where will I end up? - This map shows you where you would end up if you dug a hole straight through the earth at any point on the globe.
If the earth were a sandwich - This pair of maps shows you the point on the earth that is the exact opposite of any other point you select.
RoadlessLand.org - Map of all of the designated road-free areas in the United States.
Google Maps Recent Edits - A constantly updating map that shows the most recent edits to Google Maps.
DishPointer - An application that shows you which direction to point your satellite dish based on your address.
DaylightMap.com - A map of where daylight currently is on earth as well as the lights appearing on the night side.
We Tell Stories - A map of the stories of six different authors that lets you follow the trail of their stories around the world.
Directories
MapTube - A directory with nearly 200 different mashup maps available.
Popular Google Maps - Browse popular Google Maps covering a variety of topics.
Tools
Map Builder - A quick and easy Google Maps mashup builder.
MapMyPage - A simple tool to put Google Maps on your website.
Map My Life - An easy to use mashup that will map your life and show a timeline using an XML file you provide.
The Google Maps Image Cutter - A free application for cutting any image into tiles for use with the Google Maps interface.
Automatic Tile Cutter - Another app for cutting any image into tiles to use with Google Maps.
GMapCreator - A tool to make creating thematic Google Maps easier.
Geo Twitter - GeoCode your tweets and plot them on an embeddable map.
Mapmsg.com - An app that lets you put a message (smoke signals, crop circles, etc.) into a map and then email it to anyone.
Dual Maps - Free mapping tools to combine different Google Maps views as well as Microsoft Virtual Earth maps.
maps-for-free.com - Get relief layers for Google Maps free for creating your own mashups.
HeatMapAPI - Use this API to create your own heat maps to overlay Google Maps.
PdMarker - An app to help you easily customize Google Maps marker behavior.
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