20 years of discovery with Maps: Food, fun and lots of photos
Twenty years ago, Google Maps started helping us explore the world, navigate unfamiliar roads and discover hidden gems. You’ve played a large part in making all of this possible — from helping add new businesses to sharing insightful reviews and photos (and exploring incredible global imagery with yours truly!). As we celebrate 20 years of mapping the world, we wanted to highlight places that sparked conversation and inspired the explorer in all of us.
Foodie finds: The most-reviewed restaurants
From delis to barbecues, Peruvian to vegan, here are some of your most-reviewed eateries in the U.S. across a range of cuisines from the past two decades:
Delis
Barbecues
Peruvian restaurants
Vegan restaurants
Crowd-pleasers: The most-reviewed destinations
You explored more than just menus! Some of your most-reviewed destinations in America included:
Art museums
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Getty
- Chihuly Garden and Glass
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
National parks
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Yosemite National Park
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park
- Zion National Park
- Yellowstone National Park
Book stores
- Powell's City of Books
- Strand Book Store
- The Last Bookstore
- Midtown Comics Times Square
- Kinokuniya New York
Zoos
You found some of the biggest things out there — literally! Here are some of the most-reviewed “world’s largest” places:
- World's Largest Superman Statue
- World's Largest Cuckoo Clock
- World's Largest Mailbox
- World's Largest Ball of Twine
- World's Largest Rocking Chair
- World's Tallest Filing Cabinet
- World's Largest Wind Chime
- World’s Largest Cowboy Boots
- World’s Largest Czech Egg
- World's Largest Chest of Drawers
Being of small stature myself, I’m partial to the most-reviewed “little” places:
Photographer faves: The most-photographed parks and visitor attractions
When you found a place you loved, you shared photos so others could get a good look, too. Some of the most-photographed parks and visitor attractions in the U.S. were:
Traveler treasures: The most-viewed locations in Immersive View
Whether you were scoping out the weather for an upcoming trip or simply curious to see what famous landmarks looked like at different times of day, here were some of your favorite places to check out using Immersive View:
- Eiffel Tower, Paris
- Empire State Building, New York
- Colosseum, Rome
- Basílica de la Sagrada Família, Barcelona
- Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
- Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles
- Tokyo Tower, Tokyo
- St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
- Big Ben, London
- Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, Paris
- The British Museum, London
- Cologne Cathedral, Cologne
- Arc de Triomphe, Paris
- Atomium, Brussels
- Brooklyn Bridge, New York
- Osaka Castle, Osaka
- Louvre Museum, Paris
Scene stealers: Street View's cutest photobombers
There’s lots to love about Street View (if I do say so myself!). While you were using my favorite feature, you might have even spotted some extremely photogenic photobombers.
Thanks for bringing us on your journeys throughout the years — and taking this trip down memory lane with me! Now get ready for your next 20 years of travel with some of our favorite features and helpful tips from Google Maps. Here's to the next era of adventures!
Methodology
The "most-reviewed" spots are based on places with under 10 locations within a category that have the most reviews and a rating over 4.0 stars on Google Maps. The "most-photographed" spots are based on places in a category that have the most photos and videos on Google Maps.
