Taking a tour in Google Earth

See more than holiday snaps

While Google Earth offers amazing images from exotic locations, there’s a lot more to see than just photos.

It also includes 360-degree panoramas, and interactive maps, drawing on content from the likes of Canadian Geographic, the Environmental Defence Fund, and NASA.

You’ll also find travel guides and planners for when you’re inspired to take your own voyage.

How to take a tour

First, use your web browser to visit the Google Earthtour gallery and see a list of available tours. Click any tour to start it in Google Earth.

Each tour is a series of stops, or placemarks, on a trip across a region of the world. To go to the next placemark, click the left or right arrow at the bottom left of the screen.

You can also click Table of contents to see all the placemarks in a list, jump ahead in the tour or go back to see something you might have missed.

Choosing another tour

When you choose a Tour, Google Earth will open it in a new tab of your web browser. Once you finish the tour, instead of clicking the Back arrow, you can just close the browser tab.

eSafety tip

Some web browsers might not open the tour in a new tab. If yours does this, when you are finished with the tour, you can type https://www.google.com/earth/about/gallery/ in your web browser’s search bar. The Take a tour in Google Earth home page will appear, and you can choose a new tour.

Map view or Street View

Some tours show information and photos next to a map, while other tours use Google Earth’s Street View to show on-the-ground images. You can use your mouse to move around the map or rotate the Street View.

You can learn more about navigating the map and moving around in Street View in our Exploring Google Earth course.

More than maps

Google Earth has many amazing features that you might not have realised were even there. There are tours to show off these features, which include such things as:

• timelapses of how a city grows
• what the world looks like at night
• daily air quality measurements and more!

Street View even has amazing underwater photos. You might be surprised what you find.

eSafety tip

While you can take a tour in Google Earth on smartphones, we recommend using the largest screen you have available to really get the most out of the wonderful images and information presented. Modern screens on tablets, laptops or desktop computers really help make the experience amazing.

Come back for more

There are lots of tours to discover, and you can see even more by using your mouse to scroll the Take a Tour in Google Earth home page.

Well done!

You’ve now completed the Taking a tour in Google Earth activity. You’ve learned that Google Earth tours have something for everyone, whether you’re interested in exploring the rainforest, wandering through city streets or seeing the world in an unexpected way.

Next up, you’ll learn how to get the most from Google's wealth of online information in the Embrace Google Arts & Culture activity.