Google Maps brings biking directions to mobile in Europe

Google has added 530,000 kilometres of biking directions to Google Maps for Android to Australia and nine other European countries.

Last month, Google launched desktop biking directions outside of the US and Canada for the first time. Now, the same 10 countries that received desktop biking directions – Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – can also receive mobile biking directions from today onwards.

As well as simple directions, Google has added turn-by-turn, voice-guided biking navigation to Google Maps with Navigation (beta), a feature that’s built into the current version of Maps for Android.

Dark green lines denote dedicated cycle trails and paths with no motor vehicle traffic, light green lines denote streets with cycle lanes and dashed green lines denote other recommended streets for cycling.

One of the great things about using technology to plan your cycling route is that you can tell Google Maps to avoid routes with steep hills.

In areas where Map Maker and cycling directions are both available, users can suggest their own cycling routes and bike trails to help create a more comprehensive biking map.