Prepare your bucket list, Google Maps just revealed its top-rated locations of all time

• Google Maps just turned 20, and Google is celebrating the navigation service's two decades of evolution, from a desktop-only tool to a multi-platform app with features like real-time traffic, Street View, and Immersive View.

• To mark its 20th anniversary, Google Maps is showcasing the most popular and well-reviewed locations in the US, based on user searches and reviews, including top-rated restaurants, museums, parks, and more.

• Google Maps is rolling out custom vehicle icons, allowing users to personalize their navigation experience.

Google Maps just turned 20. Yep, two whole decades of existence — it's hard to believe how the service has gone from its clunky and humble desktop beginnings to a full-fledged app that is available on several platforms and does a lot more than just showing directions.

The application first launched in February 2005 as a desktop-only service, and it's safe to say that it has only grown ever since, gaining new features like real-time traffic insights, street-view, live-view, and immersive view, 3D maps, transit insights, and a lot more.

To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Google Maps, the tech giant has chosen to highlight some of the most popular and well-reviewed locations in the US, all based on what the users are actively searching for! Additionally, it also officially announced the previously-spotted custom vehicle icons, allowing you to ride around in style.

Although not available to me yet on both Android and iOS, Google confirmed that it is rolling out custom vehicle icons on Google Maps, a feature that was first spotted all the way back in November 2024, and as recently as yesterday in a beta build. If custom icons have rolled out to you, you can now personalize your ride to some of these top-rated locations.

The most-reviewed restaurants

Based on places with under 10 locations within a category with the most reviews and a rating over 4.0.

Delis

• Katz's Delicatessen

• Sherman's Deli & Bakery

• Shapiro's Delicatessen

• Harold's New York Deli

• D Z Akin's

Barbecues

• Terry Black's Barbecue

• Hard Eight BBQ

• The Salt Lick BBQ

• Q39

• Joe's KC BBQ

Peruvian restaurants

• CVI.CHE 105

• Pisco y Nazca Ceviche Gastrobar

• Pollos & Jarras

• Pisco Peruvian Gastrobar

• Aromas Del Peru

Vegan restaurants

• SluttyVegan Ralph David

• Watercourse Foods

• Tassili's Raw Reality Café

• Vertical Diner

• Wayward Vegan

The most-reviewed destinations

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

• San Diego Zoo

• Smithsonian National Zoological Park

• Houston Zoo

• Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

• Bronx Zoo

The most-photographed parks and visitor attractions

Based on places in a category that have the most user-submitted photos and videos.

Parks

• Central Park

• National Mall

• Niagara Falls State Park

• Balboa Park

• Griffith Park

Visitor Attractions

• Rockefeller Center

• Empire State Building

• PIER 39

• Statue of Liberty

• Navy Pier

Best Street View photobombs!

Check out Google's blog post for bonus tid-bits, including some of the most-reviewed 'world's largest' and 'little' places and the most-viewed locations in Immersive View.

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