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Schmap – Travel Guides Supercharged

on December 3, 2007 in Tech for Life

I love traveling. And I am fond of reading travel guides before and while traveling. I like to get the background about the places I am visiting and try to find the best bang for the buck in the limited time I am at a place. I have used Fodor’s guides and TripAdvisor forums in all my previous trips.

Recently, I came across Schmap before my trip to Las Vegas. In their words,

Schmap’s series of digital travel guides integrates dynamic maps with useful background reading, suggested tours, photos from the traveling public and reviews by local correspondents (for sights and attractions, hotels, restaurants, bars, parks, theaters, galleries, museums and more) to profile 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The thing I liked the most about Schmap is that it is available online as well as offline as a desktop application and have all that information in my laptop and use it during the trip.

Schmap Quick Facts

  • Schmap’s online guides offers interactive Ajax-powered dynamic maps and guide content
  • Schmap’s online also has reviews of places and slideshows. You can navigate by interests, needs or neighborhood.
  • Schmap 2.0 is the desktop application that offers you trip planning convenience.
  • You can take virtual tours, custom print full-color guides and publish itineraries.
  • You could also download Schmap Megapacks and download a bunch of guides in one shot.
    World MegaPack – 200 guides; Europe MegaPack – 95 guides; America MegaPack – 94 guides
  • Schmap also offers fully customizable mashups that you can publish to the web with a single click – Schmapplets.
  • Syndicate content via filly customizable map widgets
  • Shmapplets, in short, is way for you to share travel recommendations, trip itineraries, reviews, etc with friends and family.
  • If you are in a Travel related business, you can add Schampplets as an interactive mapping element and share information with your readers or clientele.

When you are getting ready for a trip next time, give Schmap a whirl or you could just download the desktop version and take virtual tours of faraway places.

It’s best to be prepared and make sure any shiitake happens in your trip to a new place.

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  • http://www.sizzledcore.com Haris

    Cool! No more lost tracks :D Thanks for sharing!

  • http://rutanomada.com Blog de Viajes – Ruta Nomada

    nice resource for all of us travelers :)

    Blog de Viajes – Ruta Nomada’s last blog post..Camino de Viena

  • http://www.zath.co.uk Zath@Technology Blog

    This looks like a useful resource, I’m looking to do some travelling in the next year and this would no doubt help with my sightseeing.

    I see that they have an app for iPhones, couldn’t see one for Windows Mobile though, I hope they release one for that platform too as this info on a mobile app would be great!

    Zaths last blog post..Family Gamer: Dad’s Edition

  • http://www.creditreportsficoscore.com ac@free annual credit reports

    Sounds awesome! Finally a way to combine real maps (not just GPS), with travel recommendations, rather than just local stores listed.

  • http://www.travelvaccination.com.au Andrea

    I found out about Schmap when they contacted me via Flickr. They wanted to use a couple of my photos on their site (photos of Germany). At first I thought it might have been some kind of scam but now I actually use their site when planning my trips.

  • http://www.uberpiglet.com Simon@Free Vector Art

    It’s amazing how many new Web 2.0 sites and service pop up every day. There are even directories out there dedicated to cataloguing just these sorts of sites. Great to see New Zealand listed :)

    Simons last blog post..Free Terminator Vector Image

  • http://BLOGSBEST.NET Rakshit

    They are just keep coming. I am looking forward for free style domain names. like whatever.whatever. I heard coming soon:)

    Rakshits last blog post..An Exclusive Bahamas Hotel on Harbour Island

  • http://www.maximumecommerce.com/ andy@ecommerce web site software

    Schmap is pretty useful when you want to use it as a desktop application, and not have to use the internet! That’s perfect for needing to check things without having to find that wifi cafe in the middle of no where, lol.

    andys last blog post..How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Website Software or Service

  • http://www.pingable.org/ Simon@Adsense Money

    I have actually found schmap very useful. We were used to find some cool stuff to do for a two day trip we took during my school holiday and went to one of the “Top Restaurants”, and it was bloody good.

    Simons last blog post..A Blank WordPress Theme for You to Draw on

  • http://www.informationturkey.net Mahmut

    good site i like it . See you later :)

    Mahmuts last blog post..Greece

  • http://paydayavailable.com Andrew@payday loan

    Interesting new web 2.0 startup
    nice resource for all travelers
    Thnx for sharing!

  • http://www.stylishtraveller.net/do-it-yourself-luggage-repair/ Do-It-Yourself Luggage Repair | Stylish Traveller

    [...] These tricks may be useful for a few minor luggages repair that you can do by yourself.  But if the damage or damages are too hard or too many to fix by yourself, you may opt to bring it to a professional repairman or you may consider purchasing a new one.  You won’t find this info in any free travel guides! [...]

  • http://tscheiman.travelencia.com Timothy Scheiman

    Get 80% off in travel benefits.

  • http://www.inetgiant.com/ Sebastian – Classifieds

    I am reading James Joyce’s Ulysses at this very moment (yeah, I know I am insane, but anyway…) and I am really fascinated by this idea of travelling through Dublin lying under all this textual cobwebs. After reading your post I am sure that if only the heroes had such astonishing device there were undoubtedly released from all this very dodging, maddening as fascinating people all over the world regardless the geographical residence. So what am I driving at? Thanks for sharing:-)

  • http://www.aesir.ru Isabel – Iphone

    “More haste, less speed” as the saying goes that can maybe give the adequate explanation and characteristic to this very digital device. It’s nice idea to think that there is the guarantee of first-rate travelling round the world. Schmap just made my day! But should we remember that ” the farthest way round is the nearest way home”? I guess so.

  • http://onlinecasinoblog.org Joel

    Good post, interesting gadget. In my humble opinion, this information can be approved by every users-travelers from hitchhiker to tourist. But is there anyone who had tested this stuff and even more is using it before this very moment? Because, you know, all this digital brand-new have some week points – time-prove and rebranding

    Joels last blog post..Slot machines: have fun and win!

  • http://www.beachfinejewelry.com/ Corey – Beach Jewelry

    Hi! I wanna travel to some more exotic countries as India, Sri-Lanka or Myanma.. are there any advics for me? or may be some visitors can help me where i can find a nice travelguide? thanx in advance!!!

  • http://free-compatibility-reports.com kast@Free Compatibility Reports

    With the price of GPS units coming down fast this past year, I wonder if services like Schmap would still be needed or in demand. I just got a 3.5″ unit for $79! Perhaps if there are more points of interests on Schmap, then there might still be a need for it.

  • http://www.jordantaylor.net/ Jordan@Beachwear

    Those maps seem very detailed and also very user-friendly. It seems like a great service for any serious traveler.

  • http://www.guidetotravel.net Marcin@Travel Guides

    Thanks for sharing, this sounds like a service that can be very useful for me.

  • http://www.shankrila.com/life-matters/offbeat-guides-personalized-travel-guides/ Offbeat Guides – Create & Print Your Custom Travel Guides | ShanKri-la

    [...] is also an excellent & free travel guides resource. Schmap offers guides for different cities in downloadable format as well as a computer [...]

  • http://hotpacksecrets.com Baseball card boxes

    This one will be great for travel geeks like myself! Supergeek to the rescue!

    Baseball card boxess last blog post..So far so good!

  • http://adventuretravel.blogsome.com/2009/03/14/planning-a-trip/ Adventure Travel Tips :: Planning A Trip :: March :: 2009

    [...] in and out of different airports).  From there, I start checking with various resources and free travel guides  to start filling in the finer details of the trip.  What cities will I visit?  What [...]

  • http://www.mygoodtraveladvice.com/do-research Do Research! « My Good Travel Advice

    [...] you’ll find that you trip goes a lot smoother and things happen a lot quicker. There are so many free travel guides out there that not doing research is just a sign of laziness because it doesn’t cost [...]

  • http://dublintraveler.org/ Daniel Andrews

    Like the author of this post, I like traveling as well. My favourite place is Dublin city. That’s why I like this article very much.