14 DAY TRIAL // Google has just updated large parts of its map coverage adding more details in several countries. The improvements are throughout, there are more roads, more labels, more accurate positioning and so on and so forth.
Overall, the experience should be significantly better even if you won't be able to notice exactly what's changed, it's the sum of small things.
The updated maps are now live in Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lesotho, Macau, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore and Vatican City.
"As was the case for past updates, our new maps are more detailed and precise. For example, in Ireland we now have excellent coverage of National Heritage Areas, as well as more detailed coastlines and bodies of water," Google wrote.
Google pulled from a variety of sources for the update adding more data to the maps besides the obvious roads and buildings. National parks are a great example of what kind of data is useful, but it is not always present in online maps. Google recently introduced data for several national parks in California as well.
"We’ve also added more accurate names and locations for major points of interest, such as airports, universities and public squares," Google also said.
"We’ve also added better and more clearly labelled ferry routes in many places, such as the area below surrounding Naples, Italy," it said.
Google even uses the ferry routes in directions, so you'll be able to get directions to an island that takes into account the ferry schedule. This should prove especially useful for tourists who may not know when ferries come and go, or even where to board them.
"In addition to the above changes, local roads on these maps are now more accurately distinguished from highways, and multi-lingual names are available for a larger proportion of roads in many of the updated countries," Google added.