Five Interesting Google Map Sites

I present to you a list of five interesting - shall we say cool - Google map sites. I do so love all the things people have created with Google maps, and spend quite a lot of time looking at them. Below are some that I've enjoyed for a while now, and others I just discovered. Some are more useful than the next, but all have their purpose. Enjoy.

Wikimapia
This site is attempting to describe the Earth, one township at a time. By clicking on a city, town, lake, mountain range - just about anything - you can see specific information pertaining to that location. This is, obviously, a community based program. If you see your town is without explanation, you would be encouraged to help grow the map by adding whatever you can.

Travel Dos and Don'ts
Although the design is a little bit clumsier than it needs to be, the Travel Dos and Don'ts map offers insightful information for a number of destinations. If you're worries about culture shock, or making a fool of yourself you can check this interactive map to see if someone has flagged a warning. You can also find user suggested tips, and must see sights here.

Google Sightseeing
If you enjoy spending countless time looking over maps, and who doesn't - I mean they're paper (well pixelated images mostly these days) and they're ... I don't know? Mappy - then you'll enjoy the Google Sightseeing maps. Hot spots, weird oddities, and things of interest can be found here.

Blogzoner
If you run a blog, why not put yourself into this database of bloggers. Unfortunately it does require you to sign up (no checking for blogs near your house without an annoying e-mail confirmation, I'm afraid.) Once you've added yourself to the map, you can see who's around you, and start to build a local blogging community. Although maybe they forgot to focus on two issues? One. Some bloggers do not want a real world community - hence their blog. Two. Most bloggers probably don't want to draw an arrow right to their front door.

Place Spotting
Last - because I hate you - I present Place Spotting. It takes Google maps, and turns it into a game. A terrible terrible game. They show you a picture, below is a Google map. It's your job to hunt down the image and locate it. Time to get cracking on those geography skills. And just to taunt you? They have a count of how many people have correctly solved the puzzle. They're not impossible... just painful - o.k. - they're impossible.