Points-of-Interest

A point-of-interest (POI) is a place on the map geo-located at a specific latitude/longitude. Most POIs are also associated with particular locations on a road, so you can select POIs as routing destinations -- or at least drive close enough to a POI to walk to it from a road or parking lot.

There are many categories of POIs, including (but not limited to):

• hotels, motels, bed and breakfast
• campgrounds and RV parks
• restaurants, fast food chains
• pubs and nightclubs
• bakeries
• coffee shops
• gas stations
• EV charging stations
• museums
• parks
• beaches
• historical sites (e.g., Stonehenge in England)
• landmarks (e.g., the Eiffel tower in Paris, Mount Rushmore National Monument in South Dakota)
• public parking lots
• hospitals
• ATMs
• banks
• car washes
• childcare centers
• auto rentals
• laundry services
• fitness centers, golf courses, tennis courts
• religious centers
• boating
• currency exchange
• hair and beauty
• police stations

A broad category such as restaurants typically includes subcategories such as fast food chains, seafood, steak houses, vegan food, ethnic food of assorted types, neighborhoods, and much more.

For routing purposes, you can typically search for POIs by category, subcategory, name, street address, phone number, web site, and so forth. You can even search for POIs of a given type within a specific distance of your route -- such as fast food restaurants within 5 km of a longer route.

Depending on the type of POI, additional details can be provided on the map. For example, a public parking lot could include some or all of the following details in addition to its location:

• Days and hours of operation
• Price information and payment methods
• Number of parking spaces
• Maximum allowable height of vehicles
• Security provisions
• Handicap accessibility