Google PHL issues travel tips for 2012 Olympics



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Google's travel tips for the 2012 London Olympics

Heading to London for the Olympics this summer? From finding the best flights to smart packing to planning your route around London, these online tools for travelers can help make your Olympics trip (or any voyage away from home) worthy of a gold medal.


1. Weather: Will the infamous London rain be falling during your trip? Plan what to pack by effortlessly checking the weather on Google Search. Just type [weather London] (or any other city) to instantly see the forecast. Once you’ve arrived, simply search [weather] to see the weather in your current location.

Try it now: Search for weather London

2. Check your flight status: To see the status for arriving and departing flights, type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box.

Try it now: Check the status of British Airways Flight 16 from Manila to London

3. Pardon me, do you speak the Queen’s English? Google Translate can translate words from Filipino to English and back, as well as Japanese, Korean, Hindi, and many other languages -- 64 in total. In a given day we translate roughly as much text as you’d find in 1 million books.  You can also use this service to translate entire documents or web pages. Enter any website address into translate.google.com, and we’ll automatically detect the language and translate it into your language.

Try it now: Translate 'Sino ang nanalo sa dekatlon’? 

4. Pack a tour guide in your pocket. Today’s smartphones are like having a local guide who knows where to eat, what to do, how to get there, and the full backstory on that underdog athlete from Kenya. Oh, and she speaks the local language, too.

●     Want to sample some local London delicacies? Use your smartphone to search Google for [restaurant], and because you’re searching from a phone, Google assumes that you want places nearby. We’ll give you listings of the closest ones and even put them on a map along with reviews from other diners, hours, photos and other information.

●     Don’t worry about getting lost. Google Maps for Mobile is like an atlas, compass, phone book, and travel guide rolled into one. You can use Google Maps for Mobile to get step-by-step directions to the next event and get directions for driving, walking, or public transit -- with real time traffic updates.

●     Traverse the language barrier. If you have an Android or iPhone, you can use Google Translate mobile app for all the same benefits you get on desktop, on the go. Some languages even have voice input so you can speak a sentence into your phone.

5. Preview your destination in Google Street View and Google Earth: Check out the attractions around London and see the street for your hotel by viewing our 360-degree ground-level photos in Google Maps Street View. You can also explore 3D models of the Olympics events venues in Google Earth.

6. Plot out your trip with My Maps: Make travel planning a snap with My Maps, a feature of Google Maps that lets you personalize the map by adding your own icons and easily access them from your smartphone once you arrive. Before your trip, you can mark all the stadiums for the events you’re attending plus your hotel and any other sights you want to take in. Share My Maps with friends and family so they can all participate in mapping out your trip. When the trip’s over, use My Maps as a virtual scrapbook: add icons on the map for the great picnic spot you found in the park or for the great little gelato stand you kept revisiting. You can even add text, photos and videos within the My Map to help keep the memories alive.

7. Currency conversions: Search for [5000PHP in £],  [convert 5000 php to pounds], or [five thousand php in gbp] to see the latest exchange rates for currencies traded around the world.

Try it now: Convert 5000 pesos into pounds

8. World Clock: To see the time in any city around the world, type in "time" and the name of the city. See what time it is at home so you can check in with a loved one when it’s most convenient for both of you. Try it now: What time is it in London?

9. Pimp your browser: As you research online in preparation for your trip, optimize your experience with the best web apps and a modern browser like Google Chrome. The Chrome Web Store is a marketplace where you can discover the best apps and extensions on the web. The travel collection in the Chrome Web Store gathers dozens of applications and tools designed to make planning a trip as easy and fun as the trip itself. Here are just a few examples of what you can find. 

●     Hipmunk: Find the perfect flight with this app’s multitude of filters. You can sort flights by price, as well as by time, duration, and number of connections.

●     Amazebuy Hotels: Pick and choose from the best hotel deals from around the world.

●     CardFed: This nifty app turns your digital vacation photos into proper paper postcards and can send them anywhere in the world. 

10. Keep up with the latest news on the London Games. Google’s news search makes it easy to stay up to date on all the latest headlines about the upcoming Olympic Games. Just search for [Olympics 2012] then click on News in the left hand panel to restrict your search to news articles. You can even create a news alert and get updates sent straight to your inbox.

Try it now: News on the London Olympics